Tonight's football thread

[Travs]

I saw a re-run of the Coventry v Spurs FA Cup Final the other night on ITV. I had forgotten what a great match it was, probably one of the best FA Cup finals. It had everything, goals, proper tackles, defensive howlers, mullets, great commentary and the two most handsome goalies!
Were you there Travs?

PS. Whats Kyle Walker been up to, to deserve that accolade, Stagger?

I was not there as i was only 5 at the time. Didn't go to my first City match until i was 10. I vaguely remember it being on tv in the front room. My overriding memory of it is car aerials having Sky Blue ribbons tied to them in celebration, well into the 90's!

It was a great final though. As Muddy Retriever rightly says, the semi was even better.

As a kid the cup really meant something. The league wasn't so important to me, i couldn't quite understand the importance of the bread-and-butter slog of an entire season. But perhaps because of the 87 legend, the FA Cup was everything.

My biggest FA Cup memory came a decade later when we had a really strong "entertainers" team... we had a sraightforward 3rd round tie, then hammered Derby at home in the 4th... looking at the 5th round draw, we just seemed to know we were going to get Villa or Manchester United, and inevitably we got Villa, away.

In my era that was the big game and rivalry... Leicester/Wolves/etc were league(s) below and Villa were a successful side, we'd never beaten them away in 104 years. We totally deserved the win and should have been 3 or 4 up before we eventually got in front. Officially the away crowd was 8000... we had the traditional away end, then half the side stand. But when we scored, nearly all the family stand went up, and significant sections of the Holte End, it was chaos, there must've been 15000 city there.

That game was/is my single greatest memory as a city fan.

In the next round we were home to Sheff Utd who were division below. We couldn't do it at home and it went to a replay at Brammall Lane, and we conceded in the final minute and it went to a pen shoot-out. Inevitably we lost. It was the only time i can recall being in tears over a football match.

Really thought our name was on the cup that year. We'd have had Newcastle in the semi, who were were simply superior to at the time. Arsenal would have been the final, and on a one-off match i'd even have backed us against them. In fact that season we played them on a live Sky match on Boxing Day, when we beat their great side 3-2 in one of the best matches i witnessed at Highfield Road.

Such a shame that the cup has become so irrelevant nowadays.

[Stagger]

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-a9504966.html

And after the weekend he has apologised.

Too little too late son.

Your england career should be over.

One mistake is not good,

Two and your walking a tight rope

Three and OUT

[Witton Park]

Brighton must have some muppets on the books.

0.003% of the UK population have tested positive for CV.

7% of the first team squad have contracted it.

[Stagger]

Natural selection

[Muddy Retriever]

Brighton must have some muppets on the books.

0.003% of the UK population have tested positive for CV.

7% of the first team squad have contracted it.

It would suit Brighton to the ground if this season didn't resume at all and either

a) the season was voided; or

b) the season ended and final positions were based on current average points per game.

Either way they would avoid relegation, which would be a major threat to them if the season resumed.

Not saying these events are in anyway connected of course.

[Llani Boy]

Brighton must have some muppets on the books.

0.003% of the UK population have tested positive for CV.

7% of the first team squad have contracted it.

Don't they do a lot of holding hands in Brighton

[Travs]

i'm sure the fact that Brighton, West Ham and Villa all appear to be the most vocal against finishing the season off, has absolutely nothing to do with their precarious positions in the table...!

My personal thoughts are to abandon it now, awarding promotions to teams in automatic spots(but not championship titles), and relegations, on a points per game basis.

I wouldn't award promotion to teams in top playoff spot. The playoffs are a lottery after all.

So it would be bad luck to Liverpool, teams in playoffs, and teams in relegation spots. I realise this is wholly unfair to those clubs, but i think it is the least unfair of all possible solutions.

Of course, with my team sitting clear at top of the table with a game in hand, it is easy for me to suggest this.

My utmost sympathy lies with teams like Atalanta who are having the greatest season in their history, quarter finals of European Cup... but i think cup and European cup competitions also need to be abandoned. Although i think their current position would allow them to be in the champions league next year.

[Muddy Retriever]

i'm sure the fact that Brighton, West Ham and Villa all appear to be the most vocal against finishing the season off, has absolutely nothing to do with their precarious positions in the table...!

My personal thoughts are to abandon it now, awarding promotions to teams in automatic spots(but not championship titles), and relegations, on a points per game basis.

I wouldn't award promotion to teams in top playoff spot. The playoffs are a lottery after all.

So it would be bad luck to Liverpool, teams in playoffs, and teams in relegation spots. I realise this is wholly unfair to those clubs, but i think it is the least unfair of all possible solutions.

Of course, with my team sitting clear at top of the table with a game in hand, it is easy for me to suggest this.

My utmost sympathy lies with teams like Atalanta who are having the greatest season in their history, quarter finals of European Cup... but i think cup and European cup competitions also need to be abandoned. Although i think their current position would allow them to be in the champions league next year.

Agree with most of that. The fact that my team is also sitting in a promotion spot has absolutely nothing to do with it mind.

The only thing I would take issue with is league titles, I would award them too. (Again nothing to do with my team being currently top!) I think it would be a travesty if Liverpool didn't win the Premier League.

There is an EFL meeting taking place today and it seems likely that Leagues 1 and 2 will not resume although I don't think a decision will be made yet on promotion/relegation or voiding the season. The costs of restarting due to tests etc. are thought to be too prohibitive when there is no income coming in from gate receipts. I think they do want the Championship to resume if at all possible.

[Travs]

I understand the point re Liverpool... and whilst they receive a lot of hostility, they have been by far the best team, as the table shows...

However a league title is not "essential".... they aren't going to go bust. They may have waited 30 years or whatever it is, but it's not necessarily going to affect the future life of the club. Would i say the same if this was 2017 and Leicester were prevented from claiming their rightful title, possibly a once in a lifetime event for their fans? I don't know but i like to think i'd be consistent... would they even want it "awarded" to them...?

But promotion and relegation are vital to the game... my team for instance are in a precarious state, and going up could see us returning to play in our home city and perhaps lead to the club having some kind of future. Not going up now really could have a huge negative impact on the club beyond the initial disappointment.

This season is now a massive anti-climax whatever is decided... we have waited since 1967 for a league title. Even if it was awarded to us it would be a washout.

[Witton Park]

Oi Snowflakes!

Come on you knoooowwww!

Why can't the Prem proceed 3-4 weeks from now, 2 matches per week? Finishing 1st week July. They don't need the crowd revenue, they need the TV revenue.

The lower divisions could then pick up and finish between mid July and Mid August and also pull in some TV money, but by then also maybe have some home fans in.

Then start the new season towards end September, cut out the League Cup and I daresay the European competitions will be either axed or have reduced fixtures so there should be room in the calendar.

I honestly cannot see any reason why that cannot happen.

Think of the improved public morale? We have people going back to work in factories, restaurants as well as probably 25 million who've worked throughout.
Are you really telling me that 22 people on a pitch kicking a ball about is not feasible?

It will keep people in to watch the matches, so reduce community distancing.

In terms of fairness, Brighton are 15th - but have you seen their fixtures? There's every chance one of 15th, 16th and 17th will drop in to the bottom 3.

It's far fairer to play the matches, than to freeze the season and relegate Villa who have a game in hand that could take them to 15th.