Wednesday, February 21, 2007

On the march with Psychos army?

This post originally appeared back in December 2005, and now we have reached the quarter-final stage for the second season running I thought it worth re-posting to illustrate our record since 1981, and that back to back last eight appearances is certainly bucking the trend.


Although Scunthorpe United at home should not present too much of a challenge in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, there always seems to be some trepidation with City and cup matches due to some in-glorious cup exists over the years.
So, with help from MCFC stats I've traced back the last twenty-five years of FA Cup performances since the 1981 final to see how likely it may be that Sylvain Distin could be lifting the cup come next May.

1982 - 4th round. Coventry (h) 1-3
1983 - 4th round. Brighton (a) 0-4
1984 - 3rd round. Blackpool (a) 1-2
1985 - 3rd round. Coventry (a) 1-2
1986 - 4th round*. Watford (h) 1-3
1987 - 3rd round. United (a) 0-1
1988 - Q/Final. Liverpool (h) 0-4
1989 - 4th round. Brentford (a) 1-3
1990 - 3rd round*. Millwall (a) 1-3
1991 - 5th round. Notts County (a) 0-1
1992 - 3rd round. Middlesbrough (a) 1-2
1993 - Q/Final. Tottenham (h) 2-4
1994 - 4th round. Cardiff (a) 0-1
1995 - 5th round. Newcastle (a) 1-3
1996 - 5th round. United (a) 1-2
1997 - 5th round. Middlesbrough (a) 0-1
1998 - 4th round. West Ham (h) 1-2
1999 - 3rd round. Wimbledon (a) 0-1
2000 - 4th round. Leeds (h) 2-5
2001- 5th round. Liverpool (a) 2-4
2002 - 5th round. Newcastle (a) 0-1
2003 - 3rd round. Liverpool (h) 0-1
2004 - 5th round. United (a) 2-4
2005 - 3rd round. Oldham (a) 0-1
* denotes replay.

Looking back over history, it does seem that we should be safe with Scunthorpe at home bearing in mind when we have been dumped out of the 3rd round by a lower league side it has generally been away from home.
There has been the occasional foray into the quarter-finals which have resulted in a huge anti-climax, and a few 5th round appearances which began to get everyone a thinking of a decent run 'if we get the right draw'.
However, the majority of FA Cup exits appear to be at the 4th round stage with defeats both home and away and to both higher and lower league opposition.
Perhaps May 13th 2006 is a date which need not be kept free?

vote it up!

5 comments:

Gavin Cooper said...

2004 is wrong - it was 5th round after a replay at Liecester and the amazing comeback 3-4 at Spurs.

Anonymous said...

and west ham home in 1998 was a
1-2 defeat not 0-1, kinkladze scoring a wonder solo goal (berkovic and lomas west hams goalscorers....)

Danny Pugsley said...

Apologies - must have beginning to get bog-eyed by the mid-1990's.
Now correctly updated.

Anonymous said...

Changing the subject for a moment... Radio Five Live have dredged up the takeover deal again (although no other reports at this time). Their reporters reckon there are three possible deals on the go - "One of them with an American". Surely Dubai Guy as a betting man (OK, maybe he doesn't bet on 'em - just races 'em) would think we were the business in the light of the casino deal?

Danny Pugsley said...

Yeah, I caught that earlier but not posted anything due to lack of time.

It still seems a little sketchy at the moment as to who it may be, and the amount to buy the club since the casino announcement was made (ranges from £70-£130 million according to the report).

After it all went quiet over the last couple of months since the board first announced 'serious talks', perhaps somebody somewhere had a little bit of a heads up about the casino licence and was biding their time?