FA Trophy Final 2014

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Cambridge reached the FA Trophy final! Which if you don't know is like the League Cup for Non League teams. This was to be our third time at New Wembley after two unsuccessful playoff finals in 2008 and 2009. In 1991 we won at the Old Wembley.

My day started at 10 when I picked up Jordanovichy and a friend called James. We went to my Nan's house, which is near the Abbey Stadium, I always to go my Nan's before and after football. We were on supporter coach 8 out of 27 along with my uncle, my great uncle, my second cousin and some other friends. We left the ground at about 11:30 and had to drive to Longstanton to pick up some other Cambridge supporters. We then drove to Wembley, overtaking many other Cambridge supporters on coaches and in cars along the way arriving at around 1:00. We were all very excited for the game as we really wanted to win at the New Wembley stadium.

such a beautiful sight!

We all found this sign very amusing

Saw Bobby Moore

We had our photo taken outside Wembley

And had a walk down Wembley Way

I had my photo taken

Then we all sung the National Anthem as the teams lined up

In our away kit for the match

We didn't play too well but on 38 minutes!

Then it was half time, which i spent queuing for a drink, in the line was a former Cambridge keeper.

At the start of the second half the sun was beginning to drop, which was welcomed as it had been in our eyes for the whole of the first half.
Then on 50 minutes

We struck again ten minutes later!

We then won a penalty which was cooly slotting in the back of the net. My second cousin had gone to the toilet and missed the penalty!

He returned to sound of my party singing "we can see you sneaking in"

MOM

We'd Won!

The players put our home shirt on in preparation for the trophy!

Waiting to go up

Richard Money's amber army!

I shall leave you with news: Coach toilets have a stop button for the coach

Was one of the best days of my life, to see Cambridge win a cup at Wembley priceless!

 

[DelPiero]

Congratulations guys, glad you had a great day out at wembley, it really is a fab stadium.

 

[Jordanovichy]

Was one of the best days of my life, to see Cambridge win a cup at Wembley priceless!

So cliché

But it was a spectacular occasion. Great to see all the yellow flags and yellow pages.

I cba to write a report on this anyway so kudos to Dan for doing it

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Congratulations guys, glad you had a great day out at wembley, it really is a fab stadium.

It is! I've been there five times now for various things but to see Cambridge United, my team win a cup final was just indescribable! An incredible day. Makes all the difficult, hard times worth it!

 

[Smithy]

Personally not a fan of nearly every final in every division and semi-finals too being at Wembley, should be the preserve of the true special occaisions and the rarest of the rare. Can't knock what it meant to you though, always makes it better when you come away smiling too.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Personally not a fan of nearly every final in every division and semi-finals too being at Wembley, should be the preserve of the true special occaisions and the rarest of the rare. Can't knock what it meant to you though, always makes it better when you come away smiling too.

It is much better walking out smiling, two playoff defeats were difficult to take! Meant so much to me as I Cambridge supporter. I'm unlikely to see Cambridge in the champions league or anything like that. I thought I wouldn't see them win a cup final so today was incredible!

 

[Jordanovichy]

I'm unlikely to see Cambridge in the champions league or anything like that.

And you moan at me for being pessimistic! Anything can happen

 

[Jordanovichy]

Finally got round to putting Luke Berry's penalty on YouTube so take a john:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqCDeFv_h0k&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Also thought I'd just post a couple of my own pics from the day.

Me with Marvin the Moose!

ATTACKHAMMER and I in the stadium.

Enjoy!

 

[Darren B]

Great report, Dan. Good to see you had a great day out and even better to win 4-0! We're you playing Arsenal?

I have to agree with Smithy on the whole Wembley thing though. It really should be held for prestigious events only, otherwise playing at Wembley becomes meaningless. The pinnacle of a British players career should be stepping out onto the Wembley pitch. But, if you can reach that goal by playing non-league football (against other non league teams) then it seems pointless. Stadium:MK is a perfect stadium for such events in my opinion. Also, surely the stadium atmosphere must have been poor? Between the 2 sets of supporters you couldn't have filled the stadium with more than 20,000? (Less than a quarter of capacity).

But enough observation on my behalf. Great to see you were the victorious team on the day and I'm actually gutted Cambridge can't finish above Luton this season and gain automatic promotion. I hate Luton <//3

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Great report, Dan. Good to see you had a great day out and even better to win 4-0! We're you playing Arsenal?

I have to agree with Smithy on the whole Wembley thing though. It really should be held for prestigious events only, otherwise playing at Wembley becomes meaningless. The pinnacle of a British players career should be stepping out onto the Wembley pitch. But, if you can reach that goal by playing non-league football (against other non league teams) then it seems pointless. Stadium:MK is a perfect stadium for such events in my opinion. Also, surely the stadium atmosphere must have been poor? Between the 2 sets of supporters you couldn't have filled the stadium with more than 20,000? (Less than a quarter of capacity).

But enough observation on my behalf. Great to see you were the victorious team on the day and I'm actually gutted Cambridge can't finish above Luton this season and gain automatic promotion. I hate Luton <//3

They still could it just very unlikely.

I agree with the whole Wembley thing to some extent. FA Trophy is certainly something that should be played at Wembley. It is very easy to support teams on Sky Sports and not support your local team, which makes it easy to see your team on Sky Sports win trophy after trophy but for supporters like me who support their local team going to Wembley is an incredibly rare occasion. The day is also an absolutely brilliant day out. Therefore why should people who support local teams who aren't in the Preimer League be denied the chance to play at the national stadium? They worked hard to get and have worked hard all season it's not easy for the team, or the supporters. The attendance was 18k but the atmosphere was fantastic we were all singing as were the away fans! If Cambridge played a bigger team in the final then there would have been a much bigger crowd, so big it would not fit into Stadium MK. I will never agree to saving Wembley for prestigious events such as just the FA cup and England games because it is every supporters dream to see their team play at Wembley. That dream should not be impossible for supporters of lower league teams.

 

[Smithy]

which makes it easy to see your team on Sky Sports win trophy after trophy

I'm an Arsenal fan this logic does not compute.

Therefore why should people who support local teams who aren't in the Preimer League be denied the chance to play at the national stadium?

Because it's the pinnacle. It should be reserved for the grandest of occaisions. Why should a non-league player get a greater chance to play at Wembley than most league players get?

I will never agree to saving Wembley for prestigious events such as just the FA cup and England games because it is every supporters dream to see their team play at Wembley. That dream should not be impossible for supporters of lower league teams.

That's precisely the point though, it's every supporters dreams, and those dreams are somewhat of a let-down when you visit it twice in two months because they play semi-finals and finals there in the FA Cup.

FA Cup, League Cup and at a stretch play-off finals should be it. Anything else should be played at the biggest stadium local to both teams. Prevents the farce of Liverpool and Everton fans having to both travel down to London on a Sunday for a semi final at Wembley when there's several large stadiums on the way that could do just as well.

 

[Darren B]

FA Cup and League Cup final, yes. Every other event, no. Except when the Champions League final comes to England.

I think Play-off finals should be played over 2 games, home & away. Obviously this is just my opinion and many would disagree but I think that's the right way to do it.

Dan, remember, you've got a good chance of reaching Wembley twice this year if you reach the play-off final. Is it really right for a non-league team to play at the Mecca of football twice in a season? Especially if the stadium is almost empty on both occasions.

Stadium:MK holds 22,000. I've experienced the stadium at near full capacity and it really is a stadium that holds an atmosphere. Could you imagine playing in a sold out 22,000 seater stadium? It would have been electric and a lot better than playing in an empty Wembley.

Juventus used to play at the Delle Alpi which held 60-80,000 if I'm right? but they could never fill it so took the decision to build a smaller stadium that they could sell out week on week (35,000). The atmosphere is reported to be amazing and Juves home record is quite extraordinary.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

which makes it easy to see your team on Sky Sports win trophy after trophy

I'm an Arsenal fan this logic does not compute.

They are getting better! Just out of interest do you remember when Cambridge played Arsenal in the FA Cup? It was a bit before my time and maybe yours I don't know?

Because it's the pinnacle. It should be reserved for the grandest of occaisions. Why should a non-league player get a greater chance to play at Wembley than most league players get?

I wouldn't say a non league has a greater chance to Play at Wembley when the only non league chances to play there are I think just Conference play off final, FA Trophy and FA Vase, further down the non league pyramid. Play off final below the conference are played somewhere else I think.

League clubs and players have, Play offs, FA Cup semis and final, League Cup semis and final and JPT so in fact have the same if not greater chance to play at Wembley than a non league player or club.

That's precisely the point though, it's every supporters dreams, and those dreams are somewhat of a let-down when you visit it twice in two months because they play semi-finals and finals there in the FA Cup.

I agree, semi finals should not be played at Wembley.

FA Cup, League Cup and at a stretch play-off finals should be it. Anything else should be played at the biggest stadium local to both teams. Prevents the farce of Liverpool and Everton fans having to both travel down to London on a Sunday for a semi final at Wembley when there's several large stadiums on the way that could do just as well.

Again, I fully agree with you that semi finals should not be played at Wembley. The semi finals Cambridge played at with a home leg and an away leg were brilliant!

I think Play-off finals should be played over 2 games, home & away. Obviously this is just my opinion and many would disagree but I think that's the right way to do it.

It is a different idea and interesting to think about it but I personally don't agree

Dan, remember, you've got a good chance of reaching Wembley twice this year if you reach the play-off final. Is it really right for a non-league team to play at the Mecca of football twice in a season? Especially if the stadium is almost empty on both occasions.

Stadium:MK holds 22,000. I've experienced the stadium at near full capacity and it really is a stadium that holds an atmosphere. Could you imagine playing in a sold out 22,000 seater stadium? It would have been electric and a lot better than playing in an empty Wembley.

Cambridge are in a great position!
Conference Premier Play off Final attendances:
2008 Cambridge V Exeter 42,511
2009 Cambridge V Torquay 35,089
2010 Oxford V York 42,669
2011 Wimbledon V Luton 18,195 Yes ok this one is low
2012 Luton V York 39,265
2013 Wrexham V Newport 16,346
shows that the stadium wasn't empty but not as full as it could have been, source is Wikipedia.
Playing at Wembley twice in one season would be incredible!
Only two out of the last five Conference Play of finals had an attendance low enough to fit into a stadium the size of Stadium MK. I can see what you mean because they still don't fill Wembley but its such a great day out I'll never agree to having either the FA Trophy or the Play off Finals played somewhere else.
Out of interest Darren, which team do you support?

 

[Darren B]

Chelsea.

Although I have a huge soft spot for Nottingham Forest. If I've got a Saturday off work then I'll always head up to Nottingham rather than West London. And I've actually been to the City Ground on more occasions now than the Bridge. I find our lower leagues to be a lot more exciting than the EPL. I find the EPL heavily detached from the fans and from rest of the leagues in our system and it's in my opinion no longer the best league in the world. The German Bundesliga is far superior in my honest opinion.

 

[Smithy]

They are getting better! Just out of interest do you remember when Cambridge played Arsenal in the FA Cup? It was a bit before my time and maybe yours I don't know?

Aye 1991 so before my time, well, time of being old enough to support anyway.

I wouldn't say a non league has a greater chance to Play at Wembley when the only non league chances to play there are I think just Conference play off final, FA Trophy and FA Vase, further down the non league pyramid. Play off final below the conference are played somewhere else I think.

League clubs and players have, Play offs, FA Cup semis and final, League Cup semis and final and JPT so in fact have the same if not greater chance to play at Wembley than a non league player or club.

League Cup semi's aren't played at Wembley and not all League clubs can enter all those you stated. Prem and Championship teams can't enter JPT for example, Prem teams can't get there via the play-offs. Premiership teams get 3 chances at the very maximum, Championship 4, Leagues one and two get 5 and Conference technically get 6.

Obviously it's extremely unlikely that a team from the conference would make it to the finals of all domestic competitions enterred but it does remain that they have, on paper, more opportunities to reach Wembley.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

League Cup semi's aren't played at Wembley and not all League clubs can enter all those you stated. Prem and Championship teams can't enter JPT for example, Prem teams can't get there via the play-offs. Premiership teams get 3 chances at the very maximum, Championship 4, Leagues one and two get 5 and Conference technically get 6.

Obviously it's extremely unlikely that a team from the conference would make it to the finals of all domestic competitions enterred but it does remain that they have, on paper, more opportunities to reach Wembley.

Guess I didn't think about conference teams making it to a domestic cup final other than FA Trophy, I can dream though! :lol:

 

[Jordanovichy]

I remember Dan saying when we were at Wembley that CUFC have been to Wembley more times in 6 years (3) than Liverpool have in the same amount of time (2).

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

I remember Dan saying when we were at Wembley that CUFC have been to Wembley more times in 6 years (3) than Liverpool have in the same amount of time (2).

Cambridge have been lucky!