Emirates FA Cup 2019/20 Fourth Round

It's the fourth round proper. A vivid memory of the fourth round for me is 30th January 1988. A tough away trip for Blues at Barnsley. I was there with my good friend (despite being a Villa fan) Martin (see recent Brighton third round trip). The OPTA stats of the match were something like this...

Possession - Barnsley 99%, Blues 1%

Corners - Barnsley 20, Blues 0

Shots On Target - Barnsley 35, Blues 0

Goals - Barnsley 0, Blues 2

Barnsley manager, Allan 'Sniffer' Clarke (Leeds Utd legend) was proper miffed. The local support were also most dis-chuffed, encouraging the Blues fans (plus Martin) to leave South Yorkshire at the earliest opportunity. Which was a pity because both me and Martin were living in South Yorkshire at the time. We didn't let on.

Barnsley had a run of getting knocked out of the FA Cup by top quality outfits. Arsenal 1987 (5th round), Blues 1988 (4th round), Everton 1989 (5th round). 

Blues - no shots on target, 2 goals. That's my memory of it, anyway.

Fourth Round: 26 January 2020

Football, in particular, seems to have a knack of turning up connections at every opportunity. This time it was Slaven Bilic as manager of The Throstles returning to his old turf (although not quite the same actual turf) of West Ham. Not only that but Julian Dicks, first team coach of The Throstles was also making a return trip to The Hammers. 

Julian Dicks, as Blues fans will attest, was capable of a fair but firm challenge on his day. I'll say no more.

West Ham, of course, remain under the ownership of Sunday Sport's David Sullivan and David Gold. In the 1990's Blues benefited from these guys, including Karren (now Baroness) Brady, and I think it's fair to say they turned the club around in the years before The Men from The East came along.

West Ham United FC v West Bromwich Albion FC

Hammers/Irons versus Throstles/Baggies. West Ham/West Brom. Rolls off the tongue. West Ham, 3 time winners of the FA Cup (including 1975 when Blues should really have won it, if only we'd got to the final...) and West Brom, 5 time winners including 1931 against Blues and the most recent win in 1968 featuring the late Jeff Astle.

I was lucky enough to have been to a few London 2012 events, but never made it inside the Olympic Stadium. It remains an impressive structure but it appears that the West Ham faithful remain unconvinced. Lack of atmosphere and distance from the pitch were cited as complaints in a couple of conversations.

These complaints, however, became insignificant when it came to the complaints about the quality of the team. Much of the local support appeared 'proper miffed' akin to Allan Clarke those 32 long years ago.

Ticket £25. Programme £3.50. Good Chicken Burger, £5.

Attendance: consensus estimate 50,000, actual 58,911 (from club website).

Gareth Barry. A man with two first names. Former Villa man of course. In that capacity he played in the last FA Cup final at the Old Wembley stadium (Villa lost to Chelsea 1-0) in 2000. He was on the pitch for West Brom today too, and had a decent game.

Darren Randolph (also two first names...?) had a decent game too. Former Blues goalie, of course.

If you've seen the highlights or read the reports, there's not much I need to add here. West Brom looked like the premiership outfit for most of the game. The Hammers players looked like strangers in the first half with pass after pass going wrong. The local support were full of helpful advice, and fair enough. West Brom were well worth their 1-0 half time lead with an early goal from Conor Townsend.

The second half was a bit more even, for two main reasons. David Moyes brought on Mark Noble, Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna at half time. Their energy and commitment made a big difference, as did a 72nd minute red card (2nd yellow) for West Brom's Semi Ajayi. 

The last 15 minutes were lively as The Irons pushed forwards, made a few half chances but couldn't convert. The crowd all sensed that there would be one clear cut opening before the end and sure enough it fell to Mark Noble in injury time. About 15 yards out with a clear look at the goal, he couldn't miss.

It finished 1-0 to West Brom and a fifth round tie at home to Oxford or Newcastle.

In other news, Blues' long away trip to Coventry ended in a thrilling 0-0. There were no highlights for MOTD to show. Leicester City await the winners of the replay. I've no idea which ground that will be played at. I've lost count.

It's the mid-week, no replays, 5th round next. See you in March!