Toast cup final #3

Well as promised we have the letter to Lord Triesman, Chairman of the FA today as we now have just over a day to go to the Final Countdown.

Regular readers of Toast will remember previous contributions of Steve from Basingstoke, well he has been at it again and this time writing to the FA.

In the preface to the letter Steve explains ‘I am not anti Welsh, I don’t even watch Anne Robinson on the Weakest Link. Some of my friends are Welsh and I’d even let my daughter marry one!’

The Letter

Dear Sir,

At last the FA have agreed to support Cardiff City’s entry into the UEFA Cup next season in the unlikely event of the beating Portsmouth at Wembley on the 17th May. If the FA were not prepared to offer the reward of winning the FA Cup they should not have allowed them to enter the competition at the outset.

What I do find surprising is that Catherine Jenkins has been asked to sing ‘Land of my fathers’ along with ‘God save the Queen’. What is a nice girl from Neath doing at a Cardiff City fixture in England? Surely Shirley Bassey would have been a better choice?

Were supporters of Swansea City consulted over whether they wanted their anthem used at a Bluebirds fixture? I very much doubt it! Remember Cardiff City are a club side NOT the national team representing their country (very few of the team are even Welsh). Did not Wales cease to be a country in 1284 thanks to Edward I? If Wales is a mere ‘principality’, what are they doing with a ‘national anthem’? And why is it being performed at the English FA Cup Final?

Cardiff City FC did not request ‘Land of my fathers’ I gather they would have preferred Vera Lynn singing ‘There’ll be Bluebirds over ?’etc. ‘Land of my fathers’ was never played when the FA and Carling Cup Finals were played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff so why now at Wembley of all places?

I doubt Taffy Risdale or Sham Hamman were all that bothered; they have no affinity with the Welsh nation other than seeing Ninian Park as little more than a financial or ‘development opportunity’.

My sympathy goes out to the lovely Ms Jenkins whose delightful voice is likely to be drowned out by 25,000 supporters from South Hampshire singing the more famous ‘Pompey Chimes’ or worse still joining the chorus with ‘Wales, whales, bloody great fish’!

The ‘Welsh Anthem’ is only being played because the English FA have pondered to the whims and egos of politicians such as Rhodri Thomas trying to win votes at the May elections. The next thing they will suggest is the incorporation of a Red Dragon on the Union Flag.

To avoid any further embarrassment of potential crowd trouble may I suggest that along with the UK National Anthem – ‘God save the Queen’ – the band of the Royal Marines strike up a few bars of ‘Play up Pompey’ or and an extract from Mike Oldfield’s sea shanty ‘Portsmouth’. Failing that perhaps the Royal Navy’s ‘Hearts of Oak, ready aye ready’. Better still how about a chorus of ‘All the nice girls love a sailor’ dedicated to Ms Jenkins herself?

Yours sincerely

Head of Protocol; Portsea Independence Party
The political wing of the Portsea Liberation Front.

For information: Portsmouth is situated on Portsea Island which unlike Wales is separated from the English mainland by clear, blue, salt water except at low tide when it is a bit muddy.

First

Thanks Steve, you have made me think that this will be the first ever FA Cup Final without a team from mainland England involved!!

Where are you watching?

We asked if you are not at Wembley where will you be watching.

WalshwasGod will be in Disneyland Florida watching with his breakfast, StuartM tells us he will be watching in New Zealand in the middle of the night. As yet that is all I have heard.

We know our old friends Pompeygray and RobertPog are both travelling all the way from Australia and it would be great to meet up with them.

Weather

Still not looking wonderful – but sunny interval and 15°C – we will try and get a more detailed forecast for tomorrow`s special.

New balls please

No it is not time for Wimbledon yet but the final will be the first game played with the new UMBRO FA Cup Dynamis ball featuring a 20-panel design. So who knows how it will perform.

Cardiff Team news

Robbie Fowler has been left to make his own decision on whether he is fit enough to sit on the bench. McNaughton, McPhail and Parry have all got over their various injury scares.

Players to watch out for are the youngsters Jo Ledley – who scored the winner against Barnsley and teenage midfielder Aaron Ramsey who has been attracting interest from Man United among many.

Rumours

Sorry got one wrong (typo) in the last edition it should have read ‘All Pubs in Pompey’ to close after the final whistle!

And remember…

If we lose – that 30 years ago Pompey were being relegated to Division Four!! So look on the bright side of life.

Written by eastneydave.

The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.