In the first week of November, ahead of the start of this season’s Emirates FA Cup, The FA rolled out a campaign celebrating the 150th anniversary of the world’s oldest knockout football competition through a film fronted by two-time winner and Arsenal legend Ian Wright.
The very first FA Challenge Cup games were played on 11 November 1871 following a proposal by the then secretary of the Football Association Charles W Alcock with the intension of bringing hope, opportunity and equality to football. And to mark the start of the tournament’s 150th anniversary, the spot sees Wright showcase how Alcock’s founding values are just as relevant and important today at all levels of the sport’s pyramid and bring to life the rich history and traditions of the competition.
The themes include the idea that no other competition offers amateur or semi-professional players a chance to take on the world’s best or provides a financial and emotional lift to clubs and communities in the process.
The video was produced by sports marketing agency The Space Between and released across the FA’s digital channels and supporting the film will be a series of large-scale image projections across the country. These feature key figures and moments through the years have been displayed on landmarks that best depict the competition’s values alongside copy lines from the campaign film.
These projection sites are:
> The Oval, London – Charles W. Alcock features on the playing surface at the venue of the very first Final which was contested by Wanderers and Royal Engineers on 16 March 1872.
> Trulife Factory, Sheffield – Jamie Vardy became the first person to play in every possible round when he lifted the trophy with Leicester City last season and is celebrated at his place of work when he appeared in it for the first time with Stocksbridge Park Steels in 2007.
> Coventry Transport Museum – Cyrille Regis, a pioneer for players of black heritage, lights up the home of the open-top trophy tour bus which transported him and his Coventry City teammates through the streets of the city after they won the competition in 1987.
> LNER Stadium, Lincoln – the home of Lincoln City, who became the first non-league team in 103 years to make the Quarter Finals when they faced Arsenal in 2017, securing their financial future and funding a new training ground complex.
> Marine Travel Arena, Merseyside – the 3,000 capacity ground ‘hosted’ 32,000 virtual ticket holders due to the Coronavirus pandemic when Marine AFC faced Tottenham Hotspur in the Third Round of last season’s competition. The fixture represented the biggest gap in league places between teams facing each other in competition’s history.
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On 5 November, The Emirates FA Cup official first round kicks off when the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, AFC Sudbury, plays a first round against their local rivals Colchester United.
The 150th anniversary will be marked and celebrated by the FA throughout the season leading up to and including the Final at Wembley on 14 May 2022.
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