The FA Cup Final isn’t quite the season showpiece it used to be, so in an effort to generate a little bit more excitement before today’s contest, the FA have released a clip of the best ever FA Cup Final goals.
Back in the day, the FA Cup Final was the best day ever for a football fan and it was largely irrelevant whether or not your team was involved.
Before live coverage of nearly every game became de rigueur, we gorged ourselves on an orgy of coverage on the day, with everything from the selection of the suits, the pre-match meal and the kit man’s schedule becoming worthy of a ten-minute aside that filled the many hours before kick-off.
ESPN are actually doing something similar before today’s game but with interest in affairs at Wembley not quite as high as it used to be, it needs whatever extra buzz it can get, like a compilation of the greatest FA Cup Final goals released by the FA earlier this week.
Michael Owen’s effort for Liverpool against Arsenal is conspicuous by its absence, but famous efforts by the likes of Stuart Pearce, Roberto di Matteo and Steven Gerrard all get a mention, as does perhaps the best FA Cup Final goal of all time, Ricky Villa’s mazy run in the 1981 decider.
Hopefully James McCarthy might add his name to that list a little later today, but in true FA Cup Final fashion, kill some time before kick-off by indulging in some nostalgia and some truly brilliant strikes.
Hat-tip: Paddy Power
