Memories

I was at Wembley in 1984 but don't remember much of the actual football. My impressions are of the ground and the fans. Ahead of last Saturday's FA Cup final, I watched pre-1984-final build up on YouTube and had some time to think about my experience of that final with my dad and brother and how I wanted my son to experience this, 2019, one.

We cycled to the stadium and parked our bikes on racks in the NE corner. It was 12 miles, mostly along the canal, then over industrial areas and on to Brent River Park and the final industrial/commercial road to the iconic arch. I'd bought my wonderful son a new bike ahead of a ride from Carlisle to Newcastle next week and this was a great opportunity to cover some ground on it. This was therefore a big part of our experience of the day and he did well and we enjoyed the ride.

We arrived early enough to wander and look for things to do. I'd contacted my sister and nephew but in the end was unable to get together with them. Instead, after a photo op with the marching band, we hung out at the fan park for a while and then got talking to some Hornet fans outside the supermarket by the stadium.

Stories and facts were swapped but I remained a little concerned that my original plan of finding a family with kids to chat to had not materialised. We stayed more than an hour before heading in. The little man had the match programme, my phone and occasional conversation to entertain him. I had beer and chat with a couple of older guys, one of whom was Ray Lewington's cousin.

We entered and walked around a little before taking our seats. I bumped into my uncle, Redmond, before too long and the boy and I spent a nice ten minutes or so chatting with him, my aunt and their son. My boy remained pretty quiet throughout.

Then we went up for the match and started to "soak up the atmosphere", a phrase I'd overused when lowering expectations ("I'd be happy if we scored a goal") in the weeks before the match. I've mentioned the 1881 before, but their impact on the support base was phenomenal in this match, especially towards the end of the thumping.

We were playing the best team in England by far (from us and everyone else except Liverpool) and apart from an early chance that fell to Pererya and was well saved, we weren't really in this game. Some have since suggested that fact is support for an argument that the super-rich clubs need to separate and work exclusively in international competition and leave the rest of us to compete on a national level. I probably need a little more distance from this cringe-inducing experience to assess my ideas.

But cringe I did not. That was not part of my role for my son. Four days later, I was still a little hoarse: I sang and I led the chants and I tickled, bumped and cajoled my boy into enjoying this painful experience. I had a lovely time with him and hope that he will hold onto memories of the ground and the amazing dedication of the fans, who were singing through the fifth and sixth goals.

In my seat I googled the highest ever winning margin in an FA Cup Final. 6-0 in 1903. We did not do worse.

We cycled back the 12 miles with a chocolate stop in 90 minutes or so - quicker than getting there. I don't remember too much about the one-sided match just four days later. But I  have great memories of the fans in the ground and the day with my son.

The Ten Key Footballing Moments of the Decade

This is my second "..of the decade" list. These things are always subjective and I am ready for the backlash: the list is unashamedly based on the view of an English football fan and includes five on-pitch and five off-pitch moments.

England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich
After Keegan´s walkout, England fans feared not making the Japan-Korea World Cup. Sven Göran Eriksson inspired the national team to a series of victories in the remaining qualifiers, and the icing on the cake was this 1st September 2001 win, in which Michael Owen notched a hat-trick. The Germans being Germans, they still went on to be the most successful European side in the following year´s World Cup Finals.

The Collapse of ITV Digital
The cost of the football rights was the main reason for the 2002 liquidaton of the company and its failure to be forced to pay (the Football League´s lawyers – Hammonds – were sued for 150 million pounds but asked to pay only four pounds in damages) meant it was the league teams which suffered, having budgeted for the television contract.

A ten point penalty for entering administration
Football league club woes were added to two years later when the league introduced a penalty for those clubs entering administration (a procedure allowing businesses to keep operating without being forced to sell assests in order to pay their debts). This has affected a number of clubs – most recently Southampton – and threatens more this season. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of teams having points deducted for other (often related) reasons and that the number of points deducted has shown a gradual increase (ask Luton fans).

France 0 Senegal 1
Pape Bouba Diop´s goal provided one of the biggest World Cup shocks in history. The holders went out at the first hurdle without scoring a goal and unfancied teams such as South Korea, Japan and Turkey performed far better than anyone expected. The trend in non-favourites exceeding expectations continued into Euro 2004, and culminated with Greece winning that competition.

Leeds implode
After 14 years in the top flight and extensive loans taken out to chase the dream (I´m not sure they quite lived it), Leeds went into freefall and – after suffering a ten point deduction as outlined above – plunged to football´s third tier. The financial problems associated with adapting to relegation from the English Premier League have been experienced more recently by a number of teams including Charlton.

Abramovich buys Chelsea
While many Football League clubs were impoverished, in 2003 the world´s super-rich began to see the English Premier League as an outlet for the pesky interest on their billions. Roman bought Chelsea back to back titles (with no little help from Jose Mourinho) and since then Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City (twice), Manchester United, Portsmouth (twice) and most recently Birmingham have been sold to foreign owners, though admittedly with differing levels of benefits to the clubs concerned.

Zidane uses his head
“Magic is sometimes very close to nothing at all”: the thoughts of the great French player some time before he headbutts Mazerrati and ends his final professional match as the first man to be sent off in a World Cup Final.

Andres Iniesta scores against Chelsea
The late late Barcelona goal prevented a second all-English final in a row, which would have been the first time ANY two teams met in consecutive European Cup/Champions League Finals. Much of the world felt grateful until they were forced to sit through the lamentable Manchester United – Barcelona final.

Spain win Euro 2008
The “perennial underachievers” ™ finally shrugged off that title in style.

Real go for Galacticos II
After Barcelona´s fine year, their great Spanish rivals Real Madrid went on a spending spree to shame Roman Abramovich, yet their purchase of Manchester United´s Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool´s Xabi Alonoso may prove to benefit Chelsea more than anyone else in English football. The resurgence in Spanish football might also see a decline in English clubs recent (relative) domination of the final stages of the Champions League.

How wrong did I get it? What would you include in your key footballing moments of the decade?

That’s why we’re going down

Watford v Manchester City

Saturday 21^st April

Joss and I got in after kick-off again and I greeted the father and son immediately behind us who I’ve chatted with over the last couple of home games. Earlier in the season I pledged to make an effort with fans but have to report one home game away from the end of our Premiership campaign that I have not lived up to that. Although Joss and I started clapping and shouting immediately that we sat down, there was not much of an atmosphere today and I didn’t feel too motivated to take the lead in creating one until the second half.

The first half was poor: the City fans were louder but the game was mediocre. Our best chance came as Damien Francis pulled up injured and until we realised he had to go off we were disappointed that nothing had come of it. City didn’t seem too dangerous but neither did the Golden Boys. Marlon King started for the first time since October but unfortunately that showed, especially with a header in front of us that he directed yards wide.

Nil-nil at half time was a fair representation of a game lacking in most things that get fans involved but I resolved to shout throughout the second half and try to help create a twelfth man. I wasn’t alone. “Aidy Boothroyd’s Yellow Army” is a song that fits well with the “join in” ethos of the club and I led and led and led. However, less than ten minutes after the restart, Ben Foster moved forward to deal with a back pass and disaster. What looked to me like a failure to make a clear decision about whether to whack the ball or pass it to the left-back culminated in a tap into the path of Darius Vassell, who was able to pass into a semi-empty net. Foster, who’d been booed throughout the first half by the visiting fans (he’s a United player on loan to us, remember) suddenly found himself the object of “England’s number one” chants from the fans in blue. Ouch.

The fans, who are used to such adversity, responded to our falling behind by finally getting behind the team. In the absence of Curly (I’d already taken on the ideas behind some of his more abusive shouts) the usual suspects in front of us to our left (who are part of the “front row crew”) led some chants including “The football league is upside down”, which I haven’t heard for a while. I never tried my “land of harts and hornets” number, but contented myself with shouting along to “Yellow Army” etc. It took twenty minutes but a Douglas Rinaldi pass allowed Tamas Priskin to knock in his second goal of the season (2 in the last 4 games) and that only boosted the twelfth man. Unfortunately, that was not enough and another King headed miss meant it finished even and ended any hopes the most optimistic of the followers might have had. Championship football for us from August.

We clapped the players off (I wondered who, including the manager, we’d lose in the summer and think Hameur Bouazza and Danny Shittu (as well as Foster) are the most likely to be objects of transfer interest) and walked back a circuitous route because the police had cordoned off the bottom of Cardiff Road for some reason. Back at Kerry’s, Joss and I did some Spanish, played chess, connect 4 and air hockey and then I spent some time with my sister and her boyfriend. I’ve committed myself to another season ticket. More goals and more victories next season are assured, aren’t they?