We are on the brink of the FA Cup Final 2020, that oldest and most famous of competitions. Ah, FA Cup Final day. The sun will be shinning, the beers will be flowing and the emotions will be highly charged. The transitional Arsenal take on the Oligarch bolstered Chelsea. It's a fixture that's happened before and the victors on those occasions have been the team in red. This time around Arsenal are viewed as the underdogs (as we were against Manchester City in the Semi-Final) but I like that; I'm more than happy being the underdogs.
This FA Cup final will be a unique one for obvious reasons. The lack of supporters is something that we've almost grown accustomed to in the Covid-19 world but there are other noticeable differences referred to on the match day shirts:
Black Lives Matter-All players and staff will be taking a knee at the start of the game and lets remember this was not a mandate this was a choice that players made. It's an issue of complexity and demands ongoing debate
National Health Service-There will be an acknowledgement for all those who have and still do, put their lives on the line on a daily basis. They have been in the trenches for months and we must not forget that.
Heads Up-This is a great addition to the FA Cup final and in a world where that cliche about men (particularly) not talking about mental health, is still true, it can only help with awareness. We've come a long way from the old days where stiff upper lips were de rigueur but theres still work to be done
In the commercialised world of football where we lament the power of Agents, Sky & BT, advertisers and money men that feed off the beautiful game, it's god to see three very different issues being front and centre on the occasion of this great showpiece...oh, and on a footballing level I would paraphrase that old adage: "Every underdog has his day" and when it comes to FA Cups, we've had our day more than any club in history.
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so I said...