BORE DRAW; Stay-away fans not subscribing to 'magic' of the cup.Byline: John Helm
HAVING been to something like 3,500 football matches in my short time on earth, I probably qualify as a very sad person, or a very lucky one whichever way you want to look at it. Next Wednesday's FA Cup replay between Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers is one I will be happy not to add to the list. There are several reasons. I had the misfortune to be at last Saturday's fourth round tie at the Stadiumof Light, and as one scribe put it the match made him want to throw himself off the top board at the new Aquatic Centre next door - with or without water to hit. Secondly, it will be the fifth time these two clubs have met in two months - they know each other better than Torvill and Dean Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are British ice dancers and British, European, Olympic and World champions. At the 1984 Winter Olympics the pair became the highest scoring figure skaters of all time (for a single programme) receiving 12 perfect 6. . Thirdly, I just happen to be in Nigeria which is a long way from Ewood Park Ewood Park is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire and the home of Blackburn Rovers football club. The stadium, which opened in 1890, is an all seater facility which holds 31,367 people and has a pitch size of 115 x 76 yards. . Over the years I've subscribed to the view that the FA Cup is full to the brim of that overworked word 'magic'. Long in the tooth enough to remember Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (February 1 1915 - February 23 2000) was an English football player. Often regarded as one of the greats of the English game, he was the first footballer to be knighted (and is, as of 2006, the only player to have been knighted while still playing), as , Bert Trautmann Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann OBE (born October 22, 1923 in Bremen, Germany) is a German football goalkeeper who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Biography Youth in Germany , Roger Osborne, Ian Porterfield and all the hundreds of names that have created the aura that surrounds the competition, I've defended it to the hilt against accusations of lost glitter. Sunderland last Saturday persuaded me otherwise. A crowd half the size of the one assembled at the same venue for the identical match on Boxing Day would have made more noise at a funeral. Neither Sam Allardyce nor Ricky Sbragia was willing to pick a full-strength side, so we had the spectacle of reserve players, either not fully fit or not good enough to be regular choices, going through the motions. It was a recipe for a good sleep. There was more emotion in Kate Winslet's acceptance speech, and equal annoyance and squirming from those witnessing the charade. Maybe the problem is in the draw. I would have loved Kettering v Fulham or even Doncaster v Aston Villa (still a scoreless draw but by no means a bore). Sunderland-Blackburn or Sheffield United-Charlton don't set the pulses racing and don't sound like FA Cup humdingers. Down the years the Beeb have insisted on showing the likes of Man United v Spurs as the lead match due to one thing - audience figures - but they miss the point. The FA Cup is about a little 'un trying to topple a big 'un and certainly not low-key matches between clubs who play one another at least twice every year - or in the case of the Ewood Park replay five times in two months. Having had that little rant, it'll probably be 6-5 after extra-time! CAPTION(S): STADIUM OF SNOOZE: A view of the empty seats during the goalless FA Cup fourth round tie between Sunderland and Blackburn |
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