by Patrick ‘Rey’ Reynell
The 2009 FA Cup, to be played on Saturday May 30 at Wembley Stadium in London, pits a battle of the Blues, Chelsea and Everton. Each makes its return to the final game since its last FA championship.
Chelsea returns after a one year absence from its 2007 win over Manchester United. Everton returns to the FA Cup final for the first time since its 1995 championship also against the Red Devils. This is also Everton’s last major trophy. In fact, Toffees have not been to a final since.
Chelsea, on the other hand, has experienced a bit more success since 1995. They’ve won the FA Cup three times (1997, 2000, 2007 only prior final victory was 1970). The London club of course won back-to-back Premier League titles between 2004 and 2006 (ending a fifty year drought) and also reached its first Champions League final in 2008 losing to Manchester United.
Ironically, Chelsea has experienced most of the club’s success as it juggled several managers. Everton have had five managers since its 1995 FA Cup win, but have remained with current Scottish manager David Moyes since 2002.
Moyes and Everton have only qualified for Champions League once, when they finished fourth in the Premier League in 2004-2005. Consistency has not reigned at Goodison Park as Toffees have qualified for Europe and narrowly avoided relegation since the arrival of Moyes.
Chelsea will certainly double Everton’s number of managers since 1995 when current manager, Guus Hiddink, leaves the club. Claudio Ranieri experienced the longest stint with the club between 2000 and 2004.
Regardless, these two sides carry with them expectations, whether old or new, that will certainly reach an apex this Saturday.
Two sides, both who see the world through blue eyes, vow for the prestige of England’s most famous crown.
Two sides, one with a history as rich as any other club in England without much recent success in championships; the other who’s had more success in this decade than perhaps all its others combined and wish the reach that pinnacle yet again.
Two sides that view this cup as a very different statement; one for a vision come to fruition after a acquiring a coveted manager and his record signings; the other who is desperately trying to maintain its status as one of Europe’s elite clubs.
For these two sides, Saturday serves more than just a trophy presentation at the center of the pitch with thousands of its most loyal fans cheering and exulting with them. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard said that it is important for the direction of Chelsea, with its vast array of international players considered to be top in the world, to not have two seasons in a row without a trophy celebration.
Surely some Everton fans would love to be faced with the same demands at the moment. They haven’t sipped from the chalice of champions in quite some time, though their prosperous English history boasts ten league championships (one in second division) and five FA cups.
More importantly for Everton are the what seem to be cosmic signs. They’ve had the toughest road to the final, defeating Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester United to reach it. They’ve become a little more consistent the past couple of seasons, qualifying for Europe and remaining on the fringe of the top four.
Although with consistency come greater expectations, and it won’t be too much longer that even Everton fans become a little critical of beloved David Moyes and the void of silverware during his reign.
Just the same, lofty expectations forever replaced fallow ones when Jose Mourinho guided Chelsea to Premier League Championships and the Blues of London became a guaranteed fixture in the latter stages of Champions League.
Saturday’s endeavor will be a crossroad of expectations. A win for Everton will cleanse the palate at Goodison Park until next season, then wants will transform into needs.
Stamford Bridge will search for a new manager, but the fact of the matter is the core of players and talent have remained much the same. Saturday can be a day of vindicated summer signings and managerial jugglings, or it can turn into a brooding of misfortunes and shortcomings.
The songs will echo Saturday from Wembley Stadium, surely all extolling the rich blue that both teams adorn. Whether it is Everton’s fans belting out “Onward Evertonians /Onward for to see / See the Royal twin towers / And Royal Wem-ber-ley” or Chelsea’s fans singing “Flying high, up in the sky, / We’ll keep the blue flag flying high / From Stamford Bridge to Wemb(er)ley / We’ll keep the blue flag flying high,” the songs will encase with them a pride that only the FA Cup can strengthen.
No, Saturday isn’t the most important game for Chelsea and Everton – it’s now the only game, and one fans will use to fuel the plight of another decade full of tradition and hopefully championships.
Rey – good stuff.
ESPN did a piece on Tim Howard. He talked about how his transition from living in the U.S. to playing and living abroad has been smoothed by the Everton community. He talked about how it is easy for him to associate with the working-class fan base.
Howard made a couple of great saves in the semi-finals.
Everton has teased us the last two seasons – always being in the hunt for the top four. At this point it might be hard to imagine the Toffees in the Champions League.
Hard to imagine but they have no other place to go – except down. They haven’t achieved much in the UEFA Cup so they probably wouldn’t fair too well in Champions League either. But there is something with finishing in the top four if you’re not named Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, or Chelsea that is befitting.
Very informative Pat. I do not follow international/European soccer like I once did. It was good to hear about the upcoming game, but even better to review the histories of the 2 clubs. Casey’s response includes comments such as “working class fan base” and Everton community. English soccer is still old-school in that sense, the team “belongs” to the community. The closest to that we come here is probably the NFL, but it still lacks the almost unanimous loyalty shown to English clubs. Thanks for he post.