ITV’s FA Cup Arsenal is less than fully loaded

The World Cup is almost here but there is still plenty of football before that. Brentford, of course, wait to find out their final Championship opponents (hopefully Leyton Orient and the Loftus Road mob) whilst, today, Hull City AFC take on Arsenal in the FA Cup final at the W place in North London.

I’ll be tuned in to ITV this afternoon, hoping that Hull City get the chance to take their celebrations to Slade-like levels. This is not a particular pop at Arsenal, although I am sure most neutrals would prefer their barren streak continued, but more because of the way it would round off the year for their supporters.

Any regular reader of this column will be aware of the ‘No to Hull Tigers’ campaign which was, eventually, successful. The team remains as Hull City AFC whilst their owner Doctor Assem Allam now needs to rethink his marketing plans somewhat.

So for them it promises to be a celebratory occasion but I can’t help feeling slightly let down. For me, the FA Cup is all about day-long coverage and the legend that is Jim Rosenthal.

To read the rest of this article, season 2013/14 is now available to download onto Kindle, in full. Containing previously unseen content, you can do so here for less than the cost of one matchday programme.

 Thanks for reading over the course of the campaign. For now I need to make space on this page for any follow up.  The ‘close season’ / World Cup columns continue in full, further on in this site.