NEW College Swindon are waiting to discover if they have been accepted to play in this year’s FA Cup.

The College-based squad, who will once again see their Hellenic League Division One West side led by Mark Teasdale, are hopeful that their application to play in the world’s most famous domestic knockout competition has been accepted.

And academy director Ian Howell is excited by the prospect at being able to offer FA Cup football to students on the programme.

“We should hear by the end of this month or the start of July as to whether we have been successful,” Howell said.

“We played in the FA Vase last year which was quite a big achievement.

“We are also hoping to get a team in the FA Youth Cup as well, as a college being able to offer this kind of football would fantastic.”

With the New College side made up of students, Howell says that all of the players will report back for pre-season on July 11, with around 30 new faces looking to earn a place in the Hellenic side.

“There will be around 45 players on the programme next season and across the teams we will have around 16 pre-season friendlies,” Howell said.

“What we will discover is which of the players are capable of playing in a physical league like the Hellenic, who will be playing in the under 18s side on Saturday morning and who is going to need a little bit longer with their development.

“We have got some good players joining the programme, some we had in before the end of the season.”

Teasdale, who took on the Hellenic League job late last season, will continue to be assisted by Matt Cosnett, while Rob Hopkins, who stood down from the first team last term, will run the under 18s side on Saturday mornings.