Matchweek FA Cup 4th Round - Results 

Well, they call it 'the magic of The FA Cup' and this round proved on so many levels, that indeed it is one of, if not the greatest cup competition in the whole, wide, world (not that I am biased in any way, shape or form, I mean 'yachting'.......really LOL).

For the uninitiated amongst you. The Football Association Challenge Cup, usually known as the FA Cup, is the oldest football competition in the world. Since 1871, every year (excluding years during world wars) teams from across England and Wales (not the Scots, they thought we we're going to take their freedom), have competed for the prestigious FA Cup trophy.  No less than 44 teams have won the cup, with Man U and Arsenal reaching the final the most times (21), but The Gunners (Arsenal) have lifted the cup the most times with 14 wins.

Did you know that from 1871, the original cup passed between the victorious clubs for more than 20 years, until Aston bloody Villa won it in 1895 and having agreed to display it a Birmingham shop where their fans could see it (probably a knocking shop, or a betting shop), it was stolen and was never seen again.......................bloody Brummie pikeys, Peaky Blinders no doubt had a hand in it !!

This weekend we saw one of the biggest cup upsets of all time, certainly the past decade, as 23rd place, 2nd tier (Championship Div) Plymouth Argyle, dispatched Liverpool (only to face Man City in the next round).  

Anyhow, we selected x10 games, some looked pretty easy, others not so and long story short, we were dealt some real surprises, starting off with Villa's win over Spurs (OK, no real surprise, this is Spurs after all LOL), Villa convincing winners, 2-1 the final score.  Wolves beat Blackburn 2-0, was there ever any doubt?!  Newcastle beat The Blues 3-2, a controversial result, as without VAR, The Toon's first goal did not look as if it crossed the line, so the game could and should have gone to pens. If you've not seen it already, jump on YouTube and take a look at Birmingham's second goal, an absolute belter !! 

Whilst we are on the subject of controversial results / goals, again, without VAR, Man Utd's first goal in their 2-1 victory over The Foxes clearly showed 2, possibly 3 of Man Utd's players clearly offside.  The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the Premier League suits have been in the officials ear, in the hope we would all become big fans of the old VAR, as without it, things could have been very different for x2 of the biggest clubs (not to mention the current holders) now progressing through to the 5th round !?

Elsewhere, the Tractor Boys despatched last years semi-finalists Coventry convincingly 4-1, 3rd tier Wycombe Wanderers took Championship Preston North End (Nob End as they were affectionately known, by me at least, to my PNE friend Barry) to a penalty shoot out, holding them 0-0 after extra time, unfortunately losing out in the shootout 4-2.  The Potters of Stoke on Trent and Cardiff played out a 6 goal thriller with 3 a piece, the boys from the valley taking it in the end 4-3.  Second tier Burnley knocked out the hopeless Saints 1-0.

In a game that would have seen a fair bit of bother back in the day, Leeds had their pants pulled down by Millwall 2-0, fun fact, both these teams (and Wolves) have a cell in the bowels of the ground to keep unruly hooligans, all ready to be transported downtown to the proper clink.  Last, but not least, in the game that sounds like it just needs a splash of gin to top it off, The Cherries were convincing winners vs The Toffee's 2-0.

As mentioned earlier, definitely a few banana skins, but there were a big chunk of 7 pointers, kudos to Alex, Simon M, Kurtis and Veitchy, all of whom notched up a very impressive 8 points, but for only the third time this season, we have ourselves a full house 'double bubble 20 pointer', so please stand and join me in rapturous applause for the main man, Mr Liam Ennis, who on the eve of his weekend away with the FA Cup thieving bastards, NZ Fan Club, he is indeed this weeks winner and in style I might add, lovely job Liam, take a bow son, you are now 3rd place in our table.

Link should just about be up for this weekends prem games and with one Saturday morning kick off (NZ time), I need your picks in by Friday night please amigo's.

Who won the last FA Cup Final played at Old Wembley Stadium?

Answer: Chelsea