Europa League Final (15-05-2013)

Chelsea 2 - 1 Benfica (Europa League final)

I'd never been to a major European final before so was delighted when I struck lucky in the UEFA ballot for this match between Chelsea and Benfica in Amsterdam. Something a bit different to my normal exploits! It would be extra special as an English team had reached the final, so this could be a good night for English football. The added bonus was that this was a new ground, taking me to 20 for 2012/13 and 12 for the 2013 calendar year thus far.

The UEFA Europa League (for those of you who don't know) is effectively the old UEFA cup but with a group stage at the start. The competition is massive, with 64 teams starting off in the competition proper, preceded by 4 qualifying rounds. We'd seen Liverpool earlier in the season in action in early qualifiers, before bowing out to Zenith in the last 32. There was some irony to the final tonight, with both finalists 'parachuted' into the competition from the Champions League group stage. Chelseas had overcome a tough Basle side in the semi-finals, whilst Benfica had defeated a strong Fenerbahce in the last 4. The game was to be a key one tonight, with Chelsea's Benitez chasing his last trophy chance, and the club aiming to be the first to hold the two major European trophies at the same time - with the all-German Champions League final taking place later in May.

The Europa League is a strange competition, and has arguably been the poorer relation of the Champions League in recent years. For a start, the scheduling of matches on Thursday makes it difficult for teams without a strong squad to challenge for the trophy - often, teams play a Europa League on a Thursday before playing a domestic game on the following Sunday. I suspect this was for TV scheduling, to spread out the coverage of European football between Tuesday and Thursday - another example of KO times being dictated by the commercial demands of TV.

Then, there is the sheer volume of teams involved. This has two effects - firstly the quality of football (particularly in those early rounds) is poor, and secondly, clubs have to play a ridiculous number of matches. Liverpool, qualifying via a League Cup win in 2011/12, had played 12 matches in reaching the last 32. This was Chelsea's 9th match in the competition, and 15th in Europe in total, in a frenetic season of nearly 70 matches (across no less than 8 competitions).

Some of the routes into the Europa League are bizarre to say the least. There is the UEFA Respect Fair play league, which gives 3 national associations places to award to the 'fairest' team, and obviously the Champions League parachute. This is of course in addition to the normal route of qualifying through league ranks in the previous year. While it has had a chequered history in recent years, the UEFA Cup has been a prestigious competition in the past. English winners include Tottenham, Ipswich and Liverpool, with the latter's wins paving the way for European Cup success. Recent years have seen many British runners-up - Celtic, Arsenal, Middlesborough, and Fulham. The competition certainly hadn't lost any of its lustre for the teams here tonight - this was very much a trophy worth fighting for.

I travelled across from Manchester to Amsterdam on the afternoon of the final - the plane ticket was more than I usually paid for travel, but worth it for a one-off event like this. The atmosphere in Amsterdam reminded me of Euro 2004, when I'd seen Czech Republic vs Denmark in the Quarter-Final in Porto, and had actually been in Lison on the day of the dramatic final between Greece and Portugal. There was plenty of chanting, banter and gathering in the central Amsterdam squares, with a jovial atmosphere building between the two sets of fans. This competition, for all its flaws, really did matter to these fans. As I made my way up to the ground on the local train, it became apparent that many fans had been enjoying the beers of Amsterdam, and were in the mood for a celebration - before a ball had been kicked!

Amsterdam Arena itself is home to Ajax, and also holds various concerts and other events. There is a large complex round the stadium with shop, bars and restaurants, with fans already starting to gather outside. I bought a programme (E7-50) and a pint-sized hamburger (E3-50), and headed to Gate G. This was apparently the 'neutral' section, but as I travelled up the escalator, it became pretty clear that nearly all fans were wearing the red colours of Benfica. Although I don't speak or understand Portuguese, I enjoyed the Benfica chant along to the tune of 'The Entertainer'! The escalators were encased in what looked like a tube, which with its bold colours, reminded me of the Pompidou Centre in Paris (though there is no football ground there I'm afraid). I then made the fateful decision to buy a cup of tea - and, for E1-50, I received a mug of hot water, a teabag and a sachet of powder milk - not as good as many non-league grounds in England, where at least the teabag is allowed to brew in the water. I sat in the neutral section in the upper tier, directly above the majority of the Benfica fans behind the goal. The 'neutral' section was made up mostly of Chelsea and Benfica fans, with only a handful of actual 'neutrals' like myself. Benfica fans came with great hope, but maybe not expectation - after all, they had not won a European final in 8 attempts.

The Portuguese team started more brightly, frequently carving open Chelsea open with intelligent passing, particularly from Perez and the Serbian Matic. On a couple of occasions, they took free kicks short when on the edge of the penalty box, wrong-footing the Chelsea defence in the process. For all their dominance, Benfica didn't really create many clear-cut chances or capitalise on their position - the best chance falling to number 7, who skewed a good chance over the cross-bar. The London team were definitely the weaker team, but still had flashes of chances. Ramires was agonisingly close to picking up a through ball from Mata, while Oscar and Lampard forced smart saves from the Benfica keeper.

The second half began more brightly for Chelsea, with the midfield getting hold of the ball more often. Benfica's 18 had a shot saved by Cech, but just on the hour mark, Chelsea took the lead - Torres latching onto a through-ball, before rounding the keeper and slotting home. Now that they'd taken the lead, I couldn't see anything but a Chelsea win, particularly with a coach as defensively astute as Benitez. However, the lead didn't last long, with a clear penalty for Benfica converted calmly by their highly-rated Cardozo. They finally had something to show for their first half dominance of the ball. Shortly after, Cardozo's flicked volley was saved by Cech, and suddenly it looked like the game had opened up again. Lampard rattled a post with a rasping drive, warning Benfica of Chelsea's attacking threat. It looked like this was heading for extra time until a late Mata corner was swung onto the head of Ivanovic at the back post, whose header looped across the keeper to put Chelsea ahead in injury time. Benefica hearts had been broken again, and again Chelsea had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The game (particularly the first half) was not a classic, but the atmosphere and sense of occasion and the fact it was an English win, meant this was a great game to get to. 23 Europa League matchdays starting in July 2012 had culminated in an English win in Amsterdam. It was also fair reward for Benitez, who had done a terrific job at Chelsea in difficult circumstances. What a way to end my run of cup finals in style!

S&H County Cup Final (09-05-2013)

Frickley 4 – 3 Sheffield FC (Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup)

According to Wikipedia, the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup is the 4th oldest surviving cup competition in the world, after the FA Cup, Scottish FA Cup and East of Scotland Shield. I’d never seen a game in this cup, so the 2013 final at Hillsborough seemed an excellent opportunity to rectify that. I suspect that the importance of the county senior cups has been eroded over time by the growth of more national leagues and competitions. Recalling a 2008 Norfolk Senior Cup final at Carrow Road, I remember that the finalists were both non-league teams playing in the then Eastern Counties League, and that the ground contained barely a few hundred spectators. The big guns rarely blood first teams in senior cups, instead opting for reserves or even under-21 teams to fly the flag. Still, this was silverware to be won tonight, and the two finalists here – Frickley and Sheffield FC - were strong local teams playing in the Evostik Northern league, so no doubt this would be a fiercely contested match.

This was the first time I’d sat in the South Stand at Hillsborough, with my once/twice-yearly visits to Sheffield Wednesday usually taking in a view from the Kop. It was somewhat surreal sitting in a near-empty stand in such a large ground; only last week, Wednesday had clinched survival in the Championship in a sell-out match, whilst I recalled the dramatic Sheffield Wednesday-Leeds match earlier in the season. This had a very different feel to those occasions! On one side were Frickley in blue and white, hailing from South Elmshall near Wakefield – which was surely only just inside the Sheffield FA boundary. In red were Sheffield FC, oldest club in the world, now playing at the Coach and Horses ground in Dronfield. As ever, I saw the connections in the match…only 9 days earlier, my team Kings Lynn had beaten Sheffield FC to secure the Evostik Division 1 South title, despite having lost 2-0 at Dronfield back in September. I’d visited Frickley’s ground once before (in December 2008) for a freezing game against Boston United, and can’t remember anything overly pleasant or friendly about the ground. I was siding with Sheffield FC in this one!

The game did not disappoint. With barely 2 minutes gone, Sheffield opened the scoring with a volley from just inside the area deflected past the keeper, well and truly lighting the blue touch paper. Sheffield FC’s no 10 hit a free kick wide shortly after, before his opposite number scuffed a shot wide from close range.  Frickley then had a  couple of efforts inside the box saved by the Sheffield keeper, and came close to equalising only to be foiled by a sharp Sheffield defender blocking a through ball. The equaliser came shortly before half-time, with Frickley’s no 11 planting a header to the keeper’s right. It could have been 2-1 shortly after, with a clearance off the line from Sheffield FC. It was 1-1 at half-time and proving to be quite a match.

The second half started as dramatically as the first, with Frickley’s no 8 snatching a goal almost immediately from the restart to make it 2-1. Sheffield looked determined to get back on terms, forcing a save from the Frickley keeper, and then inexplicably heading over with the goal gaping. They couldn’t quite find the goal they needed. Frickley then extended their lead with an inswinging left-foot shot flying into the top corner of the net. 3-1 and the Frickley fans began sharing an amusing range of chants – 1 nil and you fucked it up…It seemed almost certain to end in Frickley’s hands, until the 81st minute when Sheffield FC converted a penalty to make it a nervous finish for the team in blue. Then on 85 minutes, Sheffield FC grabbed an equaliser to make it 3-3, making great contact with a header from a corner which flew into the net. My first Sheffield Senior Cup final was heading to extra time! Almost as soon as the thought had crossed my mind, the 4th official held up the board signalling 5 minutes of injury time. This was an open game and anyone could score now. So it proved, with Frickley surging forward and no 12 scoring a late injury time winner just in time to win the cup. According to Wikipedia, they’ve now won this competition 12 times (dating back to 1978-9), level with Worksop, and only 2 behind Sheffield Wednesday. Given the entertainment at this match, I just might come back next year to see if they can make it a lucky 13.

NCEL Final (06-05-2013)

Thackley 3 – 1 Louth Town (NCEL League Cup Final)

The first bank holiday in May, and pretty much the only local match on was the NCEL League Cup final at Staveley. It was a hot sunny day, and I’d not been to one of these finals before, so it was worth a punt. On the short drive to Stavely from Sheffield, I worked out that I’d been there 4 times before . Two were in previous seasons – one for an initial visit in 2009, and another for an entertaining battle royale between Staveley and Retford in 2011-12. In 2012-13 thus far, I’d been to a July friendly in hot sunshine (not long after the Olympics began) and a freezing match just before Christmas 2012. It was nice to see the sun out again at the end of a long season blighted by snow and ice! The ground at Inkersall Road has improved significantly since my first visit there in March 2009. There is a modern stand with a few seats, a small covering over terraces at either end, and a refurbished club house complete with the almost obligatory Sky TV. You get the feeling that while they are hovering round mid-table of the NCEL Premier, this is a club on the up, and like Handsworth, with big ambitions for the future.

The two clubs lining up for today’s final were Thackley (near Shipley in Bradford) and Louth (central Lincolnshire). Thackley had finished in mid-table in the NCEL Premier, while Louth (having reformed a couple of years ago) were in the NCEL Division 1. I was somewhat perplexed by the programme which explained that Thackley were aiming to be the first team to win consecutive league cups – when the listing of past winners showed Scarborough Athletic had won it in the previous year (confusingly stated as 2012-13)! I decided to forget worrying about past history and focus on the match today, when Thackley would surely be favourites to pick up some silverware.

As usual, the match defied expectations, and Louth came out firing on all cylinders looking for the win. They were tough to break down in midfield, and direct in the attack, and opened the scoring on 8 minutes with a header after a flick on from a throw-in. Thackley responded with a shot from the right on 14 minutes which was parried away by the Louth keeper. Louth had a chance to extend their lead when no 11 skewed a shot wide from the left on 18 minutes. Already this was shaping up as some match. Gradually, Thackley began to dominate the ball, forcing the keeper to save with his legs on 35 minutes, and having a free-kick saved just on the stroke of half-time.

The second half ended as the first began, with Thackley (in bright orange) forging chance after chance. A free kick from no 11 was deflected over by the wall, before equalising round about the hour mark with a header from a long throw. Both goals scored were almost mirror images of each other! Thackley took the lead shortly after, with a low cross from the left tapped in comfortably by a grateful striker. It looked like my hopes of a shock were looking rather forlorn today. This was confirmed with Thackley’s no 16 surging forward from the left into the box, and scoring superbly into the corner of net. Louth did have further chances, with no 12 flashing a header just wide of the keeper’s post, but it was too late. Final score 3-1, and Thackley had wrapped up the cup. Even with the presentation of the trophy and medals, it felt like an anticlimax to a long NCEL season. It would be like purgatory through May, June and July when I’d be sorely missing the action of this fantastic local league.