This one's for Mise le Meas

The best way to deal with adversity is to tackle it face on, as Gareth Bale is seen to be doing in the photo above.  Accept your defeat and move on.

Well done to Leeds, the romance of the Cup is still alive and best of luck at the Itihad in the next round. 

For Spurs, the old cliche - at least that distraction is out of the way and so to the pursuit of the Champions League 4th place spot.  

Romance of the Cup, Leeds and the Punt

It’s FA Cup third round again and a weekend that is close to all our hearts. It was the weekend that brought the potential promise that your football season would be rejuvenated through an extended cup run, and maybe even a live televised appearance at Wembley in May. You could forget about the home defeats to Crystal Palace and Derby in the League, your mid-table mediocrity, and even the League Cup exit at Middlesboro (after two replays).

The Cup was here and the draw might be favourable.

This weekend it’s Spurs home to Cheltenham, Everton home to Tamworth and Chelsea home to Portsmouth – three home bankers surely.

So what of Leeds?

Last year we lamented the luck of the draw for them as they drew in North London for the second year running and lost the home replay by 3-1. Well what have they gone and done but drawn the Arse away again. Two years in a row.

It’s going to take a real shock for them to progress to round 4 but then again they’re no strangers to shocks. Man United 1-0 away in 2010 with Mike swinging from the rafters springs to mind. But so too sadly does 0-1 to Sunderland in 1973 and arguably even more notably this eventful day:





















Colchester United 2-3 on the 13th February 1971, two days before decimalisation.

I have memories of using the “new money” for the first time, on a Monday, upstairs on the number 5 bus. To this day I believe I was short changed and the accountant in me hasn’t lived well with that fact since. However all was not gloom as Leeds, the prior season League Champions and Cup runners-up, had been dumped out of the FA Cup by Colchester United of the Fourth Division over the weekend and that by extrapolation increased our own chances. A hope which ultimately proved to be short-lived (Liverpool 0-1).

So here we are in 2012, and a potential currency change only weeks away again. Welcome back to the decimalised punt – we missed you – like Leeds you deserve to be there with the finest – with Ted Heath’s sterling in the First Division. Go start the rehabilitation at the Emirates.

True Grit

A response from Chelski:

Dickie Murphy was so right all those years ago.

"A corner boy".

My once learned friend has deliberately chosen to misunderstand the question posed by my white collar city , investment , flute drinking mates at the Bridge.

The question was directed to those clad in Blue on the pitch. They, no more than me, do not recognize them as fit to wear the Blue so proudly worn in FA Cup battle by the likes of Harris, Dempsey, Webb, Osgood (RIP), Houseman(RIP), Hudson (Tory), Hollins, Mc Cready, Bonetti, Hutchinson. Oh for those days when a defeat could induce a tear as opposed to speculation about Carlo and who Roman might buy next.



Come back Ray, all is forgiven.

Every beaver has its' day

Brusselsblue:

On Saturday the Chelsea supporters posed an interesting and valid question. It was raised shortly after their magnificent Captain with a lovely girl friend had given them a 1 - 0 lead in the 4th round of the FA Cup. The question they posed (repeatedly) was "who are you". Not sure what they meant exactly but I suspect it was short for "who are you to have the temerity , you bunch of miserable scousers, to come and challenge us the FA Cup Holders and our expensive array of super stars. Fair enough I thought. Deserves a response.

We are Everton FC, our captain is Phil Neville and our home is Goodison Park.

Some of my fellow Evertonians have put it more succinctly (and I do not approve).

League of Ireland, punk music and Crawley Town

One of the reasons I love League of Ireland football is because it is almost totally devoid of all the trappings of our modern day capitalist culture. A bit hypocritical you might say considering I go to Spurs most weeks but if it does ever come to a choice between the two, Ryanair to Stansted and the Yids will be the principal losers.

With a few notable (and costly) exceptions (Shels; Drogheda; etc) Irish football remains substantially untouched by the blight that has beset the beautiful game in other territories – the replica shirts, the over-paid prima-donnas, the inflated prices and the pure greed. To its' loyal devotees, this is part of its' endearing charm.

In this regard, its' position in the soccer world can be likened strongly to Punk's position in the musical world of the seventies.



Punk became the alternative for a small section of the populace who felt under-represented in the wider culture, and more acutely in its’ musical façade. Pre-punk music was conformist and mass-produced – three minutes of pop, produced by chinnichap and retailing at one ninety nine, not two pounds. The punk movement arrived and quickly became about more than just the music – it described attitude, appearance and social status. It also represented a lifestyle, one born out of opposition to those in power.

It also started dying as soon it reached any form of public consciousness - once it lost its underground, subversive and anarchic nature, it effectively lost its’ core appeal. If League of Ireland football was to obtain national appeal, and as a result ultimately become a commodity, sold and marketed by financial vehicles rater than football clubs, its’ attraction would diminish immeasurably to those who love and support it.

Again, the key to this is community. As more and more money is pumped in, the game automatically moves further away from its' community basis. Some players earn more in a week than many fans earn in a lifetime, and perpetuate this gulf with appalling egotistical and self-centred behaviour, unacceptable to those who effectively pay the wages.

In some recent club formations - FC United of Manchester and AFC Wimbledon - the importance of community is written in the very charter of the club. Perhaps these two are the best examples of ‘punk’ clubs in England. Both were set up as a mark of protest, or reaction, to something that had happened to the club to which the fans were previously connected. This parallel with punk’s heyday seems to stand out and whatever ones view on FCUM, they must be applauded for doing something about the issue impacting them.

Some other clubs have sadly gone the other way – Chelsea and Manchester City are obvious examples - but worst still are the examples from further down the League where small community clubs are purloined by high-rollers to be used as playthings in the ultimate pursuit of medium-term financial goals. This weekend we will see one such club in the middle of this journey reach new heights with their first televised game on the national airwaves. Crawley Town away to Manchester United, and perversely - guess which one is the big-spender?



With assets and wage bills larger than most clubs in League 1 (funded through large capital injections by their anonymous new owners - "a group of people in the far east"), Crawley Town have become the Chelsea of non-league football. They have set about a strategy of buying success in the same way as Chelsea did and have become equally as unpopular, even it is at the lower level of non-league football.

Their unpopularity is also fuelled by the abrasive manager Steve Evans, who despite proving himself a capable non-league manager, has "a bit of baggage" as they say. The FA banned him from the touchline for 12 matches in 2008-09 for improper conduct and 13 in 2009-10, including three when he was not allowed in the ground. In November 2006 Evans was convicted for his part in a £245,000 tax fraud committed when he was manager at Boston United, failing to pay tax on the players' wages, and was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Put the whole package together and you've got a very poor representation of what the game should be about.

And so, for the first time in my life, I will be cheering Manchester United tomorrow and hoping that they can live up to their billing as overwhelming favourites and romantic "overdogs".

Let’s hope that the Romance of the Cup falls flat on its’ face this Saturday evening.

Romance of the Cup

Despite there being a 1 in the year it's hard to win the FA Cup when there's a 4 in the score and the others have it. So another ignominious exit for the Yids, at the hands of Fulham this time and that means just the winner of the Chelsea v Everton replay will remain in the Fifth Round.

Probably the worst fifteen minutes of football anyone has ever had on Sunday - Michael Dawson OBE.

Sad state of affairs.

Deja Vu for Leeds

2010 - draw in North London against top 4 team in game involving a last minute penalty equaliser. Lose replay 3-1.
2011 - draw in North London aganst top 4 team in game involving a last minute penalty equaliser. Lose replay 3-1.

The romance of the Cup.

Leeds at it again

Well done to Leeds who, like last year, turned in a fabulous performance to very nearly provide the upset of the weekend by beating the Arse. Sadly Fabregas equalises in the last minute and a replay beckons.

Aside from Leeds heroics, everything went very much according to form with 7-0, 3-0 and 5-1 victories for Chelsea, Spurs and Everton respectively against lower league opposition.

Everton v Chelsea
Fulham v Spurs
Leeds (Arse) v Huddersfield

Bring on the 4th Round.

Magic of the FA Cup

While we have the distraction of midweek league fixtures to get out of the way first, seeing as it is the first week in January our thoughts nevertheless turn to the upcoming FA Cup 3rd round fixtures.

In years gone by this would might have involved a trip to Liverpool to see Altrincham or Plymouth, but now that Rich Hudson can get his new coats in Marks & Sparks in Galway there's no real need for a repeat of the seventies pilgrimage.

This year has a special significance which effectively means it's our Cup - the year ends in one and six of our previous wins have come in similar years a year ending 1901, 1921, 1961, 1981 and 1991.

Fixtures for weekend:

Spurs v Charlton
Chelsea v Ipswich
Scunthorpe v Everton
Arsenal v Leeds

Potential storylines involve Leeds winning and then not again until May; Ipswich conceding 5 and Roy Keane walking; and, for Brusselsblue, Tetley's putting the tea back in teabags. Good luck to all.

Finally, a little-known FA Cup statistic - Everton have the unfortunate record for the highest number of defeats in the final at 8.

The Dream is Over

FC United of Manchester 0-4 Brighton & Hove Albion

Spoiling the party again

The dream of FC United of Manchester playing their evil neighbours in the Cup lives on although it has become a little less probable.

The away second round game at Brighton was going well with FCUM leading 1-0 and closing in on another shock result until up stepped old favourite Mauricio Taricco with an equaliser - yes that Mauricio Taricco. Assistant to Gus Poyet at Brighton, he played his first game for six years in October and his goal in the FCUM game forces a replay to be played this Wednesday evening. If FCUM can beat Brighton they head to Portsmouth in round three, even more daunting, but remember this is all a dream, a challenge to reality.

So Mauricio, do us a favour and fuck off back to Argentina where you belong, at least till after Wednesday.

FC United of Manchester

Brighton beat Woking in the first round replay so it's Gus Poyet's team that stand in the way of FCUM and a plum draw with Manchester United.

Fingers crossed for another shock.

Magic of the FA Cup and Rochdale

At the start of the season, I decided to track Rochdale's results this season, a token gesture to acknowledge their second promotion in the history of the club, and only the second time that they had ever played outside the bottom division of the Football League. To date their results have been up and down, with the team currently nestling in mid-table in Division 1.

Last Friday night brought their notable season head-to-head with the fairy-tale season of another club - FC United of Manchester, the team formed and owned by the Machester United supporters who objected to the take-over of the Old Trafford giants by the Glazer consortium.

Now in existence five years, FCUM play their football in the Northern Premier League. Their progress this year in the FA Cup has been remarkable, and on Friday they came up against local rivals Rochdale AFC in the 1st Round Proper. A 3-2 win with a controversial goal in the 93rd minute now leaves them with one round to negotiate before fate will surely play a part and they will be drawn at home, in the third round to who else but Manchester United. After that, the rest will be history.

The controversial winner came amid claims that the goalscorer, Norton, has kicked the ball out of the Rochdale keeper's hands before scoring. Shades of George Best and Gordon Banks at Windsor Park.



In the 2nd round FCUM have been drawn away to Brighton or Woking who drew 0-0 on Saturday.

An interesting footnote to the game is that the match was shown live on ESPN, who paid FC United of Manchester £67,000 for the rights. The money, which starts to inch FCUM away from their amateur status and into ranks from which they fled, is to be used to build a new ground for the club.

Let's hope the underlying ethos remains the same in the new location and that ESPN and Sky and whomever is next, don't go spoiling the dream in the long-term.

Romance of the Cup

Chelsea's exit from the Champions League is really bad news for us yids. With ManYoo favourites to win the league, it could mean that the FA Cup is the only trophy that the Russians can win. And sadly, it's the same for us.

That's my problem as they say, but the issues for Chelsea fans appear graver as the wheels are slowly coming off the wagon. Another barren season by their standards, continuing difficulties with their choice of managers and petulant players behaving with their interest above that of the club or team. Terry breaking legs off the pitch now as well.

What odds on the cheque book coming out to bring the special one back?

Romance of the Cup

Getting serious now and the draw has been kind to us in that we will avoid the Russians until the final. Poor old Martin O'Neill.

A repeat of the 1967 Cup Final is on the cards and the chance for Chelsea to make it third time lucky, following 1967 and 2008. Somehow I feel they might do it this time but I would like the gift of a goal in the first minute to put it up to them.

Visit to Wembley February 2008 below shows John Hollins signing autographs for the Chelski fans (and one Clancy imposter - no autograph requested) plus Woodgate's headed winner.







But lest we all get complacent, there is the simple matter of Fulham, Portsmouth and Villa before we have a day out in May.

Romance of the Cup

Ok here we go again, or at least here Gerry and I go again.

Chelsea v Cardiff
Bolton v Spurs

Last 16 and it's our last chance for a bit of glory. Having seen off Leeds, it would be typical yiddish behaviour to go down ignominiously to Bolton, akin to what we did at Wolves during the week. Spurs again remind me of Fine Gael - always around, so often promising so much, but ultimately bottling it when the time is nigh. And continually losing to the evil ones.

Still there's always the County Council elections and a trip to Wembley. Good luck also to Everton and Leeds in their league campaigns this weekend.

Fat lady singing

Great game at Elland Road last night and genuine kudos to Leeds for such a gutsy performance. Let's hope they can press on from here and win one of the two promotion spots.

As for Spurs the romance of the Cup lives on, even if Chelsea are lurking. Oh Robbie where art thou?

Congrats to Leeds

Several texts this evening from Leeds fans basking in the glory of a 2-2 draw at the Lane. A classic encounter, as with most Tottenham cup games, and again Jermain Defoe misses a penalty. Harry needs to slap one on him, or at a minimum stand up to him.








Regardless it's good to see a strong Leeds team doing well - football needs them - and I wish them well in their primary objective of promotion. And as for the Cup, and those who texted me, I still don't hear any fat ladies singing. That'll come in ten days time.

Come on Spurs, Leeds are beatable

Remember this?

Sorry Mike, party's over

FA Cup 4th round draw:

Spurs v Leeds
Preston v Chelsea
Everton v Notts Forest or Birmingham