"Blues go down together"
Saturday 8.2.25 - Birmingham City 2 v Newcastle United 3 - FA Cup R4
Saturday 8th February 2025. FA Cup R4. At St. Andrew's@Knighthead Park. Birmingham City (2) 2 (Ethan Laird 1, Tomoki Iwata 40) v Newcastle United (2) 3 (Joe Willock 21, 82, Callum Wilson 26) Attendance: 27,914.
‘Tis only my 95th game of the current season. It feels like I'm under house arrest and I really need to get out more.
Football is not a television programme. Regardless of how much clubs depend on the income of broadcasting corporations. Days like today belong to the fans. My motto of: “Be there, or be square (eyed). Say it as you see it, with your own eyes, or don't say anything at all.” Was probably never more apt than it proved to be in the immediate aftermath of this evenings entertainment.
My first (and only) rule of blogging (and probably all social media usage) is; let the dust settle, even sleep on it if needs be, before posting a considered overview of whatever contentious points you wish to expound upon. Avoid any knee-jerk reactionary outbursts, regardless of how Justified they might be. However, if after holding your fire and keeping your powder dry overnight, you still feel aggreived, then (and only then) let the bastards have it! Y’see, I did actually learn something from those anger management sessions, after all 😉
The later than usual kick-off time of 5.45pm, for the benefit of armchair viewers across the nation, did nothing to take away from the communal togetherness of those who made their way to St. Andrew's through the chill drizzle to actually be here in person, in support of their respective football teams. There was a great atmosphere inside (and all around) the ground, pumped up for an enthralling contest, that more than lived up to any of the pre-match hype associated with this eagerly anticipated fourth round tie.
Before the game I met up with my matchday crew in Bainsy’s Bar, a popular drinking establishment not far from Birmingham City's ground, but far enough to be tucked away off of the main drag, avoiding some of the excesses one might encounter elsewhere on ‘big match’ days, such as this one. I was surprised to see a contingent of Magpies fans therein, it's usually a staunch Blues stronghold, but the presence of these outsiders with their thick and barely understandable accents, only served to add to the ambience of the cheery build-up to the main event.
The club owner, Tom Wagner, entered the premises a couple of hours prior to kick-off, as he often does and mingled with the revellers. When I next went to the bar I was informed: “It's on Tom! He's paid for everyone to have a drink”, his generosity extended to the Newcastle fans too, who were quick to approach him and express their gratitude.
Prior to kick-off, the crowd were treated to fireworks (not my kind if thing to be honest) and a brief performance by the local rapper Jaykae (definitely not my kind of thing to be even more honest), who occasionally drinks in the Roost, just down the road from St. Andrew's, with a ginger bloke from Ipswich called Ed, who looks like a bit of a scruff, but who is apparently a quite famous singer. But though I was attuned to vibe, I was only here for the football and most of this peripheral stuff went straight over my head. As I scanned the team sheet for any clues as to what might lay ahead.
Formalities over and a rousing version of ‘Keep right on, delivered with stirring aplomb and we are all ready to go. Moments later, blimey! What the actual feck just happened there!? Forty-two seconds into the game and Ethan Laird has fired Blues ahead. The already boisterous hordes are now a mass heaving scrum of limbs, a veritable pile of seething, stranger hugging, eye bulging, screaming out loud mental cases. When my feet finally found terra firma again, myself and the lady previously standing two rows behind me (nobody was sat) were now going steady, making plans for our impending honeymoon and possibly looking forward to parenthood in nine months time. I’m exaggerating slightly of course, I had a vaesectomy years ago, in preparation for those all too rare special moments like this.
Would it last? The momentum of them there Blues pummeling their Premier League opposition I mean, not my love at first sight dalliance with a fair maiden from Duddeston. Alas, a tipping point arrived, as she stormed down the the stairs, fists clenched, effing and Jeffing in the most vulgar of terms imaginable, at an unsighted linesman, who had just dropped a massive bollock in gifting Newcastle a goal, that even the credited scorer, Joe Willock, hadn't celebrated. Because he knew that the entire ball hadn't crossed the line before Bailey Peacock-Farrell had turned the ball away and pulled off a brilliant save. Well, that potty mouth of hers put me right off. And I decided there and then against embarking on any future liaison with anybody who could come up with such imaginative ideas as to where the ‘liner’ could insert his bloody flag.
Had this been a tie between two Premier League teams, FA rules would have dictated that VAR technology was to be used, which would have removed any doubt whatsoever about the ‘tenuous’ decision. Those same rules also meant that the goal line technology that is actually installed at Blues, couldn't be used either, because the little old hosts are only a League 1 club. To the north of this fair city, in a curious place called Aston, two top-flight clubs are meeting in the same round of this exact competition tomorrow and it's mandatory that the aforementioned equipment must be used there.
I didn't take the above photo on my phone, I nicked it from elsewhere on t’interweb, just like people do with my pictures sometimes. Once they are out there on t’interweb, they’re fair game. Personally I take such online plagiarism of my material as a compliment, so hey ho! But either way, it proves that the assistant referee wasn't anywhere near in line with the ball, when he made his ‘dubious’ decision and that he had an obstructed view of things, because Alex Cochrane is stood in the way, between him and the ball. In a nutshell, he had a bleedin’ guess to mask over the fact that he’d not been doing his job properly.
How and why, could he even make a decision of such gravity? Given that it's in the rules, if you can't see something clearly, then you can't call it. He wasn't level with play, end of. I haven't added that halo above Nigel Lugg for comedy effect, to give him a Simon Templar like appearance. It's actually a ring around a spectator who saw exactly what the errant match official was buggering about at. Yes, that plump(ish) baldy man is me!
Of course once the goal had been given and the game had restarted, that was that. It was never going to be overturned anyway and history will record that Willock equalised in the 21st minute and Blues will just have to suck it up. The ‘goal’ incident aside, I actually hold Willock in very high regard, given his unflappable belief in himself, having had to overcome a couple of serious knock-backs in his career. Last weekend he was racially abused online for missing a goal-scoring opportunity in the Magpies game at Fulham. By the end of this evening's game he had given his detractors the perfect response.
Five minutes after Mr Lugg’s brain-fart and flag-wafting episode had levelled the game up, Callum Wilson put the visitors in front and the Magpies were now flying high, after the initial shock of falling behind at the outset of the game. When the going gets tough n’ all that, it was time for Blues to stand up and be counted and show that they have what it takes to compete against teams that ply their trade at a higher level than the third tier.
By now I had relocated to the far end of the ground, via the walkway that runs along the full length of the Kop (and also extends around into the Tilton End). The thing about all-seater stadiums is, for the most part, pending availability, you can choose a seat more or less anywhere in the ground. However, there is no guarantee that you won't end up sat too close for comfort, to someone so obnoxious you simply can't bear to spend another minute in their company, or even close proximity.
Apologies to my betrothed from Duddeston, you have to be quick and strike while the iron is hot to snag yersen’ a Retford lad. Though I will always fondly remember our one night stand, I’m offski to find myself another seat, away from this insufferable, boarish, vaping twat with unbearable body odour that I’ve been lumbered with. I was reseated just in time to get a brilliant panoramic view of Tomoki Iwata’s superbly struck twenty-five yard volley that left Nick Pope grasping at fresh air as it bulged the back of the net.
There was no need for any VAR or flag held rigidly aloft to clarify the validity of that strike. The watching world could now marvel at the quality of a legitimately taken quality goal. HT: Two goals apiece and everything still to play for. The second half was just as competitive as the first had been, though even more robust if anything. Sadly as Mark Leonard and Lewis Miley both went crashing into a 50/50 challenge, the former ended up leaving the field of play on a stretcher, as the latter’s studs left a deep gash just under his knee. Ouch!
Subsequently, Leonard’s pain accounted for twelve added minutes at the end of the game, by which time Blues were chasing a late equaliser, after Willock had rubbed salt into Peacock-Farrell’s wounds, by nudging what turned out to be the winning goal through Blues Northern Ireland international keepers legs. Christoph Klarer went painfully close to taking the game into injury time, but he was thwarted by the Magpies England international keeper. FT: Birmingham City 2 v Newcastle United 3.
Blues did themselves proud tonight, on so many levels, but in the end the visitors just about had the wherewithal to progress into the fifth round. Good luck to them with their quest to reach Wembley on two fronts this season. Blues still have a possible double to look forward to. Even though Bradford City will prove to be formidable opponents in the forthcoming EFL (Vertu) Trophy semi-final that will be played at St. Andrew's on Tuesday 18th February. Tickets go on sale on the 11th.
Biggest shock of the night. Cross Country trains. Both inward and outward services, there and back from Birmingham New Street, ran precisely on time. BTW, just in case you were wondering, I’m not planning on paying a visit to Duddeston any time soon 😉