The dustbin semi final

Three Premier League teams go out of the F.A. Cup.

Schadenfreude aside, as a football person, I was genuinely happy to see not only one, not even two, but three Premier League teams go out of the F.A. Cup last weekend. The trend was set as early as the third round, when several Premier League teams were eliminated at the hands of lower league teams, and continued right up until last weekend, when Manchester United, Chelsea and Middlesbrough were dumped out of the Cup by Portsmouth, Barnsley and Cardiff City. Portsmouth, the favourites and only remaining top-flight team, drew West Bromwich Albion, who dispatched with League One side Bristol Rovers 5-1 on Sunday.

This season the semi finals will be held at Wembley, guaranteeing a day at the national stadium for fans of the four teams. In fact, for the first time since 1987, none of the Top Four will contest the F.A. Cup Semi-Final. 1991 was the last time none of them contested the Final. It has been 13 years since Everton humbled Manchester United, so it’s fair to say that this has been coming.

I also think that we can dispense with the “The magic of the F.A. Cup is gone” moans, too. 2004, with United playing then Champions Milwall, had romance, but United won easily. The following final, played between United and Arsenal was a dreadful affair where the best team lost. 2006, though going to a penalty shoot-out like the year before, was one of the best finals in years, complete with the best final goal ever scored, by Steven Gerrard. Last year’s final was embarrassing for all concerned, and made a joke of the first final at the new Wembley.

This year, though viewing figures surely won’t be as high, the romance of it all will be. The prospect of Portsmouth having a genuine chance at winning the F.A. Cup for the first time since 1939 would have been unthinkable two years ago.  Similarly for the Championship teams of which West Brom are the strongest,the idea of being at Wembley, even for a semi-final is one their fans will cherish forever.

Despite all this there are obviously people who are not so happy at the prospect of the little guys winning the Cup this year. Ferguson and Carlos Quieroz were an embarrassment to Manchester United on Saturday, Ferguson’s paranoia with regards to referees in fact reached Stalin-like levels. He not only claimed that referee’s chief Keith Hackett was not doing his job correctly, but, among other things, claimed United get all the hardest referees away from home. Granted, Portsmouth shouldn’t have been awarded the penalty that Sulley Muntari converted. However United had enough chances to win the game, and the thought of Ronaldo winning a penalty for being shoulder-charged is a joke. Of course, Ferguson failed to acknowledge that Wayne Rooney was lucky to escape with only a booking for a knee-high, studs-up tackle in the first half. Avram Grant was similarly ungracious, but didn’t manage to scale the height’s Ferguson did.

All in all, the F.A. Cup Final must be another disappointment to the F.A. After spending over £770 million on the new Wembley their national team failed to even reach the European Championships. They must surely be scraping the biscuit barrel for spare change at this stage. Now, the Football Association Challenge cup will not only be played without one Top Four team, but with possibly no top-flight team. Every year, the BBC delight in telling us how many hundreds of millions will be watching the Cup Final. Somehow, I don’t see that happening this year.

By: Ciarán Leinster