Will you Watch the FA Cup Final?

The FA cup final is the pinnacle of the English football season as two fantastic teams play in a one off match. It gets millions and millions of viewers world wide, but will you be one of them? After Barnesly's exploits leave none of the big four left there is a strong possibility of a Portsmouth vs Middlesbrough/WBA final. A fixture such as this would get little attention normally. Viewers in England will still watch it but I doubt many others will.

I'll be glued to the screen for the first time in years. This is the best FA Cup in living memory.

Hmmm, cant understand the reason for this thread. You are talking about this as if its a negative thing that 'smaller' clubs will be in the final; its great, this is what makes the FA cup what it is. I would love Barnsley to go all the way! Any real fans of the game will still tune in, this time actually seeing a piece of true history taking place rather than 'just another cup for the big clubs'.


the teams left in the cup have not been to the final since as follows...

Bristol Rovers - Never!
Barnsley 1912
Cardiff 1927
Portsmouth 1939
West Brom 1968
Middlesbrough 1997

This is bound to make for an electric atmosphere in the final.

Exactly right. Barnsley deserve it on their performances so far but whoever wins it now will enjoy it more than fans of the big 4 ever would.

Spot on. This has been probably the best overall FA Cup that I can remember. The point of cup competitions is that it gives the lesser teams the chance to take on the bigger clubs, fair play to Barnsley etc, can't remember when I looked forward to a final this much!

Only fans you will ever find grumbling about this situation are fans of 'the big four'

Actually, watching the big boys get taken down has been quite exciting.
It would perhaps be even more exciting if one of the top 4 premiership sides were beaten in the last round.

Guess it is too late for that, but it will still be an enjoyable final. The upsets today will be remembered for a long time.

Giant killing is one of the things that make the FA Cup (or any cup competition really) so much fun. The Barnsley game today was spectacular, but then again if I were a Chelsea fan I would be throwing my tv out the window.

This discussion was had about the NCAA tournament last year or the year before I think. People love to see the upsets in the early rounds, but when it comes to the finals, people want to see the big boys because it's more exciting and usually a higher level of talent.

That said, I'll be watching.

The FA Cup is normally full of excitement until it actually gets the final. Where the majority of them are boring.

The Chelsea Man Utd game last year was crap.

Hopefully without the big four this years final will be different.

This is actually one of the best fa cup years in my memory. I love it when smaller clubs go this far. This is going to be a great final with no big 4 in it. I will absolutely watch it and right now, I am pulling for Barnsley or Bristol Rovers.

Sorry but I'm not watching, it can't possibly live up to the excitement of big-four finals such as 2007 and 2005.

Just some factoid data, this is the first time since 1991 that a Big Four club will not be in the final, and the first time since 1987 that no Big Four clubs will be in the semi's.

For people who can't watch the final just because it doesn't include one of the 'big 4': They're spoiled plastics who can't enjoy a good football game anymore because it doesn't have the over-hyped big stars that they can't jerk-off to. That's what's wrong with footy today. People forgot that good football doesn't always include the glitz and glamour and all that bullshit. They think good footy is only Ronaldinho and C. Ronaldo doing step-overs and shit like that. They can't enjoy a good football game for what it is.

That being said I'll be watching. I'd like to see a Championship club win it, just to piss-off the bandwagoners even more. This will be a great final.

I must confess, I had been tuned out until now. As long as one of the big clubs was still in it, I figured they'd just have an easier road to the final with all these other upsets, so why should I watch them steamroll to victory and have to hear endlessly about how much class they have?

I regret I didn't see these historic upsets, but at least I can tune in from this point on. I am now very interested in the late rounds of the FA Cup for the first time in a long while.

To be honest, I think there's no way I'll be watching the final.

The teams have done a great job to get where they are, but two small clubs is not a final I'll be dreaming about watching!

To be honest, I'm more intrigued by this seasons FA Cup more than ever, especially the quarter/semi final stage. It's not going to be a predictable match between champions league burnt out Arse-Pool-ManU-Chel$ki... instead we are going to have two sides desperate to taste a chance of a lifetime success + an unprecedented place in Europe. I can't believe it that with six teams left, only 2 are premiership clubs. Anyone who objects to this should just go back and watch the snoozfest that was last years FA cup final, or the Arsenal- Man U final a couple of years back. I'm sure we'll have a great final at Wembly.

I couldn't agree more.

It'll be the first final I've looked forward to since the early 90s. Domination by the big 4 has helped kill the spirit of the FA Cup. The FA Cup has always been about every dog having his day, and when people think of the great FA Cup finals, very few have been won by the dominant sides of the day.

There are far too many couch potatoes sucked into the hype that football matches not involving big clubs and star names are boring. It's going to be a match between two teams of players quite probably playing in a match that'll be the highlight of their professional lives, as opposed to two teams who'd regard being FA Cup winners as a season of failure if it was all they'd won.

I'd bet there's hardly a genuine fan in the land who isn't delighted at yesterday's results, yet I'm sure the media would tell you that Man Utd v Chelsea would have been the match "that the fans wanted". I'd actually go as far as to suggest that you could use which side of the fence your opion comes down on as being a litmus test to whether you are a fan or a consumer of football.

Completely in agreement.
Apart from the post's last sentence. That's a bit harsh.

Yesterday was delightful. I haven't gotten up at a god-awful hour to trek to an English pub in Minneapolis to watch the Cup final in years, but I may do so this year.

Looks like one less Premiership club.
Cardiff baby.

Wow! Britol Rovers vs. Barnsley cup final anyone?

I don't see how anyone who claims to like football not wanting to watch this final. Like it's already been side, the FA cup is unique in that it allows smaller clubs like the ones that have made it this far to play at Wembley and actually have a chance of winning something.

Not only does it create a bit of excitement for supporters who aren't "lucky" enough to have one of the big four as their side but in the long run it can only help these clubs to attract more support rather than loosing it to Premiership sides.

Have to say I'm rather pleased to see this too - it makes a refreshing change from a competition that has become stale of late. Would be interested in watching the final (for the first time in over a decade), especially now we know that someone from outside the Premiership will be there, and will have a chance of a result on the day (Portsmouth, if they make it would be favourites, but certainly beatable).

Sadly it isn't going to be the springboard for a new era of competitiveness in the English game, but we might as well enjoy it while we can.

When you see films about sport, correct me if I'm wrong, they tend to be about underdog teams defying all the odds. They usually have a plot revolving around a scrappy bunch of no names, who are face with a impossible challenge, and still give it they're all just for one moment of success. You'd have to be one souless, disingenuine heartless bastard to think that the most prestigious cup in the world, going to a team like Barnsley, would be less entertaining then lets say.. the 2007 final.

The classic argument is the same as the one used for why every game of Fifa 08 has to involve Chelsea, Man U, and Barca. "I want to see (in Fifa's case use) THE BEST".

ohhhhhhhh THE BEST... well if these overpaid, overweight, overhyped shave-gel spokespeople we're so damn good, why is a team like Barnsley and West Brom and Cardiff making them look pedestrian. Last year's final, for the average fan, was a snoozer. Nike, Adidas, Budweisser, and Chelsea fans enjoyed it, but at the end of the day the rich got richer, and the poor wasted money on Pay-per-view.

I apologise for my language, but this will not be a modern fa cup final. At much to the dismay of all the starf*ckers out there (many of whom freequint this site), most of these fashionistas, most likely will not have a jersey to wear for the game. But to the rest of us, who knows what it feels like to overcome adversity and can appreciate it... It's ********in Rocky! ... I'm glad Barnsley was able to take this stuffy ol' tourny and turn it on it's goddamn head. Cheers!

CCFC!! Up you Bluebirds!!

This'll be the first Final I've watched in years. After the drab games we've been served up recently I can't wait.

This is what the FA Cup's about. granted, it can't be like this every year but the big 4 monopoly was boring for the rest of us.

Good luck to all the sides who are left, including Pompey who the media kept reminding us had had an easy route so far while Man U had played Premier League teams.