The end of the road! From Penrith to Wembley. What a journey and what a Cup Final to round things off!

Saturday the 27^th May 2017

FA Cup Final (Wembley Stadium)

Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1  

After 10 months on the Road to Wembley from Scotland covering nearly 10000 miles, watching 17 football matches and meeting some wonderful people along the way I finally made it to Wembley for the FA Cup Final.

Made It !! The teams come out for the FA Cup final and I am there.

Maybe I am just born lucky because the final match on the journey turned out to be the best. Arsenal were in superb form and Chelsea were worthy opponents. Wembley was spectacular and resplendent in the summer sunshine. It was a thrilling match that has been heralded by the pundits as the best FA Cup final in years. This is how the day panned out.

Pre Match Communications: When you are preparing for a match in the qualifying rounds, a couple of ‘follows’ on twitter and a couple of clicks on facebook and you can find yourself in a dialogue with the team manager or the club chairman. Not so with the big boys and to be honest I did not make serious attempts to contact those at Chelsea FC. I continued to check in to the Scots Arsenal twitter feeds @ArsenalScotland @Grampiangooner for Scots Arsenal related updates. 5/10

Pre Match Pint: The pre match pint was in fact three pre match pints in three different locations. I arrived by car in North London at about 1320 more than four hours before kick off and immediately stumble on this scene in ‘The Torch’ close to Wembely Park.

More than four hours until kick off and the beer is flowing at The Torch

I grabbed a pint of cold Fosters and took a few pics and was minding my own business when a very loud American started engaging some nearby young Arsenal fans in conversation. He told the lads “when I realised the that FA Cup saacker final was on I just had to get a ticket and I bought one from a tout an hour ago”. Unperturbed by their indifference he continued “Do you want Arsenal to win?” … with an exasperated slow swivel of the head and a look that took in a look at hundreds of red-clad Arsenal fans the young fella said ‘well yes’. Immune to their lack of interest the yank said “I have been reading in the morning paper that some Arsenal fans want Coach Ven-ger to step down – is that right?” … ‘well yes’ was again the reply. “But why? I read that he has won 3 FA Cups”. “Six”: I joined the conversation and corrected him. “Six – jeez and how many Preeemier Leagues?”. “Three” I told him. The lads were now looking a little uncomfortable. “Jeez. Three Preemier Leagues and six FA Cups and you guys want him out? What does that guy have to do to keep his jaab?!!”. A difficult one to answer that boys.

I moved on from the Torch to The Watkins Folly pub where I met up with Andy Phillips and  his pal Jeremy. Andy was also completing the Road to Wembley and we have been in touch ever since August. His route ended up in the other half of the draw and although we have communicated most days since August Saturday was the first time that we met up. A nice chap and a fellow football anorak it was great to swap stories about our journeys. 

Andy Phillips: A fellow Road to Wembley-er

Andy's pal Jeremy pictured with Antonia. Loving the retro replica shirt

It was interesting to note that Andy had a much better experience than I in dealing with the FA. While the Association were fobbing me off with platitudes and excuses for not helping my quest for a ticket for the semi final (the most disappointing bit of the dialogue was when the FA were unprepared to consider me as part of the ‘football family’ and allocate one of the many thousands of briefs they had sloshing about for that match – despite the fact I was promoting their flagship competition) Andy actually secured his ticket for the Chelsea v Spurs semi from the FA. Most impressive of all is that Andy’s subsequent relationship with the FA meant that his journey was featured in the match programme for the final. Nice one Andy.

Andy was in a different part of the ground so I went in to the stadium to meet up with Peter Tissington and imbibe pint number 3. As has been previously reported Wembley is a very expensive experience but if you are prepared to pay their fancy prices it does have everything that the traditional football fan would want. This extends to having real ale available in some of the bars in the stadium. The English EPA on offer (I am not sure what brewery produces this nectar) was excellent. An oaky tang and a pleasant aftertaste.

9/10

Programme: The programme is excellent and with it being the FA Cup Final programme will no doubt, in time, become a collector’s item. It is a mammoth publication and is A4 size and 116 pages.

 The journalism is good and interesting throughout and the quality of the photography is wonderful. Superb coverage of the two teams and fascinating articles relating to past FA Cup finals. It was priced at £10 and (I can’t believe I am writing this!) it was worth the money 10/10

Ground: Wembley Stadium in the sunshine on cup final day has to be just about the best place in the world to be.

Close to kick off - 90000 inside and Wembley looks amazing

Within the last 20 years both Hampden and Wembley have been re-developed. Hampden failed. There is still a semi circle behind the goals and you can still be miles from the action with a poor view. Wembley took out the half circles and moved the spectators closer to the pitch. The redevelopment has been a resounding success and Wembley Stadium is quite simply magnificent.

Wembley Way: The most famous walkway in football

The pitch looked great. Thanks to 'Ticket Master' Peter Tissington I had a great view to watch the action – in the Arsenal end in the lower tier. 10/10

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was rocking throughout. Peter and I took our seats just before ‘Abide with Me’. Most fans joined in singing this hymn that dates back to the ‘communal singing’ pre match programme of events of FA Cup finals of yesteryear. Even an atheist like me joined in to participate in this wonderful cup final tradition. I did not join in with the national anthem (I don’t want anyone to think I am a Rangers sympathiser!) but noted this was sung with gusto and what seemed like defiance. In a week that has seen innocent people murdered by a terrorist in Manchester there was tangible feeling in the stadium of ‘the cup final is part of the British way of life and we are going to observe it’s traditions come what may’.

When the match started the volume went up another notch. The Gunners were being urged on by their vocal, almost desperate, fans. A wonderful cacophony. At the other end the Chelsea fans were also giving it laldy. The goals were greeted by joyous celebration and the atmosphere was passionate without ever being unpleasant or vitriolic. 10/10

Scottishness: As has been reported on this blog, Arsenal do not have any Scots in their squad and have not selected a Scot to play for their team for 19 years. Hence not much Scottishness in their ranks. Chelsea also do not have any jocks in their squad at the moment either and indeed they have not had a Scotsman in their team for over 10 years. Both clubs do have a strong Scottish heritage and their clubs have been shaped by a Caledonian influence, but at the moment it is all a bit quiet on the tartan front.  2/10

Entertainment:

A great match and the level of technical ability on show was on occasions breathtaking. Arsenal started as long-odds but very early on belied their underdog status. One very early moved seemed to feature about 765 passes! The Gunners opened the scoring after only 5 minutes when the prolific Sanchez scored in controversial circumstances. He appeared to handle the ball as he worked his way into the Chelsea penalty box. He then prodded the ball forward towards Ramsey who was in an offside position. Ramsey did not touch the ball and was adjudged to be ‘not interfering with play’ so Sanchez continued and stuck the ball in the onion bag. Chelsea claimed for both handball and offside but to no avail and the goal stood.

Arsenal continued to dominate the first half and were playing with a freedom and confidence that had been absent from their game for much of the season. Wellbeck and Ramsey both hit the post before the 45 minutes had elapsed. HT Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0.

The first part of the second half was more closely contested and the Blues were now causing the Gunners some problems with Diego ‘ugly bloke with a talent’ Costa beginning to show some interest. Halfway through the second period Chelsea shot themselves in the foot. The talented, but flaky, wing back Victor Moses raced into the Arsenal box and then theatrically threw himself to the ground trying to con the referee into awarding a penalty. Less than valiant Victor had already been booked and hence the yellow card the ref showed him for diving meant that he was off. The Nigerian Moses became only the fifth player to be sent off in an FA Cup final.

No promised land for Moses! Young Victor heads for first use of the Wembley showers

It was expected that the Gunners would use their numerical superiority to retain possession and see the game out. However, as the old saying goes, football is a funny old game and Chelsea scored in the 76^th minute to level the scores. Diego Costa was surprised to see that his scruffy, deflected shot managed to get past the Arsenal custodian Ospina and nestle in the net. While Chelsea were celebrating their equaliser the wise old Wenger made a substitution before the game restarted. He withdrew Wellbeck and brought on Oliver Giroud. With his first touch of the ball Giroud was instrumental in restoring Arsenal’s lead. He crossed the ball from the left for the alert Aaron Ramsey to move forward and head the ball into the net. FT Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1

Rampant Ramsey! Welshmen Aaron heads the winning goal in the 2017 FA Cup Final

The winning goal in the FA Cup final 2017 was not scored by a superstar globe trotting footballer but by a modest Welshman from Caerphilly. They do say that the Scots and the Welsh have a lot in common. A tenuous Scottish connectionon the Road to Wembley from Scotland! Well done Aaron Ramsey, the Celtic fraternity are proud of you. 10/10

Match Day Catering: The pie stalls at Wembley offer ‘Steak and Ale’, ‘Chicken Balti’ and a vegetarian option. I went for the chicken balti pie and although not up to the standards set early on ‘The Road’ at Dunston UTS it was pretty decent. Inevitably, this being Wembley, I did not get much change from a fiver. 8/10

Value for Money: I paid the face value for my ticket and it cost £115. This may seem like a lot, but I would have happily paid three times the amount to be present at what was an unforgettable football match, the final tie in the latest edition of the world’s oldest football competition played at arguably the most famous football stadium on the planet. 10/10

The je ne sais quoi factor: A feature throughout the Road to Wembley from Scotland has been meeting up with pals along the way. Since September I have been meeting up with Peter Tissington every three weeks or so as Peter has also just completed the Road to Wembley. Peter’s journey started at Stavely Miners Welfare and our routes collided as early as Spennymoor in the third qualifying round. Sheffield United fan Peter has become a great friend and we are destined to keep in touch as we will forever be bound together by the Road to Wembley in season 2016-17.

Well done pal! Peter Tissington also completed the Road to Wembley

I will also be forever indebted to Peter for sorting out my ticket for the final. Good Man!

The other je ne sais factor about Saturday was just being there. The whole event felt special. There was an almost perceptible sense of history and tradition that pervaded the whole afternoon. I am pretty sure I will never do this again but I have enjoyed the whole ‘Road’ journey and it was such a privilege to be at the FA Cup Final at the end of it all. 10/10

Overall Road to Wembley from Scotland Rating 84/100 (The highest score on the journey!)

So Chelsea complete the season as League Champions but failed to do the double. I have developed an affection for every team that I have met along the route – except for the Blues from West London. Their recent success seems to be bought by ‘funny money’ and the wealthy owner Roman Abramovich seems like the type of person you could only feel warmth towards if you were a Chelsea fan. The Blues club captain is the grotesque, graceless self publicist John Terry and the talisman goalscorer is the obnoxious ego-maniac Diego Costa. Rumour has it that the mercenary Costa will play in the Chinese League next season to earn even bigger bucks rather than to try to fulfill his potential by scoring more goals in the much more competitive English Premier League. Chelsea are a hard team to love. Arsenal on the other hand …..

The Gunners have been great fun to spend some time with. Their fans are committed and enjoy their football. I do wish however, that they would give a bit more credit to their genius manager Arsene ‘The Professor’ Wenger. I have seen the Gunners score some great goals and play some beautiful football over the last three months. OK, they missed out a Champions League by a single point after 38 games but surely it is better to win the FA Cup and finish 5^th than to not win the FA Cup and finish fourth. The FA Cup victory provides their fans with a real cause for celebration and a nice warm feeling that should last all summer. It is, after all, the oldest and most famous knock out competition in world football. A good friend of mine up here in Scotland, Sanjoy Das, is an Arsenal fan. I noted that he summed up the Gunners cup win on facebook yesterday as follows: “We are the champions of the Football Association. The FA Cup is definitely the most important football competition in the world and yet again Arsenal are the winners. Untainted by the whiff of filthy lucre this competition is all about how good you are as team on that night against the other team. It's more Grateful Dead than Cliff Richard, more fresh and innocent like your first kiss than some old slappers paid-for embrace. It's like the first warm day of spring a benediction and blessing from the Gods above rather than simply buying yourself to the top with black money. Everything was perfect including the referee.” Nice one Sanje

What now? I will continue to blog until I sort out who will publish this blog as a book. My initial thoughts are that it will be 140,000 words long, about 500 pages and contain about 250 pictures and will be launched in early August. I will keep you posted as this rolls out. I will also post at the weekend on the future of Arsene Wenger. An announcement about his future is expected on Thursday. Will he stay on for another two years or will he retire on a high? Come back here on Sunday to find out … and keep reading

Miles on the clock for this match 802

Final total on the Road to Wembley from Scotland 9555