The U.S. Soccer Federation yesterday announced an expanded Open Cup format and schedule, one that will incorporate all MLS and lower division teams in a newly and hopefully more condensed way.  In essence, the changes allow the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to mirror the English FA Cup, where lower division and semi-pro teams have […]

After the dramatic FA Cup upsets on Saturday only the greediest football fan would have expected any further third round upsets to come. However Blue Square Premier side Crawley Town decided that they would usurp all that had proceeded them this weekend with an injury time goal from Sergio Torres. For those who frantically check […]

In the build-up to the FA Cup Final today between Portsmouth and Chelsea, I thought it'd be interesting to enter the time machine and to go back to 1992 to watch the television broadcast of Portsmouth versus Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi-Final from Arsenal's Highbury Stadium. With John Motson commentating and awful shirt designs […]

With the FA Cup Final only days away, and every Portsmouth fan like myself trying to convince ourselves we have a chance to defeat a club like Chelsea that’s clicking on all cylinders, it saddens me to think that we’ll be going down to the Championship next season. Our time in the top-flight has, at […]

As the Portsmouth players put on their uniforms in the Wembley locker room this afternoon, they were under no allusions about what the future held for them and their team.  They were going to be relegated down to the Championship League after the season.  Once there, they were far more likely to be relegated again […]

It's FA Cup semi-final weekend which means that for three teams the Premier League will cease to matter, at least for a few hours. Of course for Portsmouth the Premier League ceased to matter some time ago and as such, any manager who still has Pompey players in their side will likely be going the […]

Manchester United has gone crashing out of Champions League, having succumb to the left foot of Arjen Robben. On this episode of the EPL Talk podcast, I am joined by Laurence McKenna for our mid-week review show, talking about United's capitulation and Arsenals ouster at the boots of Lionel Messi. That, and a preview of […]

Reviewing the weekend's FA Cup, fifth round action, analysts Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer join host Richard Farley to look at the eight matches of the fifth round proper. That, and the trio talk about the future of Portsmouth as well as Chelsea's (and England's) conundrum in the wake of Ashley Cole's ankle injury. Don’t […]

The third round of the FA Cup is like Christmas to me. There's always a surprise or two that you never expect. Plus, I usually get up early in anticipation of the matches that are before me. And this year, it was great to see the added touch of snow across England to make the games […]

Without a doubt, the third round of the FA Cup is one of the highlights of the calendar year for football supporters. It's a golden opportunity to see the giants of football compete against amateur teams made up of people with ordinary professions such as postmen, labourers, accountants and policemen, etc. In previous years, there […]

A lot has changed in the world since the FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, began in 1871. But the magic of the tournament still remains. The prospect of non-league minnows upsetting giants. And the nostalgia of seeing matches played in front of standing-room only crowds in the heart of the English […]

Everton's Pienaar launched the ball into the box from the left side. Chelsea's Mikel got his head to it but could not clear. Fellaini headed the ball back into the danger area where Louis Saha waited, unmarked, uncontended. He spins into the volley to catch it perfectly with his left foot, catapulting the ball past […]

The last dance of the season, of every season, the FA Cup Final is the jewel in the English Football Crown. Last year's final between Cardiff and Portsmouth was arguably the exception, but this year's certainly isn't: Underdogs Everton come into the final for the first time in 14 years, since Joe Royle's infamous 'dogs of war' […]

I was completely seduced by last year's FA Cup. Barnsley and Cardiff City charged toward the final in a gripping giant-killing warpath. They toppled Liverpool, Chelsea and Middlesbrough in their wake. (Boro were still a mid-table Premier League side, so their undoing was still a feat.) While only Cardiff made it to the end before […]

  With the Premier League race done and dusted and the Champions League trophy spending the summer in Catalonia, there's only one more piece of silverware on offer in the 2008-2009 season, and either Everton or Chelsea will lay claim to it tomorrow at Wembley. Who's in and who's out – Frank Lampard, Alex and […]