MATCHDAY QUIZ

MATCHDAY

QUIZ TRY OUT OUR MATCHDAY QUIZ

1. What is Stoke City’s nickname?

2. Who was voted World Player of the Year in 2020?

3. Which club did Alan Pardew manage before he departed to West Ham United?

4. What football club did Roy Keane play for before his successful spell at Manchester United?

5. Which club was promoted as Champions via the National League last season?

6. And which club was promoted as play-off winners last season via the National League?

7. Which Spanish club did Mark Hughes play for?

8. Who was the last country to win the World Cup in their own country?

9. Who beat Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final?

10. Where will the European Championships be staged in 2024?

Name the teams that play at these Wessex League grounds

The answer to all these questions can be found on page 53

M A TCHD A Y QUIZ

MATCH ACTION EXTRA

Street players celebrate Ross Cook’s opening goal from the penalty spot against Warminster Town in the FA Cup last Saturday.

FACUP

DECLINE?

Every year, the same question is asked: has the FA Cup lost its appeal? The pundit class continually tells us how amazing it still is, the Football Association mounts a campaign on an annual basis to big it up, but no matter how much we try to convince ourselves; we know it isn’t 1952 anymore. The nation does not come to a standstill on FA Cup final day, and nobody is ever going to reintroduce community singing to the pre-match ceremony.

Article by Neil Fredrik Jensen, Editor of Game of the People

Last season, Chelsea and Liverpool met in the final, Chelsea’s fourth in five years, Liverpool’s first since 2012 when the Blues beat them 2-1. It was the 11th final involving two so-called Premier big six clubs. The hallowed half dozen have won 25 of the last 29 cup finals, so don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t matter to the top clubs, if anything you wish it didn’t matter as much to give others a chance. And yet, those same clubs continually devalue the competition, fielding weakened teams as they rest their prized assets.

Part of the FA Cup’s endearing charm was that it was live on TV and probably the only game the entire population could watch as it was taking place. This alone gave it special status, but the other aspect was the sudden-death element of the game, something that bread and butter league games did not provide. In the 1960s, if a team lost a league fixture, it was not the end of the world, but elimination from the FA Cup was very upsetting and meant your team had to wait another year for a triumphant run to the twin towers. Today, every Premier League game is treated as though the outcome of the season depends upon it. This is partly attributable to the TV broadcasters, who talk-up every screened contest as being so very vital.

The FA Cup has slipped down the list of priorities, but that’s because of the financial rewards available from every league placing and the possibility of Champions League football. It does seem as the though the concept of “glory” comes in a very poor second to TV money, and yet the cup competitions are something to savour if you are a fan.

We cannot hope to recapture the social calendar aspect of Cup Final day, largely because TV football has become almost a 24 x 7 experience. Back in the 1950s and beyond, the FA Cup final was in the same category as the Derby, the Grand National, the Boat Race and Test matches. The Wembley final was a day-out for the proletariet, even though very few of them could get tickets for the match.

G A ME OF THE PEOPLE

TV coverage started mid-morning in some cases and involved all sorts of activities, from gormless entertainment like “It’s a Knockout” to “Meet the Team”. Again, this kind of nonsense made the game even more attractive. The newspapers had eight-page FA Cup specials, the Daily Mirror was especially notable for its cartoons of the players. The media interviews were as banal as they are today, although a little more authentic as the world wasn’t sinking under a wave of cliché and jargon. There was a buzz on Cup Final day that really doesn’t exist today, and that’s because we live in an age where you can have anything you want at any time. The final’s scarcity value was what made it unique.

It was these side dishes that created the aura around the FA Cup. Yes, it was a great afternoon but society has changed so much that nobody wants one memorable occasion. Every football match is supposed to be like that today. If you eat Kobe steak every day, it is longer a treat, it becomes as commonplace as economy mince. From the perspective of the people running football teams, winning a league is the real mark of performance because it is the week-in, week-out activity. There’s nothing football managers dislike more than uncertainty and cup competitions, traditionally, have been riddled with the prospect of surprise. A league will, in most cases, deliver the right result, but cup shocks can happen to anyone. This was always the mythical romance that surrounded the FA Cup, the highly motivated underdogs winning a final – teams like Wimbledon (1988), Southampton (1976), Sunderland (1973) and Wigan Athletic (2013).

The current leading lights of the game are so much more powerful than the rest of English football they can afford to drop key players for the cup ties, and still win. They are so fine-tuned, so system-driven, that it is hard to imagine some of the surprises of the past ever happening again. Hence, the starry-eyed, hopeful side of the game is very hard to achieve. The last non-big six winner of the competition was It’s not the fault of the FA Cup that it’s not as influential as it was in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It can still excite people, but the most predictable thing about the competition has become the destination of the iconic trophy. In 29 years, Arsenal have won nine, Chelsea seven, Manchester United five and Liverpool and Manchester City two apiece. Only Everton (1995), Portsmouth (2008), Wigan (2013) and Leicester (2021) have broken the hold of the top clubs since the Premier League was created.

At the end of the day, the technicians of the Premier League surely resent the fact their datafuelled plans could be upset by that most haunting of setbacks, “the error”. While over the course of a league programme, the best teams will certainly prevail, sheer doggedness, emotion and basic good fortune have conjured up memorable moments in the history of the FA Cup. Nobody will remember an all-conquering team like Manchester City beating a club with fewer resources 6-0 in the final, but they will talk for years about heroes of Wembley who have pulled off the unexpected.

The FA Cup’s future does rely on surprises happening every now and then, but it is getting harder and harder to achieve “giantkilling”. If anything, this is why the Cup has mislaid its mass appeal. Knockout football should not merely be an extension of the Premier League schedule.