Latest news with #DarrenAmbrose
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Soccer still has the power to leave us in tears. I should know
What was striking on Saturday, after Crystal Palace had beaten Manchester City to win the FA Cup, was how many people were in tears. The camera roamed the stands, capturing the images of Palace fans in disbelief after winning their first ever major trophy. Some were hugging those next to them, some waved their arms incoherently and others just stared, overcome. But a significant proportion were sobbing. Soccer can often seem an angry game, with crowds fuelled by rage; this was something very different, very hard to explain. Palace's pre-match tifo had shown an image of a father hugging his two sons in the stand at Old Trafford after Darren Ambrose had scored a 35-yard drive there for Palace in a League Cup quarter-final in 2011-12. It turned out the two lads were among the Palace fans at Wembley and that their father had passed away in the intervening 13 years. They were, needless to say, also in tears. Advertisement Related: Premier League and FA Cup final: 10 talking points from the weekend's action Palace manager Oliver Glasner grasped the moment and its importance. After the win, there was no nonsense about kicking on and making this the first trophy of many. No talk of consolidation and growth and the bottom line. 'The biggest achievement we can have,' he had told his players, 'the biggest success we can have is not winning the trophy; it's that we could give thousands of our supporters a moment for their lives. We can give them great times. Maybe they have problems at home, we give them hours and days they can forget all of this, and just be happy.' There were lots of people weeping at Goodison Park on Sunday as well, as Everton bade farewell to the ground that has been their home since 1892. One fan there, Tommy Griffin, had been to his first game at Goodison in 1945 when he was three. The former Everton striker Duncan Ferguson spoke movingly on the pitch before the game of how many fans would be remembering those who weren't there, the parents and grandparents they used to go to games with. It seemed an extremely apt point, for soccer grounds have taken on a perhaps underappreciated importance in a world of increasing alienation. They are receptacles for the memories of a community, fulfilling the role that churches perhaps once performed. Soccer clubs have a vitally important social function, one that has belatedly been recognised in the discussion around the UK government's new soccer regulator. They are not normal businesses, and it's baffling that they are treated as such. And of course it's enormously concerning that it's been possible for these vital institutions to be sold off to such a dispiriting collection of states, oligarchs and private equity funds, none of whom will necessarily have the interests of that local community, the people who have built the club. At heart, modern soccer is the commodification of human emotion. Advertisement Perhaps it's worth, at this point, a personal interjection. I try to remain objective but I am, unavoidably, from Sunderland. I watched the second leg of their play-off semi-final against Coventry at home, by myself. When Dan Ballard scored the 122nd-minute winner, I sobbed for about an hour. I'm not really sure I can articulate why. There's every chance Sunderland will lose to Sheffield United in the play-off final next Saturday and whichever of those sides does go up will be overwhelming favourites to be relegated. I'm not sure it's necessarily memories of my dad, who died in 2010 (although he did really dislike Coventry – see On This Day below); it's something vaguer, an inchoate sense of fellowship with home, of shared experience of moments past. In that sense it's just about lost time. Related: Crystal Palace's FA Cup triumph left their fans in tears – I was among them | Ed Aarons There's been a lot of that about this season. For all that the end of the league campaign has felt anticlimactic, this has been a season that has provided a lot of joy to people unfamiliar with it. For Liverpool, the league title was only their second in 35 years, for Palace the FA Cup was the first major trophy in their history and for Newcastle the League Cup was their first trophy in 56 years. On Wednesday, in the Europa League final, Tottenham may lift their first trophy in 17 years. Silverware doesn't guarantee happiness – as demonstrated by the case of Tottenham's opponents in Bilbao, Manchester United, who have won trophies in each of the last two seasons and remain thoroughly disillusioned – but for those who accept silverware as a once-in-a-generation, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, it provides memories that last forever, generates the legends that bind communities together. Advertisement And that, frankly, seems a lot more valuable and a lot more interesting than a handful of super clubs grimly scrapping for trophies that soon become routine. The economics of soccer mean such seasons are rare and getting rarer, as power and resources become increasingly centred on a tiny handful of big sides. We should cherish them while we still can – and perhaps remember why soccer matters. On this day … After winning the FA Cup as a Second Division team in 1973, Sunderland didn't capitalise as many thought they would but, finally, in 1976 the remnants of that side were promoted. As their manager Bob Stokoe succumbed to ill health, though, they began their top-flight season appallingly. Stokoe was replaced by Jimmy Adamson but by the end of January, Sunderland were bottom of the table and seven points from safety (in the days when teams got two points for a win instead of three). Having little to lose, Adamson started picking youth, notably the forward Gary Rowell, the midfielder Kevin Arnott and the defender Shaun Elliott. Sunderland's form improved dramatically. In successive home games they put four past Middlesbrough and six past both West Brom and West Ham. Advertisement A draw at Everton in their final game, played on 19 May 1977, would have seen them survive. They would have stayed up with defeat too, so long as the game between Coventry and Bristol City didn't end in a draw. Kick-off at Coventry was mysteriously delayed by almost quarter of an hour. Sunderland lost 2-0 and, after the Coventry chair Jimmy Hill had the score announced, Coventry and Bristol City played out a 2-2 draw, saving both and dooming a beautiful young Sunderland team. Sunderland have hated Coventry ever since.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Soccer still has the power to leave us in tears. I should know
What was striking on Saturday, after Crystal Palace had beaten Manchester City to win the FA Cup, was how many people were in tears. The camera roamed the stands, capturing the images of Palace fans in disbelief after winning their first ever major trophy. Some were hugging those next to them, some waved their arms incoherently and others just stared, overcome. But a significant proportion were sobbing. Soccer can often seem an angry game, with crowds fuelled by rage; this was something very different, very hard to explain. Palace's pre-match tifo had shown an image of a father hugging his two sons in the stand at Old Trafford after Darren Ambrose had scored a 35-yard drive there for Palace in a League Cup quarter-final in 2011-12. It turned out the two lads were among the Palace fans at Wembley and that their father had passed away in the intervening 13 years. They were, needless to say, also in tears. Palace manager Oliver Glasner grasped the moment and its importance. After the win, there was no nonsense about kicking on and making this the first trophy of many. No talk of consolidation and growth and the bottom line. 'The biggest achievement we can have,' he had told his players, 'the biggest success we can have is not winning the trophy; it's that we could give thousands of our supporters a moment for their lives. We can give them great times. Maybe they have problems at home, we give them hours and days they can forget all of this, and just be happy.' There were lots of people weeping at Goodison Park on Sunday as well, as Everton bade farewell to the ground that has been their home since 1892. One fan there, Tommy Griffin, had been to his first game at Goodison in 1945 when he was three. The former Everton striker Duncan Ferguson spoke movingly on the pitch before the game of how many fans would be remembering those who weren't there, the parents and grandparents they used to go to games with. It seemed an extremely apt point, for soccer grounds have taken on a perhaps underappreciated importance in a world of increasing alienation. They are receptacles for the memories of a community, fulfilling the role that churches perhaps once performed. Soccer clubs have a vitally important social function, one that has belatedly been recognised in the discussion around the UK government's new soccer regulator. They are not normal businesses, and it's baffling that they are treated as such. And of course it's enormously concerning that it's been possible for these vital institutions to be sold off to such a dispiriting collection of states, oligarchs and private equity funds, none of whom will necessarily have the interests of that local community, the people who have built the club. At heart, modern soccer is the commodification of human emotion. Perhaps it's worth, at this point, a personal interjection. I try to remain objective but I am, unavoidably, from Sunderland. I watched the second leg of their play-off semi-final against Coventry at home, by myself. When Dan Ballard scored the 122nd-minute winner, I sobbed for about an hour. I'm not really sure I can articulate why. There's every chance Sunderland will lose to Sheffield United in the play-off final next Saturday and whichever of those sides does go up will be overwhelming favourites to be relegated. I'm not sure it's necessarily memories of my dad, who died in 2010 (although he did really dislike Coventry – see On This Day below); it's something vaguer, an inchoate sense of fellowship with home, of shared experience of moments past. In that sense it's just about lost time. There's been a lot of that about this season. For all that the end of the league campaign has felt anticlimactic, this has been a season that has provided a lot of joy to people unfamiliar with it. For Liverpool, the league title was only their second in 35 years, for Palace the FA Cup was the first major trophy in their history and for Newcastle the League Cup was their first trophy in 56 years. On Wednesday, in the Europa League final, Tottenham may lift their first trophy in 17 years. Silverware doesn't guarantee happiness – as demonstrated by the case of Tottenham's opponents in Bilbao, Manchester United, who have won trophies in each of the last two seasons and remain thoroughly disillusioned – but for those who accept silverware as a once-in-a-generation, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, it provides memories that last forever, generates the legends that bind communities together. And that, frankly, seems a lot more valuable and a lot more interesting than a handful of super clubs grimly scrapping for trophies that soon become routine. The economics of soccer mean such seasons are rare and getting rarer, as power and resources become increasingly centred on a tiny handful of big sides. We should cherish them while we still can – and perhaps remember why soccer matters. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion After winning the FA Cup as a Second Division team in 1973, Sunderland didn't capitalise as many thought they would but, finally, in 1976 the remnants of that side were promoted. As their manager Bob Stokoe succumbed to ill health, though, they began their top-flight season appallingly. Stokoe was replaced by Jimmy Adamson but by the end of January, Sunderland were bottom of the table and seven points from safety (in the days when teams got two points for a win instead of three). Having little to lose, Adamson started picking youth, notably the forward Gary Rowell, the midfielder Kevin Arnott and the defender Shaun Elliott. Sunderland's form improved dramatically. In successive home games they put four past Middlesbrough and six past both West Brom and West Ham. A draw at Everton in their final game, played on 19 May 1977, would have seen them survive. They would have stayed up with defeat too, so long as the game between Coventry and Bristol City didn't end in a draw. Kick-off at Coventry was mysteriously delayed by almost quarter of an hour. Sunderland lost 2-0 and, after the Coventry chair Jimmy Hill had the score announced, Coventry and Bristol City played out a 2-2 draw, saving both and dooming a beautiful young Sunderland team. Sunderland have hated Coventry ever since. This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@ and he'll answer the best in a future edition.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A 'just once before I die' achievement
Hidden in YouTube's archives is a Darren Ambrose goal of the year video from the 2011-12 season. Set to The Cinematic Orchestra's 'To Build a Home', it shows Ambrose scoring from range at Old Trafford in the League Cup quarter final. The camera cuts to a father and his two boys celebrating in disbelief. I'm not sure how many times I've looked back on that video, but I did once more on the morning of the FA Cup Final – a failed attempt to distract myself and temper the nerves before heading to Wembley Stadium. That image of the dad and his sons made me emotional 13 years ago, long before we all knew their story that followed. For that moment to be unveiled as the tifo display at an FA Cup final encapsulated what this match and event meant to the club, the fans in the stadium and those watching elsewhere. We all have different versions of a similar Palace experience. I have many people and connections in my life whom I'd have never met had my own father not grown up a few roads away from a particular football stadium in south London. This wasn't a game that a club like Crystal Palace are meant to win. For many, it was a 'just once before I die' achievement, and in the aftermath, we are collectively unsure about what comes next now that we have reached our mountain top. The semi-final was a party atmosphere, a spectacle of footballing brilliance. The final was the antithesis, a nervy defensive affair that needed a counterattack to spark the fans to life - we didn't expect the first foray to result in the winning goal. It wasn't until 90 seconds before the end of stoppage time that I realised it was over. The Kevin de Bruyne overhit pass that Dean Henderson ushered out for a goal kick. It seemed the other shoe wouldn't drop like it did in 1990 and 2016. A wave of emotion followed: euphoria, shock, tears of joy, and a sense of loss for the friends and family who didn't make it to see this finally happen with us. Crystal Palace are now the 45th team to lift the FA Cup, and that can never be taken away. Find more from Alex Pewter at FYP podcast
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
A 'just once before I die' achievement
Hidden in YouTube's archives is a Darren Ambrose goal of the year video from the 2011-12 season. Set to The Cinematic Orchestra's 'To Build a Home', it shows Ambrose scoring from range at Old Trafford in the League Cup quarter final. The camera cuts to a father and his two boys celebrating in disbelief.I'm not sure how many times I've looked back on that video, but I did once more on the morning of the FA Cup Final – a failed attempt to distract myself and temper the nerves before heading to Wembley image of the dad and his sons made me emotional 13 years ago, long before we all knew their story that that moment to be unveiled as the tifo display at an FA Cup final encapsulated what this match and event meant to the club, the fans in the stadium and those watching all have different versions of a similar Palace experience. I have many people and connections in my life whom I'd have never met had my own father not grown up a few roads away from a particular football stadium in south wasn't a game that a club like Crystal Palace are meant to win. For many, it was a 'just once before I die' achievement, and in the aftermath, we are collectively unsure about what comes next now that we have reached our mountain semi-final was a party atmosphere, a spectacle of footballing brilliance. The final was the antithesis, a nervy defensive affair that needed a counterattack to spark the fans to life - we didn't expect the first foray to result in the winning wasn't until 90 seconds before the end of stoppage time that I realised it was over. The Kevin de Bruyne overhit pass that Dean Henderson ushered out for a goal kick. It seemed the other shoe wouldn't drop like it did in 1990 and 2016.A wave of emotion followed: euphoria, shock, tears of joy, and a sense of loss for the friends and family who didn't make it to see this finally happen with Palace are now the 45th team to lift the FA Cup, and that can never be taken more from Alex Pewter at FYP podcast, external
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Crystal Palace beating Manchester City in the FA Cup let us see the real purpose of football
The last few weeks of the Premier League season have felt like a drag. In the space where competition used to be, a proliferation of negative questions: is Trent a snake? is Arteta a loser? Was this the most boring league of all time? Then Crystal Palace beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final to show us the real purpose of football: in the end it's all about people crying in each other's arms. The Palace tifo showed an image, famous to Palace fans, of Mark Wealleans hugging his two young boys as they celebrated Darren Ambrose's 35-yard winner against Manchester United back in 2011. Wealleans died aged 49 in 2017, and his sons, Dominic and Nathan, were there at Wembley on Saturday, watching Palace win their first ever major trophy and crying again in each other's arms. Say what you like about Crystal Palace, they do good FA Cup finals. I watched their first one – a 3-3 spectacular against Manchester United – with my grandad Kavanagh back in 1990. He was a Leeds fan so by today's standards might be expected to be venomously anti-United, but he didn't feel the need to subscribe to official enemies' lists. Actually he didn't seem to mind who won, being equally amused by Ian Wright's goals and by my frustration at Mark Hughes' late equaliser for United. READ MORE My grandad was no longer around by the time Palace got to their second Cup final in 2016. That match was memorable for Alan Pardew's fate-tempting dance, Wayne Rooney's last great performance in a top level match, and United firing Louis van Gaal immediately after winning it. In 1990 winning the Cup had saved Alex Ferguson's job. Van Gaal's sacking showed how little the Cup now meant to the big clubs. Now Palace were in their third FA Cup final, against a Manchester club as usual, and when their first attack culminated in Eberechi Eze's volleyed opener I thought: great goal but I've seen you do this in Cup finals before . . . Tradition dictated that Palace would sooner or later suffer a cruel reversal due to an unfortunate accident. In 1990, John Pemberton deflected Bryan Robson's header past Nigel Martyn for United's equaliser, before Mark Hughes scored United's second off another penalty-box ricochet. In 2016 it was Joel Ward diverting Juan Mata's shot past his own keeper Wayne Hennessy for United's equaliser. In extra time Damien Delaney's stretching clearance fell perfectly for Jesse Lingard to blast the winning goal. This time, at last, the luck was on Palace's side. There was no doubt about what the VAR team had to do when Dean Henderson stretched a hand out of his penalty area and swiped the ball away from the charging Erling Haaland. It was their unpleasant duty to send the Palace keeper off, which at that point of the match would have effectively handed the Cup to City. To general astonishment and relief they turned a blind eye. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson saving Manchester City's Omar Marmoush's penalty at Wembley. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA Wire A few minutes later the officials awarded City a dubious penalty that looked like an attempt to even things up – but Henderson, who shouldn't have been on the field, saved from Omar Marmoush. 'Haaland might've stepped up, I didn't know which way he'd go,' Henderson said afterwards, 'but Marmoush, I knew which way he was going. I knew I would save it.' Apparently Marmoush always hits penalties low to the keeper's right. He might need to think about mixing that up. Haaland, who hadn't scored in seven final appearances for City before Saturday, had for some unknown reason abdicated responsibility. 'Maybe the thought of taking a penalty at Wembley might have been too much for him,' Wayne Rooney suggested on BBC, 'You never know, he's a human being.' Yes, Haaland is a human being – albeit one with a very particular set of skills, skills which have earned him one of the biggest contracts in football history, skills which you'd have expected would include stepping up to take pressure penalties in FA Cup finals. But some mysterious force persuaded Haaland it wasn't his day, and from that moment Palace could believe it was theirs. City fans aside, everybody was happy to see Palace win this trophy. It felt like a long time since that had happened. How good to see people experiencing joy and not simultaneously have to suppress the knowledge that this is all happening because of some Gulf magnate's soft-power agenda. The way football has gone has made these moments so rare. Compare the eruption of the Palace fans with what would have happened if Nico O'Reilly or Claudio Echeverri had put away the late chances Kevin De Bruyne laid on for them, and City had gone on to win their ninth Wembley cup final in nine seasons under Guardiola? A feeling not far off absolute nothingness. Watching the star of the 1990 final, Ian Wright, celebrating with the crowd, I realised it was the second time in a couple of weeks that football had me thinking about my grandad. The first time was when Ruud Gullit revealed on Stick To Football that he had run into Todd Boehly at some event and it transpired that Boehly had no idea who he was. I can date the moment when I first learned who Ruud Gullit was very precisely. It was around 7.30 in the evening of June 12th, 1988, and my grandad and I were watching Holland play the USSR in Euro 88. (Ireland had beaten England 1-0 a little earlier that day). My grandad pointed out Gullit and told me 'See this fellah? He's the most expensive player in the world.' From that moment Gullit, who, my grandad explained, someone or other had paid £6 million for, was established in my mind as a kind of superman. When he joined Chelsea in 1995 it seemed to me to elevate the entire English League. Now Chelsea is owned by a guy who doesn't even know who he is. The club Todd Boehly part-owns doesn't connect with anything in his life or his past. He actually has no real feeling for it at all. And we act as though the game really belongs to these people. Thanks to Palace and their fans for showing us otherwise.
