Women's 2020 Final

 

As you can see, for the second year running, Manchester City lifted the cup for the 3^rd time.  It was a much closer game than last year when City beat West Ham 3-0.

Willie Kirk’s Everton team are on the verge of challenging the traditional top 3 (now a top 4 as Manchester United have upped their game too).  This is all good new for the women’s game, as this year it started with record breaking crowds, had more TV coverage on the BBC and BT sport, and the arrival of ‘The Americans’ has improved the quality of the WSL – all good right?

Well, at the very beginning of this journey I had whinges about the inequalities in the lower leagues – the first women’s game was called off, due to a lack of players and I didn’t pay for women’s match until later rounds when it had already cost me £9 to watch a men’s Preliminary Round game!

It is at this lower level that changes need to be made…  women’s football has been shut down again at lower levels and girls’ academies during November's lock-down. They can’t continue through England’s November lockdown as they are not classed as ‘elite sport’ whilst the boys academies are – it’s just another in a long list of things that need to change.

However, I don’t want to end on a low note – I’m end on something high. When Manchester United signed Christen Press and Tobin Health, both their shirt sales outsold any male player at the Club for two full days – a small victory, but a step in the right direction. 

It’s been fun and maybe one day we’ll do it again to see if things have improved! 

Women’s Semi-finals

 

Birmingham 0-3 Everton (30^th September 2020).

Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal (1^st October 2020)

 

The Final is now due to be played on Sunday 1^st November 2020. Live on the BBC! 

Women’s Quarter Finals

 

The GKA was disappointed. Originally, we had two tickets for the Quarter Final between Everton and Chelsea.  We also had tickets for the final at Wembley… Covid hit, both those games were re-arranged, and I got my money back.

There was possible light at the end of this tunnel as Covid lockdown rules were due to be relaxed in October. I got excited at the prospect of finishing this blog with a crescendo and a big bang bonanza trip to Wembley. The initial date of the final (new final, not old final) was 31^st October 2020.   

Lockdown rules changed to a confusing 3 tier system and the government announced that fans would not be returning to big sporting events for at least the next 6 months.

Plans for the final were ruined. I was back to watching these games on TV and nobody really being interested in a blog about some guy (aka the GKA) (aka me) watching football on his telly.

Covid 19 had one positive on the women’s game in the UK. The American League is suspended, and this means that a load of highly talented Word Cup Women female players have been drafted into the WSL on short term contracts as the players want to prepare for next year’s Olympics.    

It’s the opposite of the men’s game in the 1970s when aging superstars such as George Best and Pele moved to America to play in the emerging and failing USA soccer league. 

Our first Quarter Final was all about the hype as the biggest superstar of the Women’s game, Alex Morgan, had only just moved to Tottenham and the BBC’s question was ‘will she play against Arsenal on the 26^th September?’

The answer was no!  And not surprisingly as she’d barely played football in a year. Firstly, she’d been injured, secondly she had recently given birth to her daughter and thirdly, she’d only been in the UK for a week!

The game was reasonably close for 60 minutes or so, until Arsenal scored – then it ended up 4-0.

The next day, at home Everton surprisingly beat Chelsea 2-1 (this was the game that I had tickets for).

Birmingham beat Brighton away on penalties 2-2 (4-2 pens).

FA Cup holders Manchester City beat Leicester City away 1-2.  The GKA had seen both these teams during our journey (Manchester City knocked out Ipswich Town in the 5^th Round, and Leicester had beaten Burnley in the 4^th Round).

Both Semi-finals were to be live on the BBC.

Men’s 2020 FA Cup Final

Saturday 1^st August 2020

As you will be aware, Arsenal lifted the FA Cup by beating Chelsea 2-1.  The last time the GKA covered the FA Cup, Arsenal also lifted the trophy, but things were different then – much different. 

It was back in the 2013/14 Season and it was the GKA’s second trip to Wembley that year. There have been no trips to Wembley in 2020 as we’ve had to watch all games from the Quarter Final stage onwards from a telly-box in either mine, or ex blog guest Tim’s or Mr Top’s livings rooms.  In 2014, the FA Cup Final tickets cost £83 each, in 2020, it was the cost of a BBC TV licence, a TV and some electricity.  There were no petrol costs, no car maintenance costs and no 4-hour drive to Wembley. 

This also meant that there was no atmosphere in the stadium, no singing, no clapping, no corporate tickets and no drunken fans trying to fight, like last time: -

See insert from GKA 2014 Final – Arsenal V Hull

‘Arsenal scored and about 40% of my stand stood up and cheered. I thought I was in a Hull area but… it was a mixed corporate stand.  Three Hull fans turned to two Arsenal fans and they were in each other’s faces until security came along to break up the ‘fight.’ The Arsenal fan started to draw back his fist as if he was going to punch the Hull fan, but he only did this after two security guards stood between them. The Hull fan leaned across and said, ‘I’m going to cut you up and feed you to your mate.’ Security dragged them away and an American guy in front of me thought it was brilliant.  He said he’s been to loads of sporting events in American but never once seen any trouble. 5 mins later security brought all the ‘troublemakers’ back and made them shake hands. At half time the Arsenal fans left and didn’t come back for the second half.’

I watched the 2020 final in my living with Tim and there wasn’t any violence as we were both neutral.

The 2020 final was the 139^th FA Cup final and was the most unique ever. It was the first and probably only to be played in August behind closed doors and it kicked off 358 days after the Extra-Preliminary round started on 9^th August 2019 (the GKA’s opening match was at Oldham on 10^th August 2019).  

In the 2020 final we had 2 new managers who had both won the competition with their respective teams. It was always going to be a closely fought game as both Arsenal and Chelsea had previously won the FA Cup 6 times this Century. Arsenal have now won 7 times this Century and they hold the record of 14 Cups in total – this victory get’s them into the Europa league for 2020/21.

Normally, this would be the end of the blog and the 2020/21 FA Cup Extra-Preliminary would be starting within the next couple of weeks.  However, at this point we still have 3 more rounds in the women’s FA Cup to complete. The FA has announced that the final few rounds will be finished off in September and October and the women’s 2020 FA Cup final is due to be played on 31^st October 2020.  Maybe the lockdown restrictions will have eased and the GKA could end this version of the blog with a trip to Wembley.

We were following Brian James’s ‘Journey to Wembley’ book to play homage to one of the first written ‘Road to Wembley journeys.’  We were doing this to compare with the modern-day game, especially to the women’s game. However, this Covid 19 thing, kind of ruined that idea.  In the 1977 final, Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 in front of 99,252 fans. That’s a lot of fans, but this was in the days when the FA Cup was a big deal.  There was a full month of press coverage towards the build up as every Newspaper, Radio Station and TV Station (all 3 of them) reported on every player’s cough, sneeze, injury or drunken night out.

Liverpool and Manchester United fans were only allocated 20,000 tickets each as the rest was allocated to the corporate masses of the FA. Prices ranged from £2.50 (modern day £15.64) to £90 (modern day £562.87). In 2019, tickets for the men’s final ranged from £40 to £145 and both Clubs (Manchester City and Watford) were allocated 28,000 tickets each. The 2019 women’s final cost £15 a ticket or £7.50 if you bought early – no team allocations were given and 43,264 fans attended.

Back in 1977 the final was covered live by both BBC and ITV and we still had the lost tradition of the Club FA Cup song: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOuT38UOuU8

As the GKA has made this journey in 20019/20 it has developed a new appreciated for the women’s game and personally I see it as a fantastic other to the men’s game. The Women’s game offers a genuine alternative in which tickets are cheaper and you see lots of families with children (both boys and girls) enjoying a game of football. From my experience, it’s a more positive, relaxed atmosphere as the crowds tend to shout encouragement rather than abuse, and there is less emphasis on groups of men trying to shove as much alcohol down their necks as possible.  

If the women’s game was to get bigger, then in some ways it would lose its charm – perhaps we’d see inflated prices, millionaire protected players and hard to get tickets that families can't afford. It could become a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ and it might make more sense to pump money into the women's game at grassroots level, rather than just the WSL.  

GKA Awards 2019/20: -

Best Men’s Game

The GKAs’ Favourite men’s game of the 2019/20 journey was Notts County Vs Belper Town in the 4^th Qualifying Round. In a closely fought game, Notts County won 2-1 and it was fantastic to visit Meadow Lane (one of the oldest stadiums in the England).

….and be right in the heart of the Belper Town fans: -

‘I had purposely bought tickets in the Belper end as I thought it would be more fun (remember the GKA is a neutral fan).  As a team in the 8^th tier of football, this was a massive game for Belper, and I guessed their fans would be highly excitable.  We went high towards the back row and it was loud!Further to my right, there was a drumming section and with 20 minutes to go before kick-off, the drums were beating, and the fans were singing.  It was difficult to hear myself think… we had chants of ‘Yellow’ and ‘We all live for a Yellow Football Team’… These were passionate fans, having a great day out and it was a privilege to be part of it.’

Best Women’s Game

The GKA’s favourite Women’s game so far was the 2^nd Qualifying Round game between Mossley Hill v Sunderland West End. In which Mossley Hill won an epic game via a penalty shoot-out.

‘On the 90^th minute it was 3-3 and the final whistle blew. 

The assistant linesman jokingly complained that his dinner was going to be late and we moved into an extra 30 minutes of play. However, the ball girls had already quit before full-time arrived.

 

On the 105^th Minute, West End made it 4-3. 

 

As they switched sides, one of the West End players shouted, ‘I can’t wait to read this match report from the ‘Killing Man’, or whatever he’s called.’

 

I presumed she meant me!  Unless there is a killing man out there. 

 

… high quality football does not always equate to high quality entertainment.  The game on Saturday (In the men’s 2^nd Qualifying Round) was played at a high standard, but it was not as entertaining or thrilling as this one.

 

On the 112^th minute Mossley Hill made it 4-4 and then spent the final 8 minutes pinned in their own box. 

 

The final whistle blew, and this was my 2^nd Mossley Hill Penalty shoot-out.’

Best Overall Moment

As Stockport County Women v Brighouse Town Women went into extra time, then penalties (3^rd Qualifying Round), the pitch had been double booked from 5pm onwards by Stockport Town Men’s team.  As the Women’s team were in the middle of a tense penalty shoot-out, Stockport Town’s Men’s team came running onto the pitch and started warming up in the opposite goal mouth!    

Sooooooo, it appears that our 2020 adventure hasn’t ended. We’ve still got the Women’s Quarter Finals and Semi Finals to be played (behind closed doors) in September/October and the possibility of a GKA trip to Wembley on the 31^st October for the Women’s 2019/20 final – We’ll have to wait and see! 

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR EVENT: Women's FA Cup Final 2020

Yesterday, I published a whinging post about the blog being ruined due to the women's FA Cup being cancelled, and the GKA not being able to travel to the games.   Today, I received this 'ironic' email from the FA:-  'The Football Association is pleased to confirm that it has received approval to conclude the last three rounds of the 2019/20 Women’s FA Cup in the early part of the 2020/21 season, with the Final to be played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 31 October. With government guidelines still uncertain as to the level of fans permissible in stadiums, The FA will refund all ticket holders for the postponed final in May.' Is this email ironic? I'm not quite sure as Alanis Morrissette's definition is much different to mine. I decided to look for a dictionary definition:- 'Happening in a way contrary to what is expected, and typically causing wry amusement because of this.' According to that definition, the email was ironic as I wasn't expecting it and it caused me wry amusement because of my previous blog post.   https://thegiantkillingadventure.blogspot.com/2020/07/2020-blog-re-think.html The Women's FA Cup is back on, and at last, the FA has committed to refunding the cost of the ticket that I'd bought to the final that was supposed to happen back in May. I'd already been refunded for my quarter final ticket between Everton and Chelsea.   Win, win, win...

2020 blog re-think

The GKA has had a re-think about the 2020 edition of the blog.  

It's initial purpose was to follow the Women's FA Cup from the extra-preliminary round, right through to the final. 

This can not be done as the women's FA Cup was abandoned at the quarter final stage due to Co-vid 19.

The Men's FA Cup was an afterthought and our second purpose was to compare and contrast the women's game at each level of the football pyramid to look at similarities and differences.

I guess, the main difference is money as the men's game continued and the women's game didn't - I feel that single comparison is enough. The men's game at the top level is strong enough to continue with money gained from TV rights and can afford to take a hit from the loss of gate receipts - the women's game isn't there yet.

The third purpose was to visit stadiums, and talk about the journeys and the adventures of the GKA.  Our quarter final post showed that the only stadium available at the moment is my TV.

All purposes of the blog no longer exist in this current climate, so I'll give a brief summary of the games. 

In the Semi finals, Arsenal beat Manchester City 2-0 and Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-1.  This sets up an all-London final on Saturday 1st August, 2020.

Back in 1977 we were following the FA Cup to compare how that contrasts with the modern day women's game - as stated, we can't do that.  In our 1977 semi final, Liverpool beat Everton to set up an all-North West final against Manchester United.  

2020 FA Cup Quarter Finals (Men’s)

Norwich City V Manchester United, Sheffield United V Arsenal, Leicester City V Chelsea and Newcastle United V Manchester City.

FA Cup Quarter Finals (Women’s)

 

Err, kinda got called off due to a combination of a pandemic, economics and probable inequality.

 

Saturday 27^th June 2020

 

Well, the JKA is back, after a three-month break in which the world has been on lockdown and football has returned behind closed doors.  A lot has happened since our last GKA games that saw Derby County lose to Manchester United in the men’s 5^th Round and Manchester City Women demolish Ipswich Town Women.

 

We’ve had a global pandemic, a complete lockdown, the murder of George Floyd, race riots, a black lives matter campaign, statues being vandalised and a global recession – these things put football and this blog into perspective and the whole point of this blog has kinda been ruined because it was meant to be about two aspects – comparing and contrasting my experience of the women’s game to the men’s (no longer possible), and visiting the fantastic villages, towns, cities and stadiums of England (not possible at the moment). 

 

Before the pandemic, the women’s game, on the surface, seemed to be gaining momentum and interest.  The women’s quarter final match between Arsenal and Tottenham was due to be shown live on the BBC on 15^th March.  On the same day, Brighton were hosting Birmingham, Leicester were hosting Manchester City and I had a ticket to see Everton V Chelsea.

 

On closer inspection (below), may ticket may have the wrong stadium address on it, as Everton women no longer play at Southport. They had already moved to Walton Hall Park, one mile from Goodison, before that ticket had been created. Was this an error or had that game been shifted back to their old stadium that most fans complained was too far away? Neither answer is good, but it’s all a bit redundant now as the match was cancelled (Everton were good enough to provide me with a refund and I didn’t even have to ask). 

I had also purchased two tickets for the women’s FA Cup final that was due to be played on 9^th May 2020.

I don’t recall being refunded for this? Is this correct the FA? Are you not bothering?

 

Anyway, the point is that the Women’s Super League and Championship were cancelled – Chelsea were crowned Championships (on average points per game game) despite being 2^nd at the time of closedown.

 

While the men’s game, on the other hand, was postponed for three months and now we are back behind closed doors (all games being shown on TV).  In an era of lockdown in which the nation was starved of all sport, it may have been a good opportunity to keep the women’s game going, televise all their matches and perhaps drum up some interest? I guess we’ll never know.

 

Where does this leave the GKA?  

 

I had two options, quit or try and finish what I started on 10^th August 2019 to be best of my ability – the adage of turning lemons into lemonade.

As stated above, the women’s game has ended for the 2019/20 season, so no more comparisons and no more travelling to the men’s games – from now until the FA cup final on 1^st August the GKA will report from its home stadium (image below taken from Twitter and please ignore the Coca Cola advert as other soft drinks are available. Drink responsibly as too much sugar has been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and dementia – allegedly).

Before I begin, I would like to congratulate Liverpool for their dominance of the men’s game, and for having the greatest single league season that any team has had ever had… well done. 

 

Not so well done for some of their fans to completely broke all social distancing rules and aimed fireworks towards flammable and historical buildings in their own city. I understand the excitement of winning, but not the urge to be pyrotechnic arsonists.  

 

Back to Sat 27^th June 2020 

 

17:30 – Norwich City V Manchester United on BBC 

 

Stadiums with no fans, the first ever FA Cup game to be played in June and the dilemma of stadium noise or fake crowd noise?  I chose fake crowd noise as it somehow felt comforting.  On a day that rained heavily, I was glad not be travelling, so I settled down for a pretty boring first half of football.  

 

New rules include 5 substitutions in normal play, with an additional 6^th if we reached extra time. No replays and all games go to penalties if needed. Let’s not forget two drinkie breaks at the midway point of each half.

 

It was 0-0 half time, so I went to get a drink, very cheap and no queuing.

The game was 1-1 at full time… out of despair I visited the bar before an extra 30 minutes.

Manchester United (who have won the cup 12 times) edged the game 1-2. There was no stadium to walk round and no ticket price to share and contrast.

 

Later that night, I got a text from ex-blog guest Tim Webster who had been watching a BBC program about the Heads Up/ Heads Together campaign supported and co-ordinated by Prince William.  In the photo below, the GKA have inadvertently managed to be on the BBC, as Tim and I are in this picture from the 3^rd Round Proper game we attended. PNE were beaten by Norwich City.

On that weekend in January 2020, all matches kicked off One-minute late as a short film to raise awareness of mental health was broadcast throughout most stadiums.  As a mental health professional (Counsellor, Psychotherapist, Psychologist and University Lecturer) I decided to watch the documentary and I encourage all others to do so.

 

It reminds us that 67% of all UK suicides are male, and that suicide is one of the biggest killers of males under age 45.  Coincidentally I had attended a suicide memorial event at PNE last November 2019, in which ex-footballer Clarke Carlisle spoke about his suicide attempts and how he was convinced (at the time of his last suicide attempt) that his family and the world would be a better place without him.  Clark was a wonderful person, and a fantastic speaker amongst many other former rugby players who admitted that they’d suffered from depression during their playing years.  They couldn’t admit it at the time due to the macho atmosphere of the dressing room and many masked their conditions by drinking, gambling, womanising and getting into fights.

 

The next morning, I attended a knife crime awareness conference and I spoke to an ex British boxing world champion who admitted to me that he had done the same thing through his career. In the afternoon I attended a gambling addiction conference and I spoke to an up and coming British heavy weight boxer – guess what, he is suffering and turned to gambling to ‘self-medicate.’ 

 

This is still a real problem that could become worse due to lockdown isolation and an upcoming recession. Prince William’s campaign is about starting a conversation – he is right, but I want to add one more thing – it’s also about listening. 

 

At one point in the documentary a young male suffering from anxiety is talking to his family and says, ‘this all started when I was made redundant.’

 

His mother replied, ‘but that wasn’t major was it, there are worst things can happen.’

 

The above sentence is an example of NOT listening. 

 

So, I would add to the importance of talking, the equally important concept of listening. Let’s look after each other and if someone comes to you and wants to talk, it’s important to listen, without being judgemental – JUST LISTEN, or as an academic I would stress ‘JUST FUCKIN LISTEN.’

 

Sunday 28^th June

 

13:00 Sheffield United V Arsenal on BT Sport.

No GKA corner flag shot and the score ended Sheffield United 1-2 Arsenal. Arsenal have won the FA Cup more times than any other team (13 times) and move to the next round.

 

16:00 Leicester V Chelsea BT Sport

 

No fan numbers to report on and no prize money comparisons with the women’s game.  But we did have (in all the games) a round of applause for the NHS, an act of remembrance to all who have died of Covid 19, and all players taking a knee to support the Black Lives Matter campaign.

 

Chelsea the 8-time FA Cup winners won 0-1.

 

18:30 Newcastle United V Manchester City on BBC.

 

This is the game that the GKA was going to attend as ex-BBC sports correspondent Richard Conway is a big Newcastle fan and he was going to ‘sort me out’ for a ticket! 

 

Instead, I was still sat at home as part of the GKA’s TV FA Cup bonanza day. 

Manchester City, the current holders and five-time winners of the competition advanced to the next round with a 0-2 victory.

 

Men’s Semi final draw

 

Manchester United V Chelsea

 

Arsenal V Manchester City

 

Games to be played at Wembley on the weekend of 18^th/19^th July 

Route Men’s (if I’d have attended Newcastle V Man City).

Avro Fc 3	4 Litherland Remyca
Sheffield FC 2	1 Litherland Remyca
Rushall Olympic 3	1 Sheffield FC
Rushall Olympic 2	0 Gainsborough Trinity
Belper Town FC 2	0 Rushall Olympic
Notts County 2	1 Belper Town
Blackpool FC 4	0 Morecombe FC
Oldham Athletic 0	1 Burton Albion FC
PNE 2	4 Norwich City
Burnley FC 1	2 Norwich City
Derby County FC 0	3 Manchester United FC
Newcastle United 0	2 Manchester City

RIP Team and Stadium (if I’d have attended Newcastle V Man City).

Avro FC	Vestacare Stadium
Burnley Belvedere Ladies	Belvedere & Calder Vale Sports Club
Litherland Remyca	Litherland Sports Park
Curzon Ashton Ladies	Failsworth Sports Campus
Sheffield FC	Home of Football Stadium
Gainsborough Trinity FC	The Northolme
Sunderland West End Ladies	Herrington Recreational Park
Rushall Olympic	Dales Lane
Mossley Hill Ladies	Field of Hope Stadium
Belper Town	Christchurch Meadows
Stockport County LFC	Stockport Sports Village
Liverpool Feds LFC	Jericho Lane Sports Hub
Oldham Athletic FC	Boundary Park
Chorley FC Women	Victory Park
PNE	Deepdale
Brighouse Town Women	The Yorkshire Payments Stadium
Burnley FC	Turf Moor
Burnley Women FC	The Ruby Civil Arena
Ipswich Town Women	Goldstar Ground
Derby County FC	Pride Park
Newcastle United	St James’ Park

 

Back to 1977

Back in 1977 there wasn’t a world pandemic and so the FA Cup quarter finals were played in March, in front of fans. 

Saturday 19^th March 1977

Liverpool V Middlesbrough

Rather much like 2020, Liverpool were a major force in football and in 1977 they were fighting for the league, the FA Cup and the European Cup (Champions League).  Everton were also a big club and for some reason back in those days, two teams from a big city could play at home, on the same day, at the same time – this sounds like a logistical policing and transport nightmare, but as Liverpool were kicking off against Middlesbrough, Everton were playing Debry County. Anfield and Goodison aint that far from each other and at the time, the clubs shared the same 60 gate staff, the same 60 programme sellers and the same police force.  

Volunteers were needed to help with this 70s chaos and both teams won.  Liverpool were comfortable 2-0 victors and they drew Everton in the next round – the FA Cup semi-final, due to be played on Saturday, 23^rd April 1977.  

A total lack of 70s social distancing (images and info taken from Brian James book).

Route 1977 

Hinckley Athletic 0	1 Tividale
Oldbury United 0	4 Tividale
Tividale 0	3 Telford United
Hednesford Town 0	0 Telford United
Telford United 3	0 Hednesford Town
Telford United 2	5 Matlock Town
Matlock Town 2	0 Wigan Athletic
Mansfield Town 2	5 Matlock Town
Carlisle United 5	1 Matlock Town
Liverpool 3	0 Carlisle United
Liverpool 3	1 Oldham Athletic
Liverpool 2	0 Middlesbrough

#thanksnhs #blacklivesmatter #justlisten #justfuckinlisten

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