CUP FINAL’S WEMBLEY REPLAY

19-05-2007

At last…the FA Cup Final is back in its spiritual home of Wembley Stadium. And a good thing too. But as Damien Doran reports from Glasgow, it’s actually the second major Final to be played in Britain this week.

The return of the FA Cup Final to Wembley is exciting in so many ways. Above all it is the return of great cup final traditions such as the singing of Abide with Me, marching military bands, rip off prices and the sounds of fans wailing over the paltry ticket allocations given to the competing teams.

Older people, like me can even remember the days when teams other than the big four actually won the cup. In fact, as recent as only 12 years ago, plucky underdogs Everton beat Manchester United in the final.

Of course, given the low priority the cup gets from the big teams these days, it may be more appropriate to re-name this year’s match as a play-off for the Champions League third and fourth place.

This will be the second major final to have taken place in Britain this week. You may be forgiven for missing the UEFA Cup Final at Hampden Park Glasgow as it trailed behind coverage of Jose Mourinho’s lost dog in the sports papers and Corrie and The Bill on ITV who relegated live coverage to it’s digital only channel ITV4.

While Britain may have not been particularly warm and welcoming hosts to the final, the city of Glasgow certainly was. A huge fan friendly party was thrown in George Square and around the city centre which lasted the whole day and to which everyone was welcome. Even the ban on drinking alcohol in the street laws was ignored by the Police as the fans and locals made the best of typical Glasgow weather - driving rain.

The fans of both Seville and Espanyol produced a friendly atmosphere dressed in their kilts (worn over jeans) and tartan bunnets complete with “See you Jimmy” red hair.

The match itself was a terrific 2-2 draw complete with end to end football, a sending off, some great saves and a penalty shoot out won by Seville in a cracking atmosphere.

At the end of the match the whole occasion was summed up by the victorious Seville players spontaneously lining up to provide a Guard of honour and to shake the hands of every one of their opponents.

Somehow I just can’t see that happening at Wembley.