Stan Collymore with the match ball after his hat-trick helped the Reds to a 7-0 victory over Rochdale in the FA Cup 3rd Round in 1996.
I actually qualified for a ticket for the AFC Wimbledon game in the third round when just 825 of us got the chance to go.
The only problem being I couldn’t go. Apparently my mate Sue had a fantastic time. I still have a picture of ‘my ticket’ somewhere on my phone that I can look at wistfully from time to time.
When the draw for the third round was made and it gave us Wimbledon away I couldn’t have been any happier — the football hipster in me always wants an outlandish away draw in domestic cup competitions.
I have every away FA Cup game on my season ticket/fan card since records began. Veteran of Yeovil Town 2004 here, I’ll have you know.
So I think it’s fair to say I’m still a fan of the FA Cup — even if the actions of the Football Association and the television companies that hold the rights to cover the games continue to test that resolve.
Monday night though? It was logistically impossible for me to go to Wimbledon on the first Monday of the New Year. I could have done any kick-off time on the Saturday or Sunday — I could have even done the Friday night. New Year’s Day landing on the Thursday meant the Gregorian calendar had as much to answer for as the FA and the BBC did. They all played a bit of shocker really.
Television companies shifting games to inhospitable days and kick-off times is nothing new. It used to be a bit of a surprise though when the laws of geography were completely over-ridden, and a sharp intake of breath would be taken when these occurrences tipped up. The FA would shuffle their feet and mumble that the television companies had paid a large amount of money for the right to piss the match-going supporters off. And the television companies would issue an apology with added platitudes that they’d only done it because it was clearly the tie of the round.
Over time the apologies dried up and the FA stopped the pretence that they give a shit about fans. On the same Monday night that Liverpool went to Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur fans faced a trip to Burnley, while 24 hours later West Ham United supporters were tasked with reaching Goodison Park. On. A. Tuesday. Night.
Liverpool fans at Huish Park for the FA Cup 3rd round match against Yeovil in 2004
Manchester United fans have to find their way to Cambridge United for a match tonight. Giggling at the back of the class about them ‘not having far to travel, because they’re all from the south anyway’ put to one side, it’s another display of bellendery by the BBC and the FA. On the other side of the coin, I do like Friday night games and would take them any day of the week over a Monday night game.
The FA Cup seems to be the guinea-pig of unusual kick off times. The next Premier League television deal is expected to include some Friday night games, which is all a bit retro for those of us that are old enough to remember the BBC showing live Friday night games in the mid-1980s (or for those who nipped over to Prenton Park in the Aldo days – Ed).
As I say above I quite like a Friday night game, be it in person at the ground or with my feet up armed with a cold bottle of beer and a nearby takeaway menu.
Yet the combined stupidity of the FA and television companies have resulted in some really bad kick off ideas with the FA Cup. Being stood at Fratton Park for a 6pm kick off one Sunday evening springs to mind, as does Manchester United fans invading the pitch at Villa Park at an experimental 8pm Sunday night game that was never repeated. It seems hard enough for football clubs to get supporters through the turnstiles for FA Cup games as it is without making them not just prohibitive in ticket prices but also difficult to get to thanks to poorly thought kick off times.
All of that said, I don’t buy in to it when people are dismissive of the tournament. Champions League football being more important than winning the FA Cup is a valid but moot point. As Arsenal showed last season you are allowed to do both.
Seeing Liverpool win the FA Cup in May would be an infinitely more enjoyable experience than the one handed to us in the Champions League earlier this season. It would also be invaluable for the development of a set of players who will soon face the future without their ‘talismanic figure’ of a captain. It would be a great send off for him too.
We have more depth to our squad now and we have some players who are beginning to find form and confidence at perhaps the right time. Let’s be greedy in the next four or five days in the cup competitions, then get back to reeling in that top four spot.
We still exist to win trophies and we’ve not done enough of that over the course of the last few years. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda
Ah… the FA Cup. I was as school in 1972 when we played an FA Cup replay with Leeds. Only problem it was an afternoon kick off due to power cuts because of the Miners’ Strike. I sagged school and went. A fantastic game between two powerful sides, so good that the ref clapped the teams off! Look North cameras filmed us coming out of the station, so of course I waved and shouted, as you do when you’re a kid. Unfortunately they showed the footage that night so my forged note claiming sickness was laughed at and a detention followed. Worth it though, even though we lost.
Fair point about an FA Cup final being better than this years CL campaign. Valid but moot. The domestic cups are a bit of fun. Good opportunity for a day out if you reach the final and a good chance to see the likes of Allen, (if fit) and Balotelli (if fit). The difference now is we have some good players who are outside the preferred 11 but feel like first team players. I have some funny ways though and one of them is if we’re competing for the league and still in the CL then I’m desperate for us to win our domestic cup games. They become as important as CL games. If we’re not challenging though it completely devalues the cups for me. I do actually see them as mickey mouse cups. I think it’s probably got something to do with the fact that I only stop moaning and being negative about things when we’re doing well.
I hold two season tickets for someone who lives abroad most of the year. So, I decide how they’re used. It means I have the opportunity to go to a lot of the away games. I never go though. I even pass on the Utd ones now. I’m gonna moan again here. It’s not just the kick off times and days but that is a massive part of it for me too. It’s the whole package. I got 1 for both Sunderland and Newcastle and thought I might be interested. I worked out the trip and it was up at 6 for the 7 o clock train, pay £75 for the train, nearly £50 to get in then basically get on the train home and arrive back in the evening. With a group of mates that’s a good day out but as none of my mates get away tickets, doing that on your own is the behaviour of a sociopath and a well off one at that. So, tickets are scarce and expensive, the trains are expensive and unreliable, football’s expensive and weekends are valuable. Last thing I want to do on a Sunday is the above scenario. I went to Barnsley v Chester in the FA Cup earlier this season. A 2 o clock Sunday k.o and I was lying in bed that morning thinking why the fuck am I going there. The weather was ridiculous and I’d been out the night before. Awful day. I had a ticket for Chelsea on Tuesday but the truth is, I’d rather not have days off in the winter and save my holidays to use in the summer. I’ll just watch it on TV. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to go to the away games but not for that price, on a Sunday or on my own. My lad plays footy at the weekend and I’m as much into that as Liverpool games so after the pro’s and cons are weighed up I simply can’t be arsed.
I just hope the Kop are up for it enough tomorrow to sing the Jordan Henderson song. He needs to be rewarded for his actions this week. He needs to know we appreciate his stance against Costa. Talking of which, I’d love to see all Liverpool fans sign the petition to get a statue of Bob Paisley erected in the new development. What a worthy petition for a great man. #statueforbob