FA Cup Fever

The FA Cup proper is now under way. Several League 1 and 2 clubs are already insisting they are now "concentrating on the league" having messed up at the weekend. Ah, the FA Cup. Giant killings. Wembley. The twin towers. Players dropping like flies, their calves screaming with cramp. Losers sobbing on the turf. Winners jogging a lap of honour, lid perched on one head, its base on another, and the famous silver pot passed from hand to hand. It all seems so anachronistic in the modern era of hastily-erected podia festooned with exploding tickertape and sponsors’ logos, choreographed award ceremonies and the obligatory interviews. And yet the world’s oldest football tournament endures.

In the dark hours of the early Noughties, the axe was almost visible, hovering over the premier knockout competition not only in England but the entire planet. When Manchester United withdrew in preference for the more prestigious World Team Championship in 1999, the writing seemed to be on the wall. When the walls themselves, along with the twin towers of old Wembley were destroyed to make way for the shining arch of the new, the showpiece finale was transferred to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium for six years. A magnificent venue but it seemed to tarnish further the lustre of the trophy.

As a child, the FA Cup was a thing of wonder. Everyone wanted to win, have their day at Wembley. There was none of this nonsense of resting key players for the Europa League. Non-League amateurs had their opportunity to mix it with the big boys, bringing the stars “down to our patch” where for ninety minutes you had a chance of upsetting the odds and the local garage could have their advertising board seen by millions on Match of the Day. Sides featuring a motley crew of postmen, PE teachers and clerks would for a week or two welcome reporters and cameras into their territory for a fleeting fragment of fame. For the few who managed to sustain a decent run through the rounds, their players could write their names not only in encyclopedia footnotes but in local folklore for ever.

The first genuine shock I recall came in the 1970-71 season. As I’ve mentioned already, Leeds were the biggest guns of them all, and so provided the greatest scalp of all for plucky clubs in the lower divisions. That season, Colchester United were in the fourth tier and, after overcoming similarly impoverished opposition, found themselves in the fifth round at home to Don Revie’s team. The seeds were sown, the conditions perfect for a potential pratfall for Charlton, Giles, Clarke et al. In front of 16,000 spectators somehow shoehorned into little Layer Road, plus a BBC TV crew, the Blues won 3-2. I don’t need YouTube to relive the veteran Ray Crawford’s hook from the turf or Dave Simmons’ header over Sprake; they are goals never to be forgotten. It matters not a jot that Colchester were well beaten at Everton in the quarter-finals; legend status had been achieved.

A year later I recall watching MOTD, featuring the unfamiliar tones of a young John Motson, playing and replaying one of the competition’s greatest ever moments. Newcastle travelled to Southern League Hereford for a third round replay in February 1972 fearing the worst. Both sides missed easy chances but when Malcolm Macdonald finally found the net, the favourites had seemingly sealed their passage. However, when in the 85^th minute, Ronnie Radford crashed a thirty-yarder from a sea of mud into the Newcastle net to equalise, the thousands of kids fizzing on the touchline like bubbles in an unopened bottle of Tizer poured onto the quagmire in delight. The invasion was repeated in extra-time when Ricky George scored the winner. It was sensational stuff.

There have been many other examples of Division 3, 4 or even non-League outfits embarrassing top teams in my lifetime. Sutton’s triumph over Coventry in 1987 was outstanding but Wrexham’s humbling of star-studded Arsenal in 1992 was particularly satisfying for all but the most ardent Gooners, a nations’ revenge for that godawful away kit. What a free-kick that was by Mickey Thomas! 

More recently there have been memorable runs by the likes of Barnsley (beating Liverpool and Chelsea in 2008) and Lincoln City, who in 2017 (seems much longer ago) became the first non-League team since QPR a century earlier to reach the quarter-finals. A shame Arsenal spoiled the party by winning 5-0, the b*st*rds.

However, possibly the most gratifying FA Cup result came a few years earlier in 2015 when in a fourth round tie at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea chucked a 2-0 lead to lose 2-4 to League One Bradford City. Seeing Jose Mourinho’s face in defeat never fails to fill my heart with joy. For that alone I will always cherish the tournament. In 2018/19, could it be Billericay Town's year? I'd like to say stranger things have happened but...they haven't. Never mind, just one giant-killing act would be enough to create history; that's both the beauty and emotional power of the FA Cup.