I just realised that the FA Cup Final was today. Completely passed me by, I'm afraid. Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 after extra time. As a Palace fan in my youth with Milwall second best (I used to go and watch them when I was in Camberwell) I wouldn't normally want Chelsea to win anything. But I'm glad they beat Man-U. The match was in the new Wembley Stadium.By all accounts, I didn't miss much. Whalley's World of Sport has a six word summary of the match: "DROGBA scored. Chelsea won. Terrible match."
Shot to Nothing has FA Cup Final in quotes from the commentators John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
“Sorry we’re a bit quiet, it’s just that there’s nothing to talk about…” - 30 minsBut I think the best comment has to be Whalley:
“Maybe the grass is too long and it’s affecting the play…” - 42 mins
“Any body bored yet?” end of 1st period of Extra Time.
Today's FA Cup final was the closest I have ever seen a football match get to an episode of Hollyoaks. If you've never seen Hollyoaks (you've probably never lived with a woman under 35), it consists entirely of a lot of very glamorous people constantly arguing with each other about nothing.If you want to see some real football, featuring Stan Mortenson and Stanley Matthews, here is a Pathe film about the 1948 Cup Final when Man-U beat Blackpool. There are some great moments here "Sun warms the stadium as 100,000 spectators settle themselves for an afternoon's enjoyment as the King greets the players with a friendly handshake", "Blackpool kick orf" etc.
12 comments:
Dear Father Timothy
many thanks for posting a clip of The Seasiders in action on the day we qualified for own date at Wembley next week. We beat Oldham in the League One play off semi final today in a match that would have shamed the galaticos who appeared later in the day.
everyone talks about Blackpool and the 1953 Final. My dad was at junior seminary and unlike today's seminarians had to listen to the final in secret. At a prearranged time the word went round the college of a "theology" seminar in one lad's room. In reality it was a radio set where they all listened to the memorable match in a scene which must have been like a prisoner of war movie. They would have been in trouble had they been caught - how football and indeed seminaries have changed since then!
"But I'm glad they beat Man-U." Tell me, Fr Tim, do Palace have Catholic credentials to rival the Red Devils?
Thanks for posting this. World Cup soccer seems to suffer from the same disease. I watched about 30-40 Barclay's Premiereship mayches this year and most were pretty good. I think World Cup soccer is turning off Americans to soccer because it's all that they see.
Better than the Premiereship was the league below this, the Coca-cola Championship league .... every match had me on the edge of my seat.
"But I'm glad they beat Man U". Oh Father how could you be so cruel. It has been a bad enough weekend for us Reds without realising that you of all people are an ABNU. I would never have thought it of you! Sir (soon to be Saint) Matt Busby, Liam (soon to be Saint) Whelan et al - pray for this poor misguided man!
alas my distress prevented me from thinking straight. I meant ABU of course.....
Watched the match. Terrible. Even worse is the fact the United lost after such a scrappy match. Sigh...
My only consolation was that it was not played at some unearthly hour. We're GMT+8 here in Malaysia and the Champions League matches are all at 3.30 in the morning. Yikes!
Fr Tim your catholicism does not seem to inform your judgment on football! Millwall! Whilst I would not claim Manchester United was/is a catholic club like Glasgow Celtic, football supporting catholics (regionally, nationally and internationally) do feel an affinity with them. United traditionally represented the Irish Catholic immigrants into Manchester and gained support from the clergy and their congregations. Catholics played for and lead United - Johnny Carey (United skipper in '48 Cup Final) whose funeral I served (with Catholicus!) in the 90's, Liam Whelan who died at Munich, Sir Matt Busby who set the modern ethos of the club (based on catholic teaching - brave, attacking, romantic football played by young, nurtured players grown together as a team), through a great number of Irish players with catholic backgrounds to the modern day (I know a few but I won't name them). United vs Chelsea - no competition. Unfortunately the winners were the spoiling, professional kill-joy winning machine built on vast, fickle, non-football related wealth rather than the romantic northern reds. Real football does exist today and I refer you to United's beautiful football played this season - you just are not looking in the right place. Regards, Matthew
Thanks so much for this item. My late father went over from Dublin to watch that match - he was a United fan and got his ticket from Johnny Carey's brother. I was four at the time but remember Dad arriving home on Monday morning, still thrilled, and heading off to the building site where he was a foreman.
That final was one of the highlights in Dad's life, along with the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932 when he was 19 and the Pope's visit in 1979. We sang 'Abide with Me' at the end of his funeral Mass because of its connection with Wembley.
Each time I visit my parents' grave I pass by that of Liam (Billy) Whelan who died at 22 in the Munich crash. May they all rest in peace.
When I used to go to Milwall, there were two versions of the wooly hat you could get - blue or green for Millwall Rangers or Milwall Celtic. If the away fans ran away too quickly they could fight each other. I agree the club did not have anything like the Catholic credentials of Busby's babes. Sincere apologies to Man-U fans for my frivolity.
Fr Tim, we forgive you - no one's perfect! God bless
Thanks for the link!
For those of you who slip into using Millwall as a short cut for all that is bad in football; I can assure you palace(sic)represents the far more sinister elements of trainspotting.
By the way much of the 90's involved a group of Catholics for away games with Millwall spending the weekend in the oppositions home town where the norm was Curry on a Saturday night and Mass on a Sunday morning. By the way one of us is now a Catholic Priest.
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