How I yearn back to the day when Cup Final Saturday was a special day no matter who was there. Of course it was always better if your team had made it to the finale of domestic football’s greatest competition, but BBC’s Grandstand or ITV’s World of Sport always saw to it that you had a special interest in that day’s proceedings no matter who was involved. From the day’s TV coverage at the team hotels, the journey by coach to Wembley, walking on the pitch in those made to measure (Man at C&A) suits, the military marching band, getting goosebumps singing Abide with Me, walking out the tunnel into a cocophony of noise, 90 minutes of no holds barred football war interrupted by 20 minutes of expert analysis, the ecstasy of the winning team at the final whistle, the dejection of the losing team at the final whistle, collecting the cup from the elegant Duchess of Kent and finally the lap of honour.
It was pure 24-carat TV gold. Of course there was always the fun aspects of the day such as cup final Saint & Greavsie, cup final Question of Sport and the dreadful cup final songs (except for Chas & Dave’s Ossies Dream, Liverpool’s Anfield Rap and Chelsea’s Blue is the Colour).
There are still elements of cup final days gone by in the coverage but it’s just not the same and this time the members of the jury cannot find SKY guilty of its demise, although I bet they would like to get their hands on the TV rights. No, I think the FA Cup is just not as important anymore because money has killed its appeal and status. I know that Manchester City and Stoke City fans will tell me different but it says a lot for this prestigious competition when there are Premier League and Football League Play-Off matches being played on the same day, albeit before and after the final itself. The FA Cup Final of old had just one competitor on the day and that was the Scottish Cup Final, which both kicked off simultaneously. Now we don’t even have them on the same day (due to SKY this time with the Scottish Cup).
I believe that Manchester United’s decision not to enter the FA Cup in season 1999-2000 made a mockery of the competition and I feel that they shouldn’t have been allowed to do this by the Football Association at that time without paying a severe penalty such as a future ban. I also believe that UEFA’s decision to abolish the European Cup Winners Cup after Lazio won it for the final time in 1999 has had an impact on devaluing the English competition.
Both competitions went hand in hand and they were both played on a knock out basis where as now the FA Cup winner qualifies for the quite awful and second rate Europa League where every team gets so many chances to qualify. Stoke City will be absolutely overjoyed at the prospect of entering the competition next season but the further they progress may impact on their Premiership form especially if they are in the relegation mix, which I hope doesn’t happen.
Anyway, I think that the Football Association along with TV companies need to come up with ways to restore the competition to its former glories and make it the highlight of the domestic cup season once again. This year, ESPN’s TV coverage of cup final day is excellent and has an old fashioned cup final day ring to it with a schedule from ‘Breakfast at Wembley’ all the way through to ‘Post Match Party’, and without any interruptions for adverts. Alas, it is a subscription channel and not every football supporter will have access to it so they will have to make do with the terrestrial coverage on ITV which begins 2 hours prior to kick off (skips breakfast and just a light lunch). I can only compare it to a feast and a salad.
Bring back the Duchess!
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