F A Cup Final

It's the F A Cup final later today. Two of my sons are excited, as one is keen on Liverpool and the other is keen on Chelsea. Being in London and having once been a Chelsea fan (how I cheered in 1970 when they beat Leeds in the replay) my preference is clear. I'm not that excited though, not like I was in that brief period 1969-1972 when soccer was everything to me

I remember going with my family to my auntie and uncle's house the day after one of those finals (the Chelsea one on April 11, the Arsenal/Liverpool one of May 8 1971 or Leeds/Arsenal on May 6 1972). My dad, who (in the days before Sky, etc) always watched any televised sporting event that he could, said to my Uncle Frank "Did you watch the game yesterday, Frank?". I can never forget how flabbergasted I was to hear him say "No, Bill, I didn't bother. I switched over and watched the film on BBC 2."!

In those days the F A Cup final was on both BBC 1 and ITV and BBC 2 was your only alternative. The final today is at 5.15 pm for some reason and only on ITV. BBC 2 is showing Flog it and old episodes  of The Good life! and Dad's Army. If you want a film you'll have to settle for Carry on Spying on Film4 or make your own arrangements.