Listening to the FA Cup draw on the radio.

[whitelion]

This was always a highlight of days gone by.

I remember crowding round a transistor at lunchtime that a fellow school pupil had brought in during the Sixties.

In the seventies I'd sit in the car at lunchtime to hear the draw. Always Monday - think it was 1pm.

The draw now takes place before all the round's ties are played as in today with Sutton v Arsenal.

 

[Quinney]

Having the draw before all ties have been played is very poor. Just another reason why the FA have allowed the FA Cup to fall from grace. Moving the semi's to Wembley, no 3.00 Saturday final, moving ties right across the weekend (with no consideration for travelling supporters), no replays after the last 8, final allocations, etc etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[whitelion]

Just seen this on Up The Clarets:

"This evening the BBC will fit the FA Cup draw into their schedule as the Premier League and Championship clubs enter the competition for the first time. Steven Gerrard and former Claret Ian Wright are making the draw from the BT Tower in London at approximately 7:10 p.m.

The FA have described the event as one of the most eagerly anticipated dates on the football calendar. That maybe the case for the smaller clubs left in the competition, clubs such as Barrow who yesterday won 2-1 at Bristol Rovers, but for the bigger clubs the whole thing has now become something of an inconvenience.

When I were a lad – as they say in this part of the world – it really was a big event. The draw was always held on a Monday dinner time (only posh folk would consider referring to it as lunch back then) and it would go out on the BBC Light Programme which for younger readers was a radio station.

The radio commentator, with a hushed voice, would take us into FA Headquarters, then at Lancaster Gate. We would be held in an anti-room until such time as the broadcasters were allowed into the chamber where the draw was taking place. Once admitted, we would hear the 64 balls being shaken up in the blue velvet bag (we were told it was blue) and we sat with pen and paper ready to write them all down. Two FA officials would conduct the draw, one drawing the home teams and one the away teams.

We used to sneak transistor radios into school; it was such an event no one wanted to miss it, and fortunately it used to coincide with the school dinner break as we gathered around the radios in small groups.

Back then, the big clubs were eager to have a good cup run while the smaller clubs were hopeful of grabbing a bit of glory with a shock win. Today, the big clubs, in the main, show precious little interest in the competition and the smaller clubs are more concerned in landing a big tie to make a bit of brass from it rather than looking for glory.

Last season Exeter played host to Liverpool in the 3rd round. Twice they led but both times an under strength Liverpool side drew level with the game eventually ending 2-2. Exeter missed out on their moment of glory but were they bothered? Not really, they gave the impression that they were more delighted to land an Anfield replay and the money that brought in. They lost that replay 3-0 in front of an attendance of over 43,000.

How much do Burnley value the FA Cup? In last season’s 3rd round we came from behind to win 2-1 at Middlesbrough (top picture); it was our first FA Cup win since beating Burton in the 4th round in 2011 on the occasion of Eddie Howe’s first home game in charge.

Two years ago we were drawn at home against Spurs (bottom picture) in the first Turf Moor home game of 2015. We opted to switch the game to a Monday night. It attracted an attendance of less than 10,000. For someone who was brought up on the classic Burnley v Spurs games of the early sixties, that was hard to take in, but it was hardly a surprising attendance given the club’s efforts to make it as difficult as possible to attend.

I’m afraid it’s a competition that’s long lost its glamour. One of the group I travel to away games with told me yesterday that he would probably only go to an away tie if it was at a ground where he’d never seen Burnley play. To him, someone a lot younger than me, the FA Cup holds no magic whatsoever.

It doesn’t for me if I’m being honest, but when that draw starts tonight I’ll be able to remember the days when it really was a magical competition, when football supporters across the country stopped to take in the 3rd round draw.

My first ever tie was against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic at home in January 1961. There were almost 25,000 there to see John Connelly score in a 1-0 win. Could you imagine the same opposition this season, it would certainly attract an attendance considerably lower than will see the league clash between the two teams this Saturday even with a likely reduction in ticket prices.

In the previous season to that Bournemouth tie we met Blackburn Rovers at home in the 6th round. It meant they visited Turf Moor on successive Saturdays. On 5th March 1960 there were 32,331 inside the Turf to see us pick up both points in a 1-0 win in a season when we won the league. One week later, albeit now in the 6th round, we had an attendance of 51,501 for the cup tie.

I wish the FA Cup carried the magic it did for me as a young boy in my early years of watching Burnley, when the final was the only domestic game shown live on television. But it is not an important competition any longer with the small clubs looking for a pay day and the big clubs more intent on securing a top four place in the league to get into the Champions League.

Even so, there’ll still be some excitement tonight as the draw gets underway and I’ll still hope for the easiest home game possible to give us the best possible chance of getting through. Sadly, whoever we get, if we lose we’ll be told the cups are not a priority. After all, just as the big clubs want Champions League football, for clubs such of ours the priority is trying to stay in the Premier League."

 

[The Brighton Bear]

This was always a highlight of days gone by.

I remember crowding round a transistor at lunchtime that a fellow school pupil had brought in during the Sixties.

In the seventies I'd sit in the car at lunchtime to hear the draw. Always Monday - think it was 1pm.

The draw now takes place before all the round's ties are played as in today with Sutton v Arsenal.

That brings back memories!

When I worked as an apprentice at Allenwest in the late 70's we used crowd round a radio listening to the draw.

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

For some reason an attendance stat that's a perfect example of what's happened to the FA Cup has always stuck with me. Back in the 85/86 season we made a run to the quarters, as plenty of us are old enough to remember all too well. The fourth round pitted us away at Boothferry Park, then then-home of Hull City. Attendance? 12,228 - a big crowd for Hull back then, during.a season in which they averaged 7.672 for league games. The attendance for the league fixture at Boothferry Park that season, on the last day of the campaign, was just 5,459.

The Cup was a big deal. This season's success for Lincoln, Sutton, Oxford etc, shows pretty clearly which teams take it seriously these days, IMHO. 'Shocks' are hardly any such thing now.

 

[melias shoes]

This was always a highlight of days gone by.

I remember crowding round a transistor at lunchtime that a fellow school pupil had brought in during the Sixties.

In the seventies I'd sit in the car at lunchtime to hear the draw. Always Monday - think it was 1pm.

The draw now takes place before all the round's ties are played as in today with Sutton v Arsenal.

Yep much better back then. The excitement of who we could get. Remember after beating Liverpool in 83 and being drawn at home to Norwich in the quarters. Listening through the radio added to the drama. Not now utter disgrace what this Greatest domestic cup competition has become. The FA should hang their heads in shame. The cup always was one of the parts of the season you looked forward too especially the 3rd round. Gone now.

 

[drew]

Having the draw before all ties have been played is very poor. Just another reason why the FA have allowed the FA Cup to fall from grace. Moving the semi's to Wembley, no 3.00 Saturday final, moving ties right across the weekend (with no consideration for travelling supporters), no replays after the last 8, final allocations, etc etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

To be honest, don't think any of those reasons are why the FA cup has fallen from grace. It is purely because of the value to clubs of being in the Premier League, including us, simply as.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

This is a rare foray into NSC for me.

Anyway, I remember listening to the 83 semi-final draw in the bogs at Hove Park Lower School.

It was on about 1pm and live on Radio 2. Bryan Butler introduced it.

 

[Eeyore]

The draw used to be at 12.30. Bang on school lunchtime. I remember being in a Geography class and we listened to the 1983 semi final draw. The place went loopy as we avoided Arsenal and Manchester United.

 

[Dr. Notthenineo'clocknews]

That brings back memories!

When I worked as an apprentice at Allenwest in the late 70's we used crowd round a radio listening to the draw.

And during the late 70s we'd sneak out of Moulscoomb Middle School and ask those coming out of Allenwest on their lunch if they knew who the Albion had got

 

[Bodian]

The draw used to be at 12.30. Bang on school lunchtime. I remember being in a Geography class and we listened to the 1983 semi final draw. The place went loopy as we avoided Arsenal and Manchester United.

I too was in a Geography class - Cardinal Newman. Can't remember the teacher's name, bloke with no neck who played rugby. Great fella.

 

[Garage_Doors]

That brings back memories!

When I worked as an apprentice at Allenwest in the late 70's we used crowd round a radio listening to the draw.

We must have shared the same radio, joined as an apprentice in 78.

 

[studio150]

Time moves on, the draw is now live on the TV (which is totally boring as something that should take no more than 5 minutes is dragged out to 30 minutes) and immediately repeated by about 90% of all football fans on twitter.

Let's move back in time and start playing with leather balls with laces again, and when the FA Cup was the only cup. Take the draw back to the radio and keep the balls in the velvet bag and not into some plastic bowl.

 

[Yoda]

The TV Matches have been announced.

Chelsea v Man Utd will be shown on BT Sport
Arsenal v Lincoln will be on BBC One
Tottenham v Millwall will be on Crime Watch.