h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a Welshman who objects to the Englidh FA Cup being staged in Cardiff it would be interesting to hear the thoughts of other footy fans ...

damn that itchy mouse finger which leads to double postings!!!!

Is it the ENGLISH FA Cup? After all, Welsh teams can and do enter, and Cardiff City did once win the thing many moons ago. Surely the FA's choice of venue is a compliment to Wales? They could have chosen an English venue but they thought Cardiff was better!
The problem is, of course, that now we have to rethink all the traditional chants.
"Que sera sera, there is no 'but' or 'if', we're going to Cardiff..."

Yes, Wrexham, Cardiff and Swansea compete in the ENGLISH FA Cup, but were they to win the cup they would be ineligible to represent England in the UEFA cup!
This is a quirk of history ... and a long story!!!
The Welsh Cup is the third oldest competition in the world ... a competition which the Welsh FA have not deemed important enough to have its final at the Millenium Stadium
As well as this the Welsh national assembly have agreed to pay aprox. £1.5million to attract the final to Wales ... a sum which the fledgling League of Wales would have fallen over backwards to receive!

I must say that what I've seen of the Welsh FA lately doesn't impress me. They tried to force every semi-pro club in Wales into the League of Wales, regardless of the fact that some understandably preferred to stay in the English pyramid so they could hang on to the dream of progressing through the Conference and becoming professional one day.
Having largely failed in this bullying enterprise, they have since failed to back the LoW financially or in any other way. When I put together the Virtual Supporters' Club page, I looked at the Welsh FA site hoping to find a link to a League of Wales site. Not only was there no such thing, but the LoW page on the Welsh FA site was "under construction"! Mind you, all that's changed now. The whole Welsh FA site is currently closed for rebuilding...
I take your point about the Welsh Cup final - I don't see why that shouldn't be played on a big stage. I must say, though, that I still think you're being overly negative about having "English" finals in Wales. I believe that Cardiff is also getting the three Nationwide League play-off finals too. (I'm not sure about the Worthington Cup final.) That'll bring a lot of visitors and a lot of money into Cardiff, and presumably the Welsh FA is getting a fair slice of the proceeds. I don't see how that can be a bad thing for Welsh football.
That £1.5 million could soon look like a very sound investment.
Or do you just not like English people visiting Wales at all? If my old chums from Leyton Orient end up in the Third Division play-off final this year, will you be on the border trying to turn me and my mates back? We're friendly, honest! Don't hit us and we'll buy you a !

No, I'm not at all against the Engish turning up in Cardiff to spend their hard earned dosh , although how that will benefit me in Anglesey (North Wales 400+ miles from Cardiff) is beyond me.
What bugs me more than anything is that the Welsh FA won't receive a penny ... that's right nothing, nowt, zilch, zippo ... the money will all go to the WRU (Welsh Rugby Union) .
The egg chasers will try and pretend that it is the Millenium Stadium which will receive the money BUT they will fail to mention that the so-called 'Golden Shareholder' of Millenium Stadium PLC is the WRU.
So the public money given to one of the world's richest football associations for a game which could not go ahead without the say-so of one of the poorest associations in Europe seems a tad over-generous to me!

That really IS bad. Since my last posting I've heard that the Worthington Cup final is being played at Cardiff; so with the promotion play-offs, that's five showpiece games coming to Cardiff in each of the next three years. As you say, none of this could have happened without the Welsh FA's approval, so you'd think they'd get a cut of the cash. But I suppose the WRU don't really want to promote soccer in Wales...
Not that this'll be much consolation, but for whatever it's worth there's definitely at least one League of Wales devotee living near me! I went for a drink with my parents in a Bradford pub the other night, and was fascinated to see a Flexys Cefn Druids scarf attached to the wall, along with a list of their LoW fixtures. Maybe the licencee's a fan - next time I'm in there, I'll ask!

Cardiff, Cardiff, we're the famous Arsenal and we're going to Cardiff!

Heaven only knows what the result will be though! Depends on which teams turn up on the day I suppose! Will we see the Liverpool team which beat ManUre or the one that lost to Leeds? Will we see the Arsenal team which lost (sob, sob) to ManUre or the one that beat Valencia (who seemed to be missing last night)?

Who knows? But I'm glad to see that you're looking on the bright side of your boys' recent cup adventures!

Or even the Liverpool that beat Barca last night! (By using the 'boring, boring' tactics so 'beloved' of Arsenal fans) - wish our manager had such a command of tactics!

I have always maintained that we are in a position that the fans of the 90 other league clubs would love to be in so no desperate moaning from me about how awful it all is; going out of the Champs League at the quarter final stage, in the FA Cup Final and, currently, second the the Premier League! I think there is only one club in England whose fans whose club has been more successful in the last ten years and we are very lucky to have such a great team to support!