Norwich City V Manchester United, Sheffield United V Arsenal, Leicester City V Chelsea and Newcastle United V Manchester City.
FA Cup Quarter Finals (Women’s)
Err, kinda got called off due to a combination of a pandemic, economics and probable inequality.
Saturday 27th June 2020
Well, the JKA is back, after a three-month break in which the world has been on lockdown and football has returned behind closed doors. A lot has happened since our last GKA games that saw Derby County lose to Manchester United in the men’s 5th Round and Manchester City Women demolish Ipswich Town Women.
We’ve had a global pandemic, a complete lockdown, the murder of George Floyd, race riots, a black lives matter campaign, statues being vandalised and a global recession – these things put football and this blog into perspective and the whole point of this blog has kinda been ruined because it was meant to be about two aspects – comparing and contrasting my experience of the women’s game to the men’s (no longer possible), and visiting the fantastic villages, towns, cities and stadiums of England (not possible at the moment).
Before the pandemic, the women’s game, on the surface, seemed to be gaining momentum and interest. The women’s quarter final match between Arsenal and Tottenham was due to be shown live on the BBC on 15th March. On the same day, Brighton were hosting Birmingham, Leicester were hosting Manchester City and I had a ticket to see Everton V Chelsea.
On closer inspection (below), may ticket may have the wrong stadium address on it, as Everton women no longer play at Southport. They had already moved to Walton Hall Park, one mile from Goodison, before that ticket had been created. Was this an error or had that game been shifted back to their old stadium that most fans complained was too far away? Neither answer is good, but it’s all a bit redundant now as the match was cancelled (Everton were good enough to provide me with a refund and I didn’t even have to ask).
I had also purchased two tickets for the women’s FA Cup final that was due to be played on 9th May 2020.
I don’t recall being refunded for this? Is this correct the FA? Are you not bothering?
Anyway, the point is that the Women’s Super League and Championship were cancelled – Chelsea were crowned Championships (on average points per game game) despite being 2nd at the time of closedown.
While the men’s game, on the other hand, was postponed for three months and now we are back behind closed doors (all games being shown on TV). In an era of lockdown in which the nation was starved of all sport, it may have been a good opportunity to keep the women’s game going, televise all their matches and perhaps drum up some interest? I guess we’ll never know.
Where does this leave the GKA?
I had two options, quit or try and finish what I started on 10th August 2019 to be best of my ability – the adage of turning lemons into lemonade.
As stated above, the women’s game has ended for the 2019/20 season, so no more comparisons and no more travelling to the men’s games – from now until the FA cup final on 1st August the GKA will report from its home stadium (image below taken from Twitter and please ignore the Coca Cola advert as other soft drinks are available. Drink responsibly as too much sugar has been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and dementia – allegedly).
Before I begin, I would like to congratulate Liverpool for their dominance of the men’s game, and for having the greatest single league season that any team has had ever had… well done.
Not so well done for some of their fans to completely broke all social distancing rules and aimed fireworks towards flammable and historical buildings in their own city. I understand the excitement of winning, but not the urge to be pyrotechnic arsonists.
Back to Sat 27th June 2020
17:30 – Norwich City V Manchester United on BBC
Stadiums with no fans, the first ever FA Cup game to be played in June and the dilemma of stadium noise or fake crowd noise? I chose fake crowd noise as it somehow felt comforting. On a day that rained heavily, I was glad not be travelling, so I settled down for a pretty boring first half of football.
New rules include 5 substitutions in normal play, with an additional 6th if we reached extra time. No replays and all games go to penalties if needed. Let’s not forget two drinkie breaks at the midway point of each half.
It was 0-0 half time, so I went to get a drink, very cheap and no queuing.
The game was 1-1 at full time… out of despair I visited the bar before an extra 30 minutes.
Manchester United (who have won the cup 12 times) edged the game 1-2. There was no stadium to walk round and no ticket price to share and contrast.
Later that night, I got a text from ex-blog guest Tim Webster who had been watching a BBC program about the Heads Up/ Heads Together campaign supported and co-ordinated by Prince William. In the photo below, the GKA have inadvertently managed to be on the BBC, as Tim and I are in this picture from the 3rd Round Proper game we attended. PNE were beaten by Norwich City.
On that weekend in January 2020, all matches kicked off One-minute late as a short film to raise awareness of mental health was broadcast throughout most stadiums. As a mental health professional (Counsellor, Psychotherapist, Psychologist and University Lecturer) I decided to watch the documentary and I encourage all others to do so.
It reminds us that 67% of all UK suicides are male, and that suicide is one of the biggest killers of males under age 45. Coincidentally I had attended a suicide memorial event at PNE last November 2019, in which ex-footballer Clarke Carlisle spoke about his suicide attempts and how he was convinced (at the time of his last suicide attempt) that his family and the world would be a better place without him. Clark was a wonderful person, and a fantastic speaker amongst many other former rugby players who admitted that they’d suffered from depression during their playing years. They couldn’t admit it at the time due to the macho atmosphere of the dressing room and many masked their conditions by drinking, gambling, womanising and getting into fights.
The next morning, I attended a knife crime awareness conference and I spoke to an ex British boxing world champion who admitted to me that he had done the same thing through his career. In the afternoon I attended a gambling addiction conference and I spoke to an up and coming British heavy weight boxer – guess what, he is suffering and turned to gambling to ‘self-medicate.’
This is still a real problem that could become worse due to lockdown isolation and an upcoming recession. Prince William’s campaign is about starting a conversation – he is right, but I want to add one more thing – it’s also about listening.
At one point in the documentary a young male suffering from anxiety is talking to his family and says, ‘this all started when I was made redundant.’
His mother replied, ‘but that wasn’t major was it, there are worst things can happen.’
The above sentence is an example of NOT listening.
So, I would add to the importance of talking, the equally important concept of listening. Let’s look after each other and if someone comes to you and wants to talk, it’s important to listen, without being judgemental – JUST LISTEN, or as an academic I would stress ‘JUST FUCKIN LISTEN.’
Sunday 28th June
13:00 Sheffield United V Arsenal on BT Sport.
No GKA corner flag shot and the score ended Sheffield United 1-2 Arsenal. Arsenal have won the FA Cup more times than any other team (13 times) and move to the next round.
16:00 Leicester V Chelsea BT Sport
No fan numbers to report on and no prize money comparisons with the women’s game. But we did have (in all the games) a round of applause for the NHS, an act of remembrance to all who have died of Covid 19, and all players taking a knee to support the Black Lives Matter campaign.
Chelsea the 8-time FA Cup winners won 0-1.
18:30 Newcastle United V Manchester City on BBC.
This is the game that the GKA was going to attend as ex-BBC sports correspondent Richard Conway is a big Newcastle fan and he was going to ‘sort me out’ for a ticket!
Instead, I was still sat at home as part of the GKA’s TV FA Cup bonanza day.
Manchester City, the current holders and five-time winners of the competition advanced to the next round with a 0-2 victory.
Men’s Semi final draw
Manchester United V Chelsea
Arsenal V Manchester City
Games to be played at Wembley on the weekend of 18th/19th
July
Route Men’s (if I’d have attended Newcastle V Man City).
|
Avro Fc 3 |
4 Litherland Remyca |
|
Sheffield FC 2 |
1 Litherland Remyca |
|
Rushall Olympic 3 |
1 Sheffield FC |
|
Rushall Olympic 2 |
0 Gainsborough Trinity |
|
Belper Town FC 2 |
0 Rushall Olympic |
|
Notts County 2 |
1 Belper Town |
|
Blackpool FC 4 |
0 Morecombe FC |
|
Oldham Athletic 0 |
1 Burton Albion FC |
|
PNE 2 |
4 Norwich City |
|
Burnley FC 1 |
2 Norwich City |
|
Derby County FC 0 |
3 Manchester United FC |
|
Newcastle United 0 |
2 Manchester City |
RIP Team and Stadium (if I’d have attended Newcastle V Man City).
|
Avro FC |
Vestacare Stadium |
|
Burnley Belvedere Ladies |
Belvedere & Calder Vale Sports Club |
|
Litherland Remyca |
Litherland Sports Park |
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies |
Failsworth Sports Campus |
|
Sheffield FC |
Home of Football Stadium |
|
Gainsborough Trinity FC |
The Northolme |
|
Sunderland West End Ladies |
Herrington Recreational Park |
|
Rushall Olympic |
Dales Lane |
|
Mossley Hill Ladies |
Field of Hope Stadium |
|
Belper Town |
Christchurch Meadows |
|
Stockport County LFC |
Stockport Sports Village |
|
Liverpool Feds LFC |
Jericho Lane Sports Hub |
|
Oldham Athletic FC |
Boundary Park |
|
Chorley FC Women |
Victory Park |
|
PNE |
Deepdale |
|
Brighouse Town Women |
The Yorkshire Payments Stadium |
|
Burnley FC |
Turf Moor |
|
Burnley Women FC |
The Ruby Civil Arena |
|
Ipswich Town Women |
Goldstar Ground |
|
Derby County FC |
Pride Park |
|
Newcastle United |
St James’ Park |
Back to 1977
Back in 1977 there wasn’t a world pandemic and so the FA Cup quarter finals were played in March, in front of fans.
Saturday 19th March 1977
Liverpool V Middlesbrough
Rather much like 2020, Liverpool were a major force in football and in 1977 they were fighting for the league, the FA Cup and the European Cup (Champions League). Everton were also a big club and for some reason back in those days, two teams from a big city could play at home, on the same day, at the same time – this sounds like a logistical policing and transport nightmare, but as Liverpool were kicking off against Middlesbrough, Everton were playing Debry County. Anfield and Goodison aint that far from each other and at the time, the clubs shared the same 60 gate staff, the same 60 programme sellers and the same police force.
Volunteers were needed to help with this 70s chaos and both teams won. Liverpool were comfortable 2-0 victors and they drew Everton in the next round – the FA Cup semi-final, due to be played on Saturday, 23rd April 1977.
A total lack of 70s social distancing (images and info taken from Brian James book).
Route 1977
|
Hinckley Athletic 0 |
1 Tividale |
|
Oldbury United 0 |
4 Tividale |
|
Tividale 0 |
3 Telford United |
|
Hednesford Town 0 |
0 Telford United |
|
Telford United 3 |
0 Hednesford Town |
|
Telford United 2 |
5 Matlock Town |
|
Matlock Town 2 |
0 Wigan Athletic |
|
Mansfield Town 2 |
5 Matlock Town |
|
Carlisle United 5 |
1 Matlock Town |
|
Liverpool 3 |
0 Carlisle United |
|
Liverpool 3 |
1 Oldham Athletic |
|
Liverpool 2 |
0 Middlesbrough |
#thanksnhs #blacklivesmatter #justlisten #justfuckinlisten
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