the FA Cup competition of 2007-08, for example, was like a throw-back to a different era. with 3 out of 4 teams in the semi-finals coming from the championship, and only pompey there to represent the mighty premier league. this means that west brom came up a goal or two just short of being only the second team in history to win the FA Cup and promotion in the same year. the only other team to have done it was, coincidentally, the baggies of 1931. cardiff easily outplayed and disposed of premiership side, middlesbrough; barnsley beat liverpool at anfield with the last kick of the game, and portsmouth - playing sterling defense and counter-attack - upset manchester united at old trafford in the 6th round, before going on to win the cup for the first time in almost 70 years. these two rounds of fixtures alone made it an exceptional year. as well, in the league cup, a tottenham hotspur team that was about to experience a massive nose-dive in terms of form and a wholesale sacking of the management/coaching staff, beat "big four" chelsea in the final.
there was also the case of derby county, where a team that truly did not belong in the premiership set a new record for low points total, garnering only 13, with only one win all year, and becoming the first team ever relegated by march. they then went on to set the record for the longest winless streak in football league history, before settling into their true position as a middle of the table championship club.
nothing of the sort happened this year; the premier league had no bad teams - with the possible, and relative exception of the performance of newcastle united, who - despite their few professional and exciting moments - seem to have rotted right out from their ownership and management, on through to their miserable home fans. a team with this many expensive players on it putting in this poor a performance should be considered pretty bad. and the lack of atmosphere for the last home game after a really exciting win against middlesbrough was baffling. those who come to take things for granted never realize their true value until they're gone.
in contrast, i was so proud to be a baggies fan when we played liverpool; and how, after the second goal - and knowing that relegation was pretty much a dead cert - the albion fans were standing and singing the club anthem, their arms outstretched thankful for at least the three weeks speculative excitement and hope that the team gave us in an otherwise dreary and depressing season and embracing all that they love about west bromwich albion, through the good times and the bad... and being true to form this year, it was a game that the baggies could very easily have won or drawn, based on the play of the midfield and the routine badly squandered scoring chances.
live text replay
although they exhibited moments of reckless defending on a regular basis, and mostly seemed like they just couldn't buy a goal despite creating regular chances born out of real and palpable, quality footballing skill, they had one of the best midfields in the premier league; and their passing and possession proved this week in week out, as they always took the game forward on the front foot, no matter who the opposition, in the style one would expect from an albion team. let's not forget, that the baggies were - with rare exception - good at home this year, and surpassed both teams immediately above them in number of total wins. the baggies had as many wins as hull, who only just managed to stay up by exploiting a strong early season form; then pulling off the one win and one draw towards the end of the year that they needed to stay up.
as well this year, the status quo returned to the cup competitions. everton will play chelsea this saturday in the FA Cup final, in a year that saw the league cup go to a manchester united side who were, to be fair, just cruising at a relaxed pace, in anticipation of the more important competitions and matches to come. it was fitting and accurately reflected their season, i think, that they actually clinched the title in a fairly listless 0-0 draw with arsenal, 2 weeks ahead of schedule. this year... well, it wasn't like i hadn't seen it all before.
it is fascinating living in a world that i could have only dreamed of as a kid - and to be able to access matches on the TV - live and complete; as well as, participate - in some small degree - critically and in creating content for the world of english football. it is part of the marvel of our age that what was once distant and esoteric is now (as with everything else) part of the all-integrated, all-inclusive pop culture which dominates and influences our lives in ways that we don't take time to think about. indeed, my eventual actions, reactions and interactions with the football world at large are a million miles away from the first time i sought out the english football scores on my own, opening a morning paper to locate the mid-week soccer box scores from england, and seeing that blackpool had been beaten by stoke city in an FA Cup replay. it all seemed so distant and exotic... i was still looking for a team to support in those days.
i remember listening to the 70-71 FA Cup final as a neutral - alternately hopeful for two young players, each one on the opposing side: steve heighway and charlie george. while they both scored goals that day, it was charlie george who ended up the hero and i was a declared arsenal supporter - until george, who never panned out into an international or ever recaptured the heroism of that sunny day in early may of 1971, went to play for derby county, and in turn saw an end to my days lending support to arsenal.
i was first attracted to the albion while i was living in england in 1976 and the team was playing in the 2nd division. i used to go to stamford bridge with a group of kids from school - none of whom were chelsea supporters - but it was the biggest of the local teams, and they really geared their club to attract a younger crowd in those days. other than that, i've never really figured out why we used to go to chelsea... although, i do remember everyone uniformly hating QPR - maybe that had something to do with it too? anyway, we never went to the shed end of the ground, and (as i hated chelsea) i was free to chagrin my contemporaries by always cheering for the away team.
the albion were managed by johnny giles that year (75-76) and the team, sporting their famous yellow and green stripes, came to the bridge and beat chelsea 2-1. this caused the most consternation with my friend, tim, who was a lifetime aston villa supporter. ironically, through his example, and many years later - it was my memories of him and his devotion to the villa that impressed and served as one of the main inspirations for my becoming a baggies supporter!
last year, while i watched my full complement of english football over the group of networks that presented me the opportunity - i followed the albion on the live text commentaries that are provided by the BBC - in eager anticipation of seeing the baggies on TV in the premier league the next year. for football fans outside the UK - and for those who use computers - the live BBC text commentaries are the only really free way to follow matches from the lower leagues. i don't know what the ratio is, but many clubs license their home games to be broadcast on local BBC radio and streamed online for UK residents. the clubs in turn are then free to use these streams on their own website and make them available to subscribing users with no international restrictions.
the albion are not one of these teams. they instead create their own content for online audio streaming of live matches. the only problem with this, is that it requires microsoft software to access the stream, and uses DRM to achieve its ends; so, mac, free and open-source softwares cannot use the service. while i believe that we all need to think about the ethics of something like this - it is very hard to get other people to understand this - and as the football league and the BBC are two of the biggest users of DRM softwares on the planet, we should at least be aware of this!
i am a free and open-source software user, and i cannot in good faith, install a microsoft operating system on my computer. while it is possible - and i have had "dual-boot" windows/linux setups before, once i felt that i could do everything i needed without microsoft, i stopped using windows altogether and simply have never installed it on my current computer. with the albion being relegated, my room-mate asked me if i was going to install windows, perhaps on a small partition on my hard-drive, so that i could at least subscribe to ALBION WORLD and get the live audio commentary via the internet.
"no, i couldn't do that," i said, despite desperately wanting to have the opportunity to do so, "i'll follow it on the BBC live text scores before i do that. there's no way that i am going to be coerced by a corporate entity into installing microsoft to my computer! no... there's no question about it!"
"wow, that's really commendable," he said, "most people in your situation would do what was to their benefit and convenience , and that would be enough to justify it."
"no man, i like computers and digital technology too much to allow myself to have to deal with giving up any part of my freedom."
because once you know what freedom is, its hard to give yourself back to malicious restrictions and the rip-off and control of the user by corporate monopolies and neo-monopolies... living in complete fear regarding the potential loss of environment(s). for example, nothing is more frightening to a photoshop user than the idea of losing your photoshop (in fact, there is a free-software replacement that is really, really good). just as chat and webcam enthusiasts are terrified of losing their MSN and YAHOO messengers, no matter how far that those actual environments have deteriorated and previous freedoms and capabilities eroded.
at the absolute bottom end of the table, another team to have won the league cup (and within living memory) has fallen quickly to relegation from the football league, in the likes of luton town - who now join oxford united as a long-time successful league club - with major cup wins to their credit, relegated to the blue-square. this is a new trend that has become more evident this year and ties in with some of the other things that we will begin to see as the face of change that the football media apparatus will have to deal with begins to appear.
for example, it may just be that with the teams like manchester united and chelsea able to do just about anything they want due to their status and money available to them - and with projections for nothing but continued success for this class of teams (the so-called "big four"); and, coupled with the relative freedoms that the blue-square has in terms of broadcasting (both TV and radio) as well as freedom to stream video and audio commentary live on the internet - the teams in leagues 1 and 2 are going to feel the squeeze of having to observe the same licensing and broadcast regulations as manchester united, while ebbsfleet united offers live streaming video online and the unrestricted streaming of cambridge united matches through BBC online audio commentary is available to an international audience. it is already quickly becoming a reality for some of the smaller clubs, that playing in the blue-square offers much more potential opportunity than a place in league 2 does! the most obvious example of this, is that the blue-square matches that are broadcast on BBC local radio as well as streamed live online - unlike the league games online at the BBC - are available to all international listeners. i have spent many an afternoon listening to the cambridge united or histon match live online; while the brentford or leyton orient game is simply unavailable outside the UK by virtue of corporate licensing, DRM and geography. it seems like something that nobody has noticed yet, but will serve as a basis for swift and essential change to the setup of professional football media in england once somebody does.
while i believe that middlesbrough and newcastle are really going to suffer in the championship - and newcastle more than the 'boro - because they were not expecting this - and after a long time in the premiership, you can't help but have picked up a lot of premiership baggage as well. the baggies, on the other hand, have never been in the premier league long enough to make the deals and get the signings intended to consolidate the club's place in the premier league; so unlike their companions in relegation, they still have an infra-structure that is more prepared to support a championship campaign, and have recent experience with what it's all about playing in that division. i will be very surprised if the albion are not successful in making a return to the premier league within 2 years - at the most. in fact, i'm fully expecting them to gain an automatic promotion place next season along with cardiff city, at this point. newcastle might make the play-offs, but it will take deft management to do so, i believe.
this year's most pleasant surprise was brentford gaining promotion with a team that was truly dominant in its division. it will be interesting to see if the bee's can continue with more upwardly mobile progress. as an ex-south west london suburbanite - i have a real soft spot for brentford and would love to see them get to the premiership one day - even for just one season. it's one of those things i would feel privileged to have witnessed in my lifetime... football has such a massive scope; not just as the most popular and universal of all sports, but in its extensive and varied history; and the fact that it is capable of reminding us so easily of the relatively short span of our own lives, and the things in which we invest faith that may never come to pass, yet we are inexorably drawn to the hoping...
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