It’s not Rudyard Kipling, but it captures the essence of acup competition that was up and running by the time the famous writer was ascholar.
Jonathan O’Donnell came on as a substitute on Luton Town’sleft wing during a fourth-round F.A. Cup game at Norwich City of the PremierLeague. He is a 21-year-old whose fresh energy and desire drove him down thefield. When he turned to cross the ball, it was met at the near post by hisfellow sub, Scott Rendell.
One crisp touch by Rendell, and the game was won. Luton ofthe Football Conference, four leagues and 85 places below Norwich in the footballpyramid, won the game, 1-0. It is the first time since the Premier League wasformed in 1992, and only the seventh time since World War II, that a teamoutside the four-tier professional ladder in England knocked out a top-echelonclub to reach the fifth stage of the tournament.
Two factors compounded this slice of sports history: Thematch was played on Norwich soil, with home comforts for the team from the topleague, and a huge income gap separated the two opponents. Every side in thePremiership gets at least $79 million, per season, far more than other clubseven dream about.
O’Donnell’s previous encounter in the F.A. Cup, against theWolverhampton Wanderers on Jan. 5, ended in a hospital after his nose wasbloodied and broken in an accidental collision.
That time, and this, the youth discovered that top playersof today are not as bad as publicity sometimes paints them. The Wolves’opponent took the trouble to follow up on O’Donnell’s welfare, and the Norwichstaff and players sought out the Luton players to properly congratulate them ontheir victory.
That came in stark contrast to Queens Park Rangers afterthey, too, were humbled out of the Cup, by a side two divisions below them.Q.P.R. had lost through hubris. Their manager, Harry Redknapp, hired to savethe Rangers from relegation out of the big-money league, made nine changes tohis lineup for the Cup game at home against the Milton Keynes Dons.
After 58 minutes, his gamble was undone. The Dons were fourgoals up, and though Q.P.R. claimed two late consolation goals to make thefinal score 4-2, Redknapp was bitter and blunt about the consequences for hissquad.
“We gave diabolical goals away. We were disgusting,” wasRedknapp’s summary. “I didn’t pick a team to lose today. These players were allsigned to play in the Premier League.”
“I gave these players a chance because they knock on my doorand tell me they’re good players,” he added. “Well, they blew it. I will gohome tonight with a raving hump, I won’t be any good to anybody, and now youknow why I’ve been chasing all over Europe trying to sign decent players to getus out of the mess we’re in.”
In some way, the money in the Premiership persuades thepeople who buy a piece of English football heritage that they, with their bigpayrolls and their deep squads, should be able to roll over the minnows who getto play them through the luck of the draw.
There was a time when F.A. Cup upsets in January were almostto be expected. You could look at the pairings and size up a leading team introuble facing a lower-league side full of ambition and buttressed by oldplayers who could turn it on for one match or youngsters who viewed the Cup astheir moment to shine.
Nowadays, truly big clubs, like Manchester United orArsenal, have deep reserves of players, so they can rest top performers withoutdisrespecting the Cup and the opposition.
The Cup days are not simply the dream of youth on the wing.They are a portent to what was, and what might be again.
