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Sunday 25 January 2015

It's a knockout: 4-2



Apologies for the blurry pictures. I wasn't there; these are taken from the TV. They show scenes of jubilation at Chelsea's football stadium at Stamford Bridge. Our local League One side, Bradford City, beat top of the Premier League Chelsea 4-2 in the fourth round of the FA Cup yesterday. 

'Bradford City became the first team ever to put four goals past a [Jose] Mourinho side in a home game, despite being 49 places below Chelsea in England's football pyramid. "I repeat a word I used before this match - it's a disgrace for a big team to lose to a small team from a lower league." said Mourinho, who won the FA Cup during his first spell at Chelsea in 2007. "Frustration is not the right word, embarrassed would be more appropriate." '

It's hard to understate what a win like this means for a smaller club, in sheer joy for the players and fans, many of whom have supported Bradford City through thick and thin for years, and also in terms of publicity and finance. Win or lose, they stood to gain something like £350,000 from the fixture. Now they will have a match in the next round too, possibly with an equally big club.


Critics have said that the big Premier League clubs aren't interested in the FA Cup these days (the real money is in their League performance and in Europe), with the implication that Chelsea and the other big clubs knocked out so far aren't really trying. But I don't think Mourinho and Chelsea would willingly invite the embarrassment they have suffered this weekend. BCFC's website reports that Jose Mourinho personally visited the Bradford team's dressing room after the match and congratulated every player and staff member. That shows class, I think.

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