That sinking feeling in your stomach is the impending Premier League football-free weekend.
Fear not, though – the FA Cup quarter-finals are really interesting! Here’s a few reasons why…
1. The FA Cup was designed and manufactured by Fattorini & Sons in Bradford in 1911 – and the Bantams won the trophy in the same year.
2. Arsenal were fined £250 for fielding weakened teams in league games in the build-up to the 1936 FA Cup final.
3. Robin Friday, who scored twice for Reading in their 1976/77 FA Cup campaign, had the words ‘mild’ and ‘bitter’ tattooed on his chest.
Reading Legend Robin Friday #RFC #readingfc #icon pic.twitter.com/bFJO641eYb
— Football Memories (@footballmemorys) June 27, 2014
4. In 1948 Manchester United became the first and only team to win the FA Cup after only facing top-division teams.
5. Blackburn’s Jimmy Brown was the first player to score in three consecutive finals from 1884 to 1886 – winning all three.
6. Aston Villa’s Charlie Wallace was the first player to miss a penalty in the FA Cup final – against Sunderland in 1913.
7. Archie Hunter scored in every round of Aston Villa’s 1887 Cup-winning campaign – except the first, as his team had a bye.
8. Arsenal have lost 6-0 in the FA Cup three times – to Sunderland (1893), Derby (1899) and West Ham (1946)
9. West Brom were the first team to win the FA Cup with a team made up entirely of English-born players, in 1888.
10. Liverpool’s first FA Cup match was a 4-0 win at Nantwich in 1892.
11. Bill Shankly rejected a request from The Beatles for tickets to the 1965 final, saying: “I’ve never seen The Beatles standing on the Kop.”
12. After winning the FA Cup in 1888, West Brom were beaten 4-1 by Scottish Cup winners Renton in a “Championship of the World” game in Glasgow.
13. Manchester United’s Kevin Moran was the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final against Everton in 1985.
14. Blackburn went 24 games unbeaten in the FA Cup between 1884 and 1886.
15. Jimmy Speirs, who scored Bradford’s winner in the 1911 final replay, went on to receive the Military Medal for bravery in the First World War.
Source: SNAPPA
