The Cup Final

The 2021 Cup Final may be remembered for many things but not for the quality of its football.

Leicester City won the FA Cup at their fifth attempt and are no longer the only league winners yet to win the Cup.

Thomas Tuchel the Chelsea manager has once again failed to win a final.

Until  Yuri Tielemans made a late breakthrough with a fine strike from distance there were few chances in a dire game.

Now the game came to light and when Chelsea scored a late equaliser  VAR ruled it out.

The always excellent sport section of The Times yesterday carried an interview with that Leicester defender of the 1960s Graham Cross.

He was of that dying breed – a dual county cricketer.

Indeed he played in two finals, one for Leicester City in 1969 and another for Leicestershire in the Benson and Hedges Final.

Gary Lineker and the Neville Brothers were fine cricketers in different times and could not play both sports at such a high level as their football calendar took precedence.

In the 1960s, when Cross played, the FA Cup Final was just about the biggest televised event in sport.

It was also one of the few live matches.

I would go to a pal and we would start to watch the coverage from the morning.

You would see The Road to Wembley as each side’s journey to the Cup Final was charted; interviews with famous fans; pictures of fans going down Wembley way; there was a camera in the coach of each finalist; the player’s pool that divided up all the payments mattered; community singing was conducted by a man in a white surgical coat, massed regimental bands would play, the players would appear in their cup final suits and emerge in their  kit at 2-45pm.

The Cup Final hymn Abide With Me was sung respectfully.

You could not guarantee a great game but you could a big occasion.

With the kick off now at 5.00pm to suit initial sponsor Budweiser, overseas players indifferent to the traditions and owners far more concerned about finishing in the Champions League berths, those Cup Final memories seem very distant.