Emirates FA Cup 2019/20 Third Round
Welcome to 2020, The Twenties and the third round.
Blues beat Blackburn (with, arguably, the rub of the green...?) and the Villa are out (focus on The Carabao Cup lads).
There were plenty of attractive ties to choose from, but the blue and white of Brighton against the blue and white of Wednesday, The Seagulls versus The Owls, was too good to turn down.
I have history with Sheffield Wednesday in the 80's. Imre Varadi. A man with almost as many clubs as Steve Claridge (see earlier post, second qualifying round) and on his day, what a player. Saw him score a fantastic hat-trick. Can't remember who against. I also saw a couple of five goal whippings at Hillsborough.
1. (1986) Wednesday 5 Blues 1 - enjoyed the "we want six" chants from the Blues fans in the now infamous Leppings Lane end. David Geddes scored for Blues.
2. (1988) Wednesday 1 Liverpool 5 (John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Craig Johnston etc) - honestly some of the best football I've ever seen live
Third Round: 5 January 2020
And then there are the managers we have in common. In recent times, the Almighty Trevor Francis did his time at Wednesday as player and manager and more recently Chris Hughton spent five years at Brighton. Hughton managed Blues after the 2011 League Cup season for just 12 months but steered a fantastic European adventure in the Europa League, a decent FA Cup run and a pretty good 4th place in the Championship before losing in the play-offs. Off he went to Norwich, but what a year that was!
Even more recently, like now, Garry Monk is the boss at Wednesday after leaving Blues. He replaced Steve Bruce at Wednesday,
Small world, huh?
Brighton & Hove Albion FC v Sheffield Wednesday FC
Seagulls versus Owls. Like day and night.
I was fortunate to be joined on this trip by my good friend Martin who, despite being a Villa fan, is a decent fellow. "Why are Brighton called the Seagulls?" is a question I didn't ask but that wasn't going to stop Martin from helpfully providing the answer. Used to be "The Dolphins" but that didn't really lend itself to terrace banter, so in response to 'local' rivals Crystal Palace and their "Eagles, Eagles..." chant, the "Seagulls, Seagulls" were born in 1975. (I checked it out here....https://thegoldstonewrap.com/tag/nicknames/)
The last time these two sides met in the FA Cup was in the 1983 semi-final. Brighton were the victors that day before losing out to Man Utd in the final.
"...and Smith must score..." but didn't. That one.
Man Utd won the replay and Brighton kindly kept pace with Birmingham City as no-time winners of the FA Cup.
Wednesday on the other hand have won the cup three times, but my education into The Owls was only completed when I learned that they were the first losing side in an FA Cup final to do a lap of honour. That was the 1966 final, won by Everton 3-2. Notable for attendance by Lennon & McCartney and for referee duties by Jack Taylor (the first ref I remember - 1974 World Cup final, first minute penalty. That one).
Ticket £15. Programme £2. Fantastic Chicken, Gammon & Leek pie, £4.30.
(Fantastic is my description, not part of the pie name)
Attendance: consensus estimate 18,000, actual 20,349 (from club website).
I enjoyed the AMEX Community stadium and its facilities (comfy padded seats), and enjoyed the game too. As is common these days, both managers made a load of changes from their previous league game.
It must have been a disappointing 90 minutes for Brighton fans as their team didn't really seem to get into top gear during the match. A 0-0 half-time score was probably fair enough with some chances at both ends but the match never really coming to life.
Wednesday were on top at the start of the second half and probably deserved their 1-0 win, with a deflected free-kick after 65 minutes from Adam Reach the telling moment.
There was plenty of effort from Brighton searching for an equaliser, but it wasn't to be. Wednesday through to the next round and a renewed focus on the league for The Seagulls.
Next time it's the 4th round, with Blues away, at home, or something, maybe.
Even more recently, like now, Garry Monk is the boss at Wednesday after leaving Blues. He replaced Steve Bruce at Wednesday,
Small world, huh?
Brighton & Hove Albion FC v Sheffield Wednesday FC
Seagulls versus Owls. Like day and night.
I was fortunate to be joined on this trip by my good friend Martin who, despite being a Villa fan, is a decent fellow. "Why are Brighton called the Seagulls?" is a question I didn't ask but that wasn't going to stop Martin from helpfully providing the answer. Used to be "The Dolphins" but that didn't really lend itself to terrace banter, so in response to 'local' rivals Crystal Palace and their "Eagles, Eagles..." chant, the "Seagulls, Seagulls" were born in 1975. (I checked it out here....https://thegoldstonewrap.com/tag/nicknames/)
The last time these two sides met in the FA Cup was in the 1983 semi-final. Brighton were the victors that day before losing out to Man Utd in the final.
"...and Smith must score..." but didn't. That one.
Man Utd won the replay and Brighton kindly kept pace with Birmingham City as no-time winners of the FA Cup.
Wednesday on the other hand have won the cup three times, but my education into The Owls was only completed when I learned that they were the first losing side in an FA Cup final to do a lap of honour. That was the 1966 final, won by Everton 3-2. Notable for attendance by Lennon & McCartney and for referee duties by Jack Taylor (the first ref I remember - 1974 World Cup final, first minute penalty. That one).
Ticket £15. Programme £2. Fantastic Chicken, Gammon & Leek pie, £4.30.
(Fantastic is my description, not part of the pie name)
Attendance: consensus estimate 18,000, actual 20,349 (from club website).
I enjoyed the AMEX Community stadium and its facilities (comfy padded seats), and enjoyed the game too. As is common these days, both managers made a load of changes from their previous league game.
It must have been a disappointing 90 minutes for Brighton fans as their team didn't really seem to get into top gear during the match. A 0-0 half-time score was probably fair enough with some chances at both ends but the match never really coming to life.
Wednesday were on top at the start of the second half and probably deserved their 1-0 win, with a deflected free-kick after 65 minutes from Adam Reach the telling moment.
There was plenty of effort from Brighton searching for an equaliser, but it wasn't to be. Wednesday through to the next round and a renewed focus on the league for The Seagulls.
Next time it's the 4th round, with Blues away, at home, or something, maybe.
Comments
Post a Comment