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
|