......... do people still watch it? please log in to view this image There was a time when it was one of the biggest days of the season no matter who was playing. People would gather in each other's homes, put on bait & booze & start watching after lunch ..... or dinner as we called it. We'd jeer as 'Liverpool/United/Town's greatest fan' came on to bore us, it was always some fat bastard like Jimmy Tarbuck who hardly ever went. We'd pick out our favourite home made flag, there were always hundreds, and have a bet that some kid would take down to the bookies ..... "Oh and get some bottles of brown on the way ....... I'll have some tabs ...... post this letter while yer going ...... and some bags of crisps, I'll pay you when you're back." We'd pick a side, really cheer them and really argue with the 'other side'. It just dawned on me that it's tomorrow, I'd forgotten What happened ...............
You forgot to mention Stuart Hall and It's a Cup Final Knockout!!!! Some things change for the better!!
I used to like the fact that it was on 2 different tv channels. I used to turn over the channels to watch it from slightly different camera angles when I was a kid. The miracles of modern technology! The 1984 (I think) final sticks in my mind - Man Utd v Brighton. The Michael Robinson one. And the one where Peter Reid got Kevin Moran sent off The first football match I ever paid any attention to ever was the 1981 final between Spurs and City. Aye, used to love the Cup!
Remember those days well. Used to nick a bottle of wine and watch discreetly from behind the sofa with loads of snacks. Got totally ratted one year - must have been about 12 The build-up was all day and the papers had massive "Road to Wembley" features in the centre pages. Happy days!
You were always hoping some knacker would run on the pitch followed by half a dozen falling down coppers
Tomorrow on bbc 2 at 9 am they are showing 30 mins of the 1973 cup final !. I miss the playing in 6 inches of snow in feb with a orange ball and Brian moore on telly during the cup finals, and the Freddy star hitler gig ! at the 1975 final.
The excitement used to build up to fever pitch on cup final morning, watching the teams arrive by coach, the fans flocking to the stadium. It was one of the few occasions when we could close the curtains so there was no shadow on the telly. To me it started to devalue the occasion when they started playing the semis at Wembley.
This fantastic tournament has been devalued by the FA by putting the semi finals on at Wembley, by the likes of Sky who have promoted the Premier League as being the be all and end all, but most of all by football fans (and ours are as bad as anyone in the country) who have fell for all this hype and don't attend cup games in anywhere like the numbers that they used to.. The cup tie atmosphere used to be legendary, but now it is more often like a damp squib..
It was magic wasn't it, I feel so sorry for my sons that they'll never witness anything like it. One of my favourite games was Blyth Spartans away at Wrexham. The home fans expected a minibus and a Morris Marina to arrive, what they got was thousands on Blyth, Newcastle, Sunderland, Darlington, etc etc etc. The atmosphere was bordering on hysteria and the locals & police were openly shocked. I'll have a nose round the internet to see if I can find a clip. Found it, we were in the corner where the dodgy corner was taken. At the end of the game a few Wrexham came on the pitch to taunt us ...... as the first few Blyth lads went over the fence they **** their pants and scarpered. We went to the replay at SJP but were locked out with thousands more, got mortal listening to the radio in a local pub and had to sleep in the car.
I went to the replay at Sid James's Park (only time I have been there when Sunderland were not playing), and it was the same..Loads of fans from all over the North East backing them. I do believe that it was by far and away the biggest crowd there that season..
I went to that game but couldn't get in. I still play golf every year with the captain of the Spartans team, John Waterson.
My favourite ever game was the WBA FA cup game away in 1974. I kid you not, there was over 20000 black and whites down there. An absolutely fantastic day. I remember MOTD didn't play the introduction music, it panned around the ground at the Geordies singing You'll never walk alone. Probably you lot will hold it in the same regard as the Man City cup game at your place around the same time. I know a lot of my mates do, the boring bastards.
Back in 1956 WBA were the top team and stood a good chance of doing the double but with the cup final being the only televised game in the season it deserved its glamour fixture title. WBA first team had about seven "injuries" over the last two games that cost them the league but gave them the cup. When a team won the league everybody went home but the cup guaranteed a massive welcome home. As grandpops said, 1000% more football on the box has downgraded it but don't tell Villa fans that as they head into a Euro season next year, win or lose.
