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Whippet13

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

Posted
Posted
On 16/02/2021 at 17:39, DavidM said:

Counting down the days to NRL kick off like a prisoner chalking off the days in his cell wall . Pretty similar in lockdown come to think of it...

Try drinking so much you can't think clearly. Then put a random 2018 game on from the WNRL app

Hey presto you are magicly transported to a pre- Covid world

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DC77

DC77

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Posted
On 16/02/2021 at 18:11, Copa said:

When I visited England the FA Cup final was on. I was shocked by the low level of media coverage it was receiving. I was too used to the disproportionate coverage sport can get here in Australia.

That’s not a good comparison. The FA Cup is nothing like it was years ago (you have to go back at least 15 years since it was big, “Cup final day”...when the game completely dominated the day’s news, with coverage beginning at 9am with build up to the game, including overhead shots of the team buses leaving their hotel, to arriving at Wembley (again, overhead shots of the stadium), 3pm kick off, post match analysis etc.). It was huge. An FA Cup final from 1970 between Leeds and Chelsea ranks in the top five most viewed audiences ever with over 28 million viewers (more than half the country's population at the time). That’s the equivalent of an NRL final getting over 12 million in Australia (it gets less than half that).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-watched_television_broadcasts#Most-watched_special_events

The Premier League (and the Champions League) have eclipsed the FA Cup.

Sport coverage in the UK has always been enormous. In the top 10 most watched, the 1966 World Cup final ranks #1.

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DC77

DC77

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On 16/02/2021 at 21:58, The Rocket said:

Since we moved back on the farm (15 yrs) we`ve had a snake twice in the house, a red-belly black, not overly dangerous or aggressive, but bloody hard to find once they`re inside, the first one slid right past me while I was watching TV! We pretty quickly found it and put it out  with the broom. No harm done. When I was a kid there was a red-belly black living under the floorboards in my bedroom for a couple of years, it used to come and go through the side of the house, you would hardly  know it was there. A foolish but well meaning Uncle, who was visiting from Sydney, waited for it and killed it with the rake, privately all us kids weren`t happy.

My sister lives with Diamond pythons in her attic out at her place, they will bite you if you scare them, but generally more interested in the rodents or a possum. They are a magnificent creature and grow to 7 foot.

People who are scared of snakes and think they are doing a public service by killing them give me the #######, 99.999% of the time leave them alone and they do likewise.

Happily admit I’m be absolutely terrified at the thought of snakes in the house. Every Christmas without fail a mouse gets in, and when it appears I’m straight out of the room and ain’t coming back in until it’s in the trap. 

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unapologetic pedant

unapologetic pedant

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1 hour ago, DC77 said:

That’s not a good comparison. The FA Cup is nothing like it was years ago (you have to go back at least 15 years since it was big, “Cup final day”...when the game completely dominated the day’s news, with coverage beginning at 9am with build up to the game, including overhead shots of the team buses leaving their hotel, to arriving at Wembley (again, overhead shots of the stadium), 3pm kick off, post match analysis etc.). 

In the 70s Cup Final Day was like Christmas Day. In addition to the features you list we`d have Mike Yarwood impressions, Meet the teams, Cup Final It`s a Knockout, Cup Final Mastermind...

By the time the game kicked off, we were all Cup Final punch-drunk. The actual games were often dreary affairs, but with all the build-up we`d been softened up not to notice.

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DC77

DC77

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11 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

In the 70s Cup Final Day was like Christmas Day. In addition to the features you list we`d have Mike Yarwood impressions, Meet the teams, Cup Final It`s a Knockout, Cup Final Mastermind...

By the time the game kicked off, we were all Cup Final punch-drunk. The actual games were often dreary affairs, but with all the build-up we`d been softened up not to notice.

The sheer scale of the game continued into the ‘90s. Recall Liverpool in ‘92 and the excitement I had. The overhead shots of Wembley were iconic. When Dennis Bergkamp joined Arsenal he talked of his dream at playing the Cup final at Wembley as he’d seen it as a kid in Holland. When he missed the final in ‘98 through injury he was devastated. 

On a side note, I wonder if those at the FA who own Wembley wish they could have retained the original stadium. For all it’s faults, it was iconic. Not just England in ‘66, there’s Mercury at Live Aid. The place would be a protected historic landmark. Also provided great acoustics: 

 

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unapologetic pedant

unapologetic pedant

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13 hours ago, DC77 said:

The sheer scale of the game continued into the ‘90s. Recall Liverpool in ‘92 and the excitement I had. The overhead shots of Wembley were iconic. When Dennis Bergkamp joined Arsenal he talked of his dream at playing the Cup final at Wembley as he’d seen it as a kid in Holland. When he missed the final in ‘98 through injury he was devastated. 

 

This is in danger of being moved to "Other business", but I think I can link it to RL.

From my recollection, the writing was already on the wall for the FA Cup by the early 90s. I accept your personal excitement in 92, but there was serious consternation the following year when the replay didn`t get close to selling out.

The Soccer authorities did the FA Cup no favours when in their lean 80s years they followed the accursed RL example of concocting new knock-out comps to raise revenue (hazily recall one called the Simod Cup). These had finals at Wembley which, in addition to the League Cup, started imparting an ersatz, routine feel to such occasions. The FA Cup Final was losing it`s special status. 

There are other factors in the decline of course, but rather like the Challenge Cup final, once the spell is broken, it can never be the same.

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gingerjon

gingerjon

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Posted
15 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

This is in danger of being moved to "Other business", but I think I can link it to RL.

From my recollection, the writing was already on the wall for the FA Cup by the early 90s. I accept your personal excitement in 92, but there was serious consternation the following year when the replay didn`t get close to selling out.

The Soccer authorities did the FA Cup no favours when in their lean 80s years they followed the accursed RL example of concocting new knock-out comps to raise revenue (hazily recall one called the Simod Cup). These had finals at Wembley which, in addition to the League Cup, started imparting an ersatz, routine feel to such occasions. The FA Cup Final was losing it`s special status. 

There are other factors in the decline of course, but rather like the Challenge Cup final, once the spell is broken, it can never be the same.

Those competitions (from memory: the Screensport Cup, the Full Members Cup and the Associate Members Cup - the last of which survives as the EFL Trophy) came in, in part, to fill the gap caused by the European football ban. I'd argue that the return of European football, the increasing value of a higher league finish (in financial terms and later in competition reward terms), and the widening of Wembley to be the home of semi finals as well as finals played a significant part too. (I think the 1993 replay was fourth time in about three months that Wednesday had played at Wembley and was, obviously, midweek).

The FA Cup final, in terms of in person attendance, was never the same "for everyone in the game" as the Challenge Cup final although, as has been said, it did feel like the whole country was watching it - at least in the 1980s.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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DC77

DC77

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3 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

This is in danger of being moved to "Other business", but I think I can link it to RL.

From my recollection, the writing was already on the wall for the FA Cup by the early 90s. I accept your personal excitement in 92, but there was serious consternation the following year when the replay didn`t get close to selling out.

The Soccer authorities did the FA Cup no favours when in their lean 80s years they followed the accursed RL example of concocting new knock-out comps to raise revenue (hazily recall one called the Simod Cup). These had finals at Wembley which, in addition to the League Cup, started imparting an ersatz, routine feel to such occasions. The FA Cup Final was losing it`s special status. 

There are other factors in the decline of course, but rather like the Challenge Cup final, once the spell is broken, it can never be the same.

Gingerjon has basically replied to what I was going to say (I’d mentioned above it was the Premier League and the Champions League, but without going into details as Jon has done). Those 80s competitions - glorified friendlies - I don’t think had any effect. They were a minor stop gap until European football returned. Liverpool won one of them back then (couldn’t tell you which one) but doing the much lauded double in ‘86 was all that was covered in any videos I have from that period.

3 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Those competitions (from memory: the Screensport Cup, the Full Members Cup and the Associate Members Cup - the last of which survives as the EFL Trophy) came in, in part, to fill the gap caused by the European football ban. I'd argue that the return of European football, the increasing value of a higher league finish (in financial terms and later in competition reward terms), and the widening of Wembley to be the home of semi finals as well as finals played a significant part too. (I think the 1993 replay was fourth time in about three months that Wednesday had played at Wembley and was, obviously, midweek).

The FA Cup final, in terms of in person attendance, was never the same "for everyone in the game" as the Challenge Cup final although, as has been said, it did feel like the whole country was watching it - at least in the 1980s.

100% on playing the semis at Wembley. You remove much of the whole “we’re going to Wemberley” mystique when you add it as a semi venue and make playing there more routine. That one move instantly made the final less special. Knocking down Wembley, an iconic venue and destination, and replacing it with a generic bowl completely finished any mystique. 

I got the tail end of the specialness of the Cup...first real memory is 90 to 91...Gazza free kick for Spurs vs Arsenal (maybe the first semi played at Wembley?).

Another factor is increased television coverage (which of course comes with the arrival of the Premier League). Watching a game on tv was no longer unique. The more you have of something will dilute the experience.

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Man of Kent

Man of Kent

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13 minutes ago, Eddie said:

That is great news, hopefully it becomes a regular slot on Sky. Not the best time (for me anyway 😀) but better than nowt. 

Maybe, just, maybe Sky might go for a Sky Sports Rugby League channel. The takeover thing shows they must be at least thinking about it.

If they take the Fox League content (NRL Tonight, NRL 360, NRL Try Time, The Fan, maybe not the 'comedy' stuff) and add it to reruns of the weekend's Super League and NRL games there might possibly be enough there to sustain a channel (added with all the 'classic' stuff) if only for half a year.

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Eddie

Eddie

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15 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Maybe, just, maybe Sky might go for a Sky Sports Rugby League channel. The takeover thing shows they must be at least thinking about it.

If they take the Fox League content (NRL Tonight, NRL 360, NRL Try Time, The Fan, maybe not the 'comedy' stuff) and add it to reruns of the weekend's Super League and NRL games there might possibly be enough there to sustain a channel (added with all the 'classic' stuff) if only for half a year.

I think there’s more chance of WWR winning SL in 2023 personally, but we can hope. 

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Man of Kent

Man of Kent

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20 hours ago, Eddie said:

I think there’s more chance of WWR winning SL in 2023 personally, but we can hope. 

Ha! There's more chance of Elvis Presley riding Shergar to victory at the Grand National than that!

It's not ridiculous. There could also be some Super League shows during the week. Golden Point, Super League Full Time etc. 

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

Posted
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2 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Me too. Does he still have "Not the NRL News" on his show?

Haven't seen it this year as am yet to get my WNRL dub back but yes the Professor is away often my highlight 😁

I think I might crack this wekend and get WNRL back.... I love having NRL360 on in the background after work.... while I cook traditional Bedfordshire dishes such as Clangers

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Ha! There's more chance of Elvis Presley riding Shergar to victory at the Grand National than that!

It's not ridiculous. There could also be some Super League shows during the week. Golden Point, Super League Full Time etc. 

Right.. Now you are being interesting 

Has there been any talk of bringing back the SL thing SKY did? Again, not everyone agrees but I think Will Perry is a good presenter for our game. I know he knows sweet fa about it but he's funny, engaging and well known... They can get that gorgeous Aussie woman back that they had on the last episode too

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Bedfordshire Bronco

Bedfordshire Bronco

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Had to google that. Looks pretty good. I like a suet pudding.

Not kind to the waistline. Should be fine for you if you`re only plodding round with ageing RU roly-polys.

Ha... Plodding indeed

There is only shop left if Luton that still sells Clangers.... They are an acquired taste! 

 

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