Stevenage Borough's FA Cup heroes are prepared to give up home advantage in the fourth round to Newcastle.

Non-league Stevenage earned the money-spinning tie after beating Swindon Town 2-1.

Paul Fairclough: "Players desperate to go to Newcastle". (Dur 41")

Manager Paul Fairclough says his side want to play at Newcastle's 36,000-capacity St James's Park.

He told BBC News: "I have spoken to quite a few players and they are desperate to go to Newcastle.

"For someone like Stevenage to get a tie against Newcastle, it is potentially money that could run the club for a good few years."

Stevenage lost out on league status after winning the Vauxhall Conference in 1996 because their ground was not up to standard. They conceded home advantage to Birmingham in the FA Cup last year.

Fairclough insisted that their 6,500-capacity Broadhall Way ground, now up to Nationwide league standard, could stage the match.

But they would get six times the attendance at St James's Park and a pay packet of up to £300,000.

Stevenage also seemed to have ruled out the match being played at a larger, neutral ground nearer to home like Tottenham's White Hart Lane or Watford's Vicarage Road.

Fairclough said: "If we go to Newcastle we can get 36,000. Should we go to Watford or Tottenham we would probably attract between 15,000 and 18,000 people so we would have half the crowd."

The venue of the tie will be ultimately decided by police and the Football Association.
 

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