Things that no longer happen on FA Cup day

Tons of Apples

Well-known member
Seems a lot of the old traditions have gone - always used to love the TV build up - anyone remember FA Cup It’s a Knockout!!

 
From about 1971 to probably Coventry v Spurs I can tell you every single one with scorers etc. Now I can't remember who won it last year.
One of the greatest days of the year as a kid. I always thought playing and scoring in an FA Cup final as a kid would be the absolute ultimate as a player. Abide with me still gives me goosebumps when I hear it. Turn the TV on in the morning and square eyes by tea time on cup final day. Meet the teams at the hotel, travel on the coach with them, the proper Wembley....it was all wonderful.
Obviously the competition doesn't mean as much to teams these days but there is another reason why the FA Cup final day died. It's because there was only that, the home international England v Scotland game and the European Cup final shown live. You watched and enjoyed every minute of those games because it only happened 3 or so times a year.
I'll watch it today but it will mean nothing and particularly between two teams who I would both want to lose if they could.
 
I think I was spoiled as a kid.

First three cup final I remember was Cov beating Spurs with that diving header from Houchen. Then Wimbledon doing Liverpool and all the shock of a team just 10 years out of non-league beating the dominant force of last 2 decades.
Then it was the all Merseyside final that finished 3-2 and went to extra time.

Three different winners, two that were unexpected and winning for the first time, then a classic local derby which was obviously all the more intense for the aftermath of Hillsborough.

At the same time, the league cup was decent. Luton winning for example in same period

The slow death of cup football is really sad and I think it ultimately comes down to a lack of prize money in comparison to Europe and the Prem.

To answer the OP - I don't think you get a cheesy club song any more do you?
 
Always remember reading Stanley Matthews autobiography, he said league games were viewed as warm up games for the real competition, the FA Cup .
 
I watch it and have a few bets but yep, the magic is gone. Frustrating as Restoring it would just take allocation of one Champions League place from the greed league.
 
I think the mystique of the FA cup was that in a one off game anyone could potentially beat anyone.

The gulf between the top premiership teams and the other eighty odd teams is so vast that the only shock is if any of the top 6 don't take it seriously enough (due to having European commitments) that a team from the lower echelons could win the cup. Fair play to the BBC for trying to incite some excitement back into the competition but after the 4th round I lose interest.
 
A 3pm kick off.

The competition has gone through engineered destruction over the last 12 - 15 years.
The last great cup final I can remember was the Liverpool West Ham game. 2006 was it?
 
I don’t bother watching it any more, used to really enjoy the build up to the game as a kid but it has lost its magic 😪
 
I think the mystique of the FA cup was that in a one off game anyone could potentially beat anyone.

The gulf between the top premiership teams and the other eighty odd teams is so vast that the only shock is if any of the top 6 don't take it seriously enough (due to having European commitments) that a team from the lower echelons could win the cup. Fair play to the BBC for trying to incite some excitement back into the competition but after the 4th round I lose interest.
They don't take it seriously and still win it.
 
I have every fa cup final programme from 1950 to 1990. I couldnt be arsed continuing after 1990.

Most memorable cup final I saw was Sunderland v Leeds 1973. Engrained in the memory and I have no association with each club.
 
Used to be a celebrity game about an hour or so before kick off. Also, I swear they had some sort of junior cup final on the pitch playing width ways or on a smaller pitch.
 
It's a Knockout yes but also Cup Final Question of Sport. The team buses arriving, the tortuous fanfare led by Ken Dodd, Bruce Forsythe or a n other, then Abide With Me and finally, into the match itself. I'd usually want to support the northern team (which made West Ham v Fulham a bit of a non-event) or the less fancied team (Wimbledon, Sunderland). Then the BBC would show some of the Scottish Cup first half highlights at half-time. A brilliant day, recounted in the evening, talking to your mates about it.

As I've posted on another thread, the diminution of the FA Cup has been a crime. Why has it happened? Simple, money. The League and Champions League are about making huge profits. The FA CUP is a sports competition and, therefore, not important.
 
I’ve got a 53 cup final programme in good nick and a club tie from the same era. Passed on to me by my uncle. What would a collection of 40years plus be worth I wonder?
 
It's a Knockout yes but also Cup Final Question of Sport. The team buses arriving, the tortuous fanfare led by Ken Dodd, Bruce Forsythe or a n other, then Abide With Me and finally, into the match itself. I'd usually want to support the northern team (which made West Ham v Fulham a bit of a non-event) or the less fancied team (Wimbledon, Sunderland). Then the BBC would show some of the Scottish Cup first half highlights at half-time. A brilliant day, recounted in the evening, talking to your mates about it.

As I've posted on another thread, the diminution of the FA Cup has been a crime. Why has it happened? Simple, money. The League and Champions League are about making huge profits. The FA CUP is a sports competition and, therefore, not important.

🧡 Diminution 🧡
 
The FA Cup Final was massive back in the day. We can all savour 1953, and rightly so, but back in the 80s it was on both main channels, BBC & ITV simultaneously! We only had three or four channels back then! 😂 Big build up too from about 9am right up till kick-off if I recall rightly.
 
There were very few live games on TV during my childhood and the Cup Final was one of them.
During build always showed highlights of “Matthews final”.
We were all excited too watching it from morning leading up to the kickoff.
One of the rare occasions when I have supported Nobbers.
1964 final v West Ham.
 
When I was growing up the whole Saturday was taken up for the cup final
Swap shop would be football themed
Fa Cup special of question of sport
Torturous interviews with players, normally with a bit of breaking news.... Oh ossie ardilies has gone for a shit, more info soon
Interviews with celebrity fans
Most of all it was a 3pm kick off and it was a viewing spectacle for the day
The fa Cup was dying on its arse and to me it finally died when the kick off moved to 5.30pm...... Any northern fans attending were screwed for trains
 
Having to close the curtains in the living room, ( early 60’s) so you could see the old black & white screen better.
 
Having to close the curtains in the living room, ( early 60’s) so you could see the old black & white screen better.
God yes. All the other memories I remembered. But I’d forgotten about the curtains. You were basically in gloom from 9am to about 6. Watching the gogglebox. With mum not really getting it - “For the sixth time!!!!!! TEA IS ON THE TABLE!!!!!!!”
 
Everyone has forgotten the most important thing that never happens anymore...

Interviews with the players drinking milk in front of the blue velvet curtain 😉
 
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