Great result for Everton tonight and a throughback to the 50s and 60s. Come on you Toffees, I hope you go all the way and win the FA Cup.

@ken Yes, they are due to a trophy. I think they have the longest run on the top tier of all teams now. Is Arsenal the second longest stay in there?

Boro are due a few seasons in the top tier, too 😁. Up the Boro! 

Sorry Jarkko but Arsenal have been in the top tier since the First World War whereas Everton have only been in the top tier since 1954. However they were the first club I saw play Boro, so have always had a soft spot for them. However the city of Liverpool have always been represented in the top tier since 1888. When Liverpool FC were relegated along with Boro in 1954, Everton were promoted having spent 3 seasons in the Second Division. Arsenal however were elected to the First Division in 1919 despite having only finished 6th in the Second Division in 1915 when football ceased prior to the beginning of the First World War.

Incidentally Sunderland held the distinction of never having been relegated until 1958.

I’ve just remembered also, what sweet revenge for the 1958 league match defeat when Spurs beat Everton 10-4. I can’t remember all the scorers but have an inkling that Lingdale’s Bobby Smith who formerly played for Redcar Boys Club scored 4 for Spurs that day, though I never recall his scoring  that many in a single match for the Boys Club.

What a joy to see spectators back at football matches! Whilst only 20,000 fans were allowed at Wembley yesterday the atmosphere was terrific, and I was so pleased that the Foxes won after 4 Wembley defeats there in a 20 year period from 1949 to 1969. I was also pleased for Gary Lineker whose first trip as an 8 year old ended in defeat and a flood of tears. As a child it’s hard to take defeat, one becomes more stoic about it when one gets older. Boro supporters have had their fair share of disappointments over the years, probably not many more folks than I. I was in Portugal when Boro won the Carling Cup in 2004 but watched it on TV and bought every newspaper on the Monday, even the Portuguese ones to read the reports. 

However winning at Wembley is something special and I was lucky to be there when Cas won it 3 times in 1969, 1970 and 1986. It’s much sweeter supporting clubs who rarely win the major competitions; I’d find it a little boring to support a club who are always expected to win the major trophies. The 1970 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final win 7-2 over Wigan was extra special for me, as although not a classic by any means, my wife’s cousin made the final pass to his winger to score the only try of the match. To run around Wembley sharing the Cup with a colleague was a joy to behold for Ian Stenton. He brought his unwashed shirt to Redcar to show my wife and I. In the following season his father invited me into the Cas boardroom to have my photograph taken holding the cup aloft. 

Yesterday’s final moments were as dramatic as any Cup Final I’ve witnessed since the 1953 Final when most neutrals were hoping that Stanley Matthews would at last earn a winners medal denied him two years previously by Newcastle United. But at 1-3 down to Bolton it was beginning to look unlikely at one time. As for Cas I met up with Ian at the 1986 final and Cas seemed to have a comfortable lead going into the last 5 minutes despite being the underdogs, until Hull Kingston Rovers scored twice with a touchline conversion to come. Thankfully it was missed and Cas had won 15-14. So I have a little sympathy for Chelsea fans yesterday denied an equaliser by VAR but they have won enough trophies, so my sympathies were short lived. 

So well done Leicester, maybe Boro might see another Cup win sometime though not in my lifetime. But to play in a Cup Final in any code and to win must be something else, especially after one’s club hadn’t even appeared in one for over half a century!

@ken As a Wigan Warriors fan I can reassure you that winning at Wembley is never boring, no matter how many times we’ve done it.