When it comes to euphoric, unforgettable victories to treasure, nobody does it better than the FA Cup.
It’s always the same at this time of year. The waft of Deep Heat cuts a warm path to the heart as you recollect some of your fondest footballing memories – often to do with the competition we have won four times.
FA Cup third round weekend is football from the old school. Teams going at each other like rabid dogs, fervent supporters so close they are on the pitch, floodlights illuminating the chill and preferably, the sight of a terraced stand or two.
When we heard we had dropped on Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat, most of us sighed.
Not me. ‘Tis the stuff that dreams are made of! We might all moan to one another about the prospect, but deep inside we get off on it. The only shame is that the Belle Vue ground isn’t the backdrop for the muck and nettles that will follow.
Bland Premier League theme replaced by a tub thumping local beat; accent of Yorkshire PA announcer thicker than a pie crust and the sight, somewhere, of a cardboard FA Cup covered in tin foil.
If we win, we can moan some more about the injustice of having to go to Doncaster in the first place, which was obviously the most unenviable draw for any club in the history of the competition. As we progress through the rounds, we can all harp on about the day we had to beat Doncaster Rovers at their place in arctic conditions.
If we win, we can enjoy the best Match of the Day programme of the year, watching a Bedlington Terrier or a Vauxhall Motor doing remarkable things in front of a packed grass bank.
Like a 10 year-old kid and his faith in Father Christmas, I still believe in the FA Cup and won’t listen if anyone tells me otherwise.
Come January 8, we will all keep one eye on the game and the other on page 2 of the Premier League table.
I won’t be. I’m going! Most probably in two pairs of thermal socks and a pair of Long Johns.
Why? Because I still remember us scoring three second half goals at Mansfield, O’Neill Donaldson, an injury time Kevin Keen goal at Vale Park and a brave defeat at Brian Clough’s Forest.
I know we all yearn for Premiership survival. But for one weekend I just want a Tony Gubba voiceover, a Lightning Seeds soundtrack and a bit of magic for the good old days.
The way our squad is at the moment, I mean with all the injuries and rotation, I think there’s a lot more parity in our “first” and “subs” teams. I say this as if you had to field our two backup strikers it would be Fletch and SEB, and I have faith in both of them.
Midfield we have a wealth of riches, so would be comfortable whichever combination of players made the cut.
I too would like to see a cup run, and a back 4 of “reserves” including Moyokolo and Zubar would be about as strong as we could muster up for any first team game – so I say bring it on.
WE ARE WOLVES
This point is spot on:
“there’s a lot more parity in our “first” and “subs” teams.”
Of course cynics would say it shows our lack of quality, but I’d argue it shows decent strength in depth.
Consider we are without Craddock, Berra, Mouyokolo, Edwards, Guedioura, Henry and Kightly, yet were still able to field a relatively strong side against Sunderland, with the luxury of bringing SEB and Hunt into the game and leaving a £7 million striker sitting on the sidelines.
That’s a measure of how far we’ve come, even if our current league position suggests otherwise.
I think it’ll be a tough game at Donny, but I’m confident we’ll get through, perhaps with the aid of a replay.
It’s also a measure of McCarthy’s summer signings though isn’t it?
The starting XI on Saturday cost about £15m… the 4 new boys from the summer cost more than that and only Hunt can even get off the bench!
It was a great win but if you’d told me in May 2009 we’d have Stearman, Elokobi and Ward in our Premiership back four right now and we’d be looking hopefully to Craddock and Berra coming in to shore it up? Frightening.
But to end on a positive – I do love the boys right now more than any time since the late 80s. Zubar, Milijas, Jarvis, Doyle, SEB … proud to have them in a Wolves shirt.
PS. Good to see you Saturday!
Many of us said we didn’t care about the cup last year, but the humiliating defeat at Crystal Palace was a painful pill to swallow.
So hoping for a decent performance at Donny as a minimum.
Villa Park vs Arsenal still makes me angry (keano and bully on the bench? Sedgely giving the fastest man in the world (slight exaggeration but not much) a half hour head start to score the winner). The first time I cried after a match was when Chelsea dumped us out the cup on the telly (1994ish?). And although prem survival is the be all and end all, a trip to Wembley would be a dream come true (I was too young for the Sherpa Van final at the time). As Mr Mant said our 2nd XI isn’t much different from the 1st, and the kids are alright too. We’ve beaten Sunderland and Man City, now let’s win the cup, it’s so much better when it’s half full! Up the Wolves!
I was there Sleachy – after a few cans of tramps p*ss in the car (Tennants Super) at a ridiculously early hour in the morning! The joy of youth!
Lets not forget who kept Bully and Keane on the bench also – a certain player that scored for every club he played for except Wolves, that was a lue nose through and through. I dont even want to mention his name.
That was the day my love for the FA cup died!
Should read Blue nose!!!!
Great blog Thomas, very atmospheric. My personal heartbreak was when the great Leeds Utd scraped a 1-0 win over us in the semi- final. Must have been around 1970, Billy Bremner scored the winner? I think we should always play our best team in the cup comps as they are the only chance of winning any thing and cup runs are great for us supporters. Donny are a very useful side under Wolverhampton born Sean O’Driscol(possible future manager?) and i think we’ll need a strong side to go through.
Ben wrote this one Martin old boy.
He’s a far more gifted technician when it comes to setting the scene than I’ll be.
Losing to Leeds always hurts.
Sorry Thomas, having a senior moment. Second time for you in one week eh? Well done Ben, as above.