Men’s 2020 FA Cup Final

Saturday 1^st August 2020

As you will be aware, Arsenal lifted the FA Cup by beating Chelsea 2-1.  The last time the GKA covered the FA Cup, Arsenal also lifted the trophy, but things were different then – much different. 

It was back in the 2013/14 Season and it was the GKA’s second trip to Wembley that year. There have been no trips to Wembley in 2020 as we’ve had to watch all games from the Quarter Final stage onwards from a telly-box in either mine, or ex blog guest Tim’s or Mr Top’s livings rooms.  In 2014, the FA Cup Final tickets cost £83 each, in 2020, it was the cost of a BBC TV licence, a TV and some electricity.  There were no petrol costs, no car maintenance costs and no 4-hour drive to Wembley. 

This also meant that there was no atmosphere in the stadium, no singing, no clapping, no corporate tickets and no drunken fans trying to fight, like last time: -

See insert from GKA 2014 Final – Arsenal V Hull

‘Arsenal scored and about 40% of my stand stood up and cheered. I thought I was in a Hull area but… it was a mixed corporate stand.  Three Hull fans turned to two Arsenal fans and they were in each other’s faces until security came along to break up the ‘fight.’ The Arsenal fan started to draw back his fist as if he was going to punch the Hull fan, but he only did this after two security guards stood between them. The Hull fan leaned across and said, ‘I’m going to cut you up and feed you to your mate.’ Security dragged them away and an American guy in front of me thought it was brilliant.  He said he’s been to loads of sporting events in American but never once seen any trouble. 5 mins later security brought all the ‘troublemakers’ back and made them shake hands. At half time the Arsenal fans left and didn’t come back for the second half.’

I watched the 2020 final in my living with Tim and there wasn’t any violence as we were both neutral.

The 2020 final was the 139^th FA Cup final and was the most unique ever. It was the first and probably only to be played in August behind closed doors and it kicked off 358 days after the Extra-Preliminary round started on 9^th August 2019 (the GKA’s opening match was at Oldham on 10^th August 2019).  

In the 2020 final we had 2 new managers who had both won the competition with their respective teams. It was always going to be a closely fought game as both Arsenal and Chelsea had previously won the FA Cup 6 times this Century. Arsenal have now won 7 times this Century and they hold the record of 14 Cups in total – this victory get’s them into the Europa league for 2020/21.

Normally, this would be the end of the blog and the 2020/21 FA Cup Extra-Preliminary would be starting within the next couple of weeks.  However, at this point we still have 3 more rounds in the women’s FA Cup to complete. The FA has announced that the final few rounds will be finished off in September and October and the women’s 2020 FA Cup final is due to be played on 31^st October 2020.  Maybe the lockdown restrictions will have eased and the GKA could end this version of the blog with a trip to Wembley.

We were following Brian James’s ‘Journey to Wembley’ book to play homage to one of the first written ‘Road to Wembley journeys.’  We were doing this to compare with the modern-day game, especially to the women’s game. However, this Covid 19 thing, kind of ruined that idea.  In the 1977 final, Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 in front of 99,252 fans. That’s a lot of fans, but this was in the days when the FA Cup was a big deal.  There was a full month of press coverage towards the build up as every Newspaper, Radio Station and TV Station (all 3 of them) reported on every player’s cough, sneeze, injury or drunken night out.

Liverpool and Manchester United fans were only allocated 20,000 tickets each as the rest was allocated to the corporate masses of the FA. Prices ranged from £2.50 (modern day £15.64) to £90 (modern day £562.87). In 2019, tickets for the men’s final ranged from £40 to £145 and both Clubs (Manchester City and Watford) were allocated 28,000 tickets each. The 2019 women’s final cost £15 a ticket or £7.50 if you bought early – no team allocations were given and 43,264 fans attended.

Back in 1977 the final was covered live by both BBC and ITV and we still had the lost tradition of the Club FA Cup song: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOuT38UOuU8

As the GKA has made this journey in 20019/20 it has developed a new appreciated for the women’s game and personally I see it as a fantastic other to the men’s game. The Women’s game offers a genuine alternative in which tickets are cheaper and you see lots of families with children (both boys and girls) enjoying a game of football. From my experience, it’s a more positive, relaxed atmosphere as the crowds tend to shout encouragement rather than abuse, and there is less emphasis on groups of men trying to shove as much alcohol down their necks as possible.  

If the women’s game was to get bigger, then in some ways it would lose its charm – perhaps we’d see inflated prices, millionaire protected players and hard to get tickets that families can't afford. It could become a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ and it might make more sense to pump money into the women's game at grassroots level, rather than just the WSL.  

GKA Awards 2019/20: -

Best Men’s Game

The GKAs’ Favourite men’s game of the 2019/20 journey was Notts County Vs Belper Town in the 4^th Qualifying Round. In a closely fought game, Notts County won 2-1 and it was fantastic to visit Meadow Lane (one of the oldest stadiums in the England).

….and be right in the heart of the Belper Town fans: -

‘I had purposely bought tickets in the Belper end as I thought it would be more fun (remember the GKA is a neutral fan).  As a team in the 8^th tier of football, this was a massive game for Belper, and I guessed their fans would be highly excitable.  We went high towards the back row and it was loud!Further to my right, there was a drumming section and with 20 minutes to go before kick-off, the drums were beating, and the fans were singing.  It was difficult to hear myself think… we had chants of ‘Yellow’ and ‘We all live for a Yellow Football Team’… These were passionate fans, having a great day out and it was a privilege to be part of it.’

Best Women’s Game

The GKA’s favourite Women’s game so far was the 2^nd Qualifying Round game between Mossley Hill v Sunderland West End. In which Mossley Hill won an epic game via a penalty shoot-out.

‘On the 90^th minute it was 3-3 and the final whistle blew. 

The assistant linesman jokingly complained that his dinner was going to be late and we moved into an extra 30 minutes of play. However, the ball girls had already quit before full-time arrived.

 

On the 105^th Minute, West End made it 4-3. 

 

As they switched sides, one of the West End players shouted, ‘I can’t wait to read this match report from the ‘Killing Man’, or whatever he’s called.’

 

I presumed she meant me!  Unless there is a killing man out there. 

 

… high quality football does not always equate to high quality entertainment.  The game on Saturday (In the men’s 2^nd Qualifying Round) was played at a high standard, but it was not as entertaining or thrilling as this one.

 

On the 112^th minute Mossley Hill made it 4-4 and then spent the final 8 minutes pinned in their own box. 

 

The final whistle blew, and this was my 2^nd Mossley Hill Penalty shoot-out.’

Best Overall Moment

As Stockport County Women v Brighouse Town Women went into extra time, then penalties (3^rd Qualifying Round), the pitch had been double booked from 5pm onwards by Stockport Town Men’s team.  As the Women’s team were in the middle of a tense penalty shoot-out, Stockport Town’s Men’s team came running onto the pitch and started warming up in the opposite goal mouth!    

Sooooooo, it appears that our 2020 adventure hasn’t ended. We’ve still got the Women’s Quarter Finals and Semi Finals to be played (behind closed doors) in September/October and the possibility of a GKA trip to Wembley on the 31^st October for the Women’s 2019/20 final – We’ll have to wait and see! 

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