Coventry Telegraph - Sports Talk

Our frightened footballers prefer playing away...

2008-09-19T13:12:06Z

Traditional footballing wisdom says, nay dictates, that an away fixture is something that is considered much trickier than plying your trade in front of a home audience. This wisdom also manifests itself in other ways, in the way that a goal just before half-time is "a killer" and a penalty save is always "heroic".

However, as with many things in football these days, times are changing. Gone are the terrifying hobnail style football boots and in come electric-pink slippers, out go the pitches that used to resemble a swamp in a flood and in comes freshly manicured grass cut to within a millimetre of perfection. Finally, and most heinously, the staunch fair men of yesteryear have given way to players who perform the type of outrageous histrionics that wouldn't look out of place at the Old Vic.

]]> Admittedly, times change, but it now seems that even our totemic football wisdom is starting to be ignored. Specifically, the age-old idea of disliking playing away seems to be disappearing.

England coach Fabio Capello said as much recently when he said that playing away from Wembley would be good for his team, to alleviate the pressure from fans. Our very own Chris Coleman, speaking about the forthcoming home game against QPR, said that playing in front of expectant fans at the Ricoh Arena makes his players nervous.

All this leads me to ask; are modern footballers now so pampered that the stresses of playing in front of fans with a huge emotional and financial stake in them makes them cowed? Nerves are acceptable, human, understandable, but actually desiring to keep away your own fans seems a little strange, if not cowardly.

Footballers are paid astronomical sums of money, a lot of which is given to them by the very fans that so petrify them. Playing for your public should be an honour and shying away from them is wrong. Maybe the paucity of genuinely exacting away ties these days, bar maybe those in Turkey and South America, is contributing to this seeming turnaround of opinion.

In any case, I hope this emerging vogue for preferring to play away soon dies out, as it is insulting to the fan. They have a right to expect, and they also have a right to expect their players to deal with this expectation.

OPEN GOLF SUCCESS - AND DRAMA

2008-07-03T10:58:16Z

THE most famous, oldest and biggest sports competition in the world came to Coventry this week - and earned applause all round.
The city club's Finham course was given the honour of staging a regional qualifer for The Open Golf Championship.
After 18 months of planning and supported by the help of more than 100 volunteers, the event went ahead without a hitch, with respected R&A official Geoff Marks declaring: "The organisation was faultess."
Coventry captain Nick Jessett arrived at the club at 5am and when the day's play was finally completed over 14 hours later he was still wearing the same broad smile.
"It has been a great success," he said. "Everyone involved has worked so hard but I think it is safe to say we passed the test and I am delighted."
The tree-lined course was in immaculate condition, the rain only appeared for a brief mid-afternoon period and the standard of play was extremely high, as 107 players chased just 13 qualifying places.
And then, we had the icing on the cake: A dramatic five-man, sudden-death play-off to decide the final four passage trickets.
In glorious early evening sunshine, spectators gathered around the par-three 17th hole. The five rivals teed off. One hit the green, one landed in a bunker and three were off the fringe. With their second shots, two found the green, one splashed successfully out of the sand and a third put his effort back over the far side.
The player still in the semi-rough then audaciously chipped into the hole, for his par. The player who had the best tee-shot rolled his putt wide, which left four players needing to hole their third shots to stay in contention.
One by one, three of them duly did so, leaving the nearest one to the pin to go last. He faced a nervous 18-inch putt. He stood over the ball, lined up his club - and was halted by the sudden shrill sound of a spectator's mobile phone.
The villain of the peace embarrasingly apologised, as the player walked back to re-address his ball. Again he concentrated and was poised to play his shot when ... the same phone rang out again. Amid glaring looks, its owner fumbled in his pocket and apologised, before throwing the offending handset into some nearby bushes.
The player then made his third attempt to convert the putt. This time the silence around the green was almost deafening - and everyone breathed a sign of relief as his ball dropped down the hole.
With all five tying on pars, they trooped off to the long par four 18th. This time the outcome was decided in not such breath-holding fashion, as one of the unlucky quintet fluffed his second shot and found sand to finish with a bogey and miss out on a qualifying spot.
And so ended an absorbing, entertaining, enjoyable, well-administered event - which members and officials at the Coventry club will now look forward to repeating for the next five years.
The only sad aspect of the day was seeing the look of disappointment on the face of home-club teenager Sam Dodds. He had scored a creditable two-under-par 71 only to endure a six-hour wait before finding out it was not good enough - by a single stroke - to put him through.
But the Bubbenhall prospect said simply "I will have to try harder next year", before going off to congratulate county team-mate Robert Bardsley, who had been one of the play-off qualifers.

BYE BYE BORO

2008-06-12T12:20:16Z

SO that's it then - the Boro is no more.
Okay, I know the club still exists, albeit playing in the Southern Midland Division.
They have gone into liquidation, been demoted two levels - and now ordered by the FA to change their name to Nuneaton Town.
After all that's gone on over the past few weeks, this may be a moot point. But the fact remains, we can no longer cheer on the Boro. It's a bit like identity theft. And can anyone explain why this has had to happen?
The bigwigs at the FA may say: What's in a name? The officials at Liberty Way may just be pleased that they have still got a football club to run. But that still doesn't alter the fact that a little piece of history and tradition has been removed.
Okay, so if, because of liquidation, the club had to be re-registered under another title, what was wrong with the new company being called Nuneaton Borough AFC 2008 and the team's name staying the same? After all, other clubs have gone bust and been demoted without being re-branded.
How would Sky Blues fans have felt if, following their club's takeover, they had suddenly become supporters of Coventry United? Would West Bromwich Athletic have the same ring to it?
It might be argued that progress often calls for changes to be made. And, with Nuneaton entering a new era, on a fairly new ground and under new ownership, a new name could, perhaps, be considered appropriate.
So those scarves bearing the legend "Up the Boro", those banners proclaiming "The Boro Army" and that massive Nuneaton Borough FC flag displayed at England internationals can all be consigned to the bin.
The last time the club carried the Town label it went out of business. That was in 1937 and within two days a new club was formed, known as the Borough.
We've now come a full circle. The chant from the terraces will once again be "Come On Town". And, you never know, a name from the past might just be the catalyst for a brighter future.

Nuneaton Borough are set to revert back to Nuneaton Town for next season

2008-06-12T07:22:01Z

NUNEATON Borough no longer exists and from the 2008-2009 season the club will play under the Nuneaton Town banner.
Following Boro's financial problems, forcing them to go into liquidation last week, and after consultation with the Football Association to ensure clarification in the future, it's been decided to revive the Nuneaton Town name that was last used back in 1937 before Boro came into existence. More details later

BORO'S SORRY FATE

2008-06-03T16:28:56Z

FIVE years ago Nuneaton Borough were playing in the same league as Doncaster Rovers. So what, you may ask.
But now just consider the fate of each club since that season.
In the summer of 2003 Boro were relegated from the Football Conference into the Southern League. With the reorganisation of the non-league pyramid they became members of the Conference North. They had two close attempts to reach what had become the Blue Square Premier, including last season when they finished seventh.
But in recent weeks, Boro fans have had to swallow the revelation that the club is £1m in debt and voluntary liquidation means the team could be demoted two levels, into the Southern Midland Division.
And what about Doncaster? Well, in 2003 they regained their Football League place via the Conference play-offs. Successive promotions saw them climb into Coca Cola League One. Then, last month, the south Yorkshire club went to Wembley to clinch another promotion, into the Coca Cola Championship.
In just five years Doncaster have gone from Conference fixtures against Nuneaton to having the same league status as Coventry City.
And while they prepare for a campaign that has soccer's Mecca - the Premier League - as its target, Boro face up to the prospect of being back among the likes of Leamington, Bedworth and Rugby - and, history apart, no longer able to rank themselves among the top clubs in non-league soccer.
The hope, of course, is that Ian Neale's takeover will get rid of Boro's financial millstone so the club can enter a comeback era with a clean slate.
And if anything can boost that ambition, the fans only need to think about what Doncaster have achieved. They battled back from adversity and, remarkably, are now just one step away from the big time.
It will take Nuneaton longer than five years to have any chance of equalling that. But Boro must take up the mantle, accept the mountainous task ahead and strive to succeed.
Far better to follow in Donny's footsteps than to go the way of Gretna...

Predictably patchy predictions

2008-05-09T10:35:55Z

Now that the regular Coca-Cola Championship season is over and the Sky Blues avoided the dreaded drop, it's time to look back at the sports desk's predictions for 2007/08.
Way back in August in our Sky Blues pre-season supplement, four of us gave our (expert) opinion on who was going up, who was going down, who would make the play-offs and how Coventry City would do.
The results? Well read on.

]]> Step forward Derek Brown. Our Nuneaton Borough man was the only one who named West Brom as champions. The rest of us went for Charlton who didn't even make the play-offs.
However it's not all glory for Brownie. His other automatic promotion tip was Leicester. Whoops.
The rest of us were off the mark, too, with the exception of Andy Turner who nominated Watford to go straight up and at least they have a chance via the play-offs.
West Brom were a popular tip for the play-offs but the only other tipster to name a team who made the top six or better was my good self with Stoke. Other sides favoured by our panel - the likes of Southampton, Wolves, Cardiff and Sheffield United - failed to make the grade.
As for the relegation stakes, Alan Poole takes the plaudits by naming two out of the three who went down - Scunthorpe and Colchester.
But what of the Sky Blues?
Surely even the most pessimistic of City fans could not have forseen a last-day, down-to-the-wire relegation battle. We certainly didn't.
Three of us had City down for a top ten finish with Alan Poole going further with a play-off semi-final appearance. We can but dream!
What does this prove? That unlike the Premiership, predicting what's going to happen in the Championship is virtually impossible. But that won't stop us trying again come August.

2007/08 predictions in full

Andy Turner
CHAMPIONS: Charlton
PROMOTED: Watford
PLAY-OFFS: Sheff Utd, WBA, Wolves, Cardiff
RELEGATED: Scunthorpe, Barnsley, QPR
SKY BLUES: Seventh

Derek Brown
CHAMPIONS: West Brom
PROMOTED: Leicester
PLAY-OFFS: Charlton, Wolves, Sheff Wed, Southampton
RELEGATED: Plymouth, Burnley, Scunthorpe
SKY BLUES: Ninth

Alan Poole
CHAMPIONS: Charlton
PROMOTED: Cardiff
PLAY-OFFS: WBA, Wolves, Southampton, Coventry
RELEGATED: Hull, Scunthorpe, Colchester
SKY BLUES: Play-off semi-final

Rob Madill
CHAMPIONS: Charlton
PROMOTED: Wolves
PLAY-OFFS: Stoke, WBA, Leicester, Southampton
RELEGATED: Barnsley, Blackpool, QPR
SKY BLUES: Eighth

Rock bottom in the Valley

2008-05-08T10:56:01Z

FOR all those long-suffering City fans out there, cast your mind back to the end of the 1963-64 season.
That's when we came top of the old Division Three and began the glorious Sky Blue march towards English soccer's top flight.

]]> After two seasons in the Second Division (finishing 10th and third) we went up as champions in 1967 for what was to become a 34-year stay.
There were no less than 10 Great Escape dramas, as City clung onto their First Division/Premiership status.
Relegation eventually came at (of all places!) Villa Park on May 5, 2001, with the Sky Blues leading 2-0 at half time but being pipped 3-2.
The hopes, obviously, were that we would quickly bounce back. The reality, sadly, is that City have since endured seven years of torment, turmoil, disappointment and non-achievement.
And a new low was reached last weekend when, by the skin of their teeth, the Sky Blues were saved from falling through the trap-door back into the league's third tier. The clock had very nearly turned a full 44-year circle.
It took a result from elsewhere (poor Leicester, agonisingly held at Stoke) to enable Coventry to retain their Championship status.
And that was what made it so hard to swallow for the Sky Blues fans. On a day when more than 3,000 of us made the trek to south London, when nothing-to-gain Charlton were the opposition and when just a point was needed to guarantee survival, what we wanted was another glory-glory occasion. What we got was a boring-boring let down.
The players performed abysmally. They went a goal behind after four minutes, lost 4-1 and could have conceded eight. For the last 20 minutes, the City fans in the Jimmy Steed Stand ignored what was happening on the pitch and concentrated instead on the flow of scores coming in from around the country. Ears were glued to radios, eyes fixed on mobile phones, as details of the games at Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke were despatched, then relayed.
In the end, the one result that was needed - Stoke 0 Leicester 0 - was confirmed. It prompted a wierd reaction; cheering after a defeat. But the reality that City were staying up overtook the fact that the players had done so badly.
Chris Coleman described it as the worse 90 minutes of his managerial career. I can be more specific - that was the most dishonourable, miserable, gut-wrenching 90 minutes I have suffered in almost half a century of following City.
Down in the Valley last Sunday, the club hit rock bottom. Surely, now, with a new regime promising changes, the only way is up.

Rugby union ain't broke, so why the need to fix it?

2008-05-01T13:28:56Z

LAST weekend's Heineken Cup semi-finals produced the best that club rugby can offer - close games, fiercely contested in every area of the pitch, and with the results in doubt right to the end. But if certain IRB members have their way, the like may never be seen again.
Make the most of the final later in May, because the game as we now know it may cease to be by the start of next season. After today, a number of Experimental Law Variations - some currently under trial in the Super 14s - aimed at speeding up play could become reality.
Certain people, led by the Australians, believe that ball-in-play time and tries are all that matter. Wrong! Cynical people might suggest that the Aussies are only trying to take some emphasis away from the front five forwards because they haven't got any worthy of the name - but everything that happens in a match comes from winning possession, and that stems from the (sometimes dark) art of forward play which, done the right way, is a joy to watch. Take it away and we might as well all play rugby league.
Some of the changes put forward are sound enough - those involving the offside line for players not in a scrum, kicking out of the 22 and greater freedom for quick line-outs may work. But the idea that if the ball is unplayable at a breakdown, the side that took the ball in will concede a free-kick will only encourage defending players to kill the ball if they can get away with it, and the idea of replacing a number of pebnalty offences with free-kicks is a charter for headless chickens.
I've watched some of the Super 14s, and the amount of aimless kicking and stoppages for free-kicks or penalties puts the competition way behind the quality the Guinness Premiership has produced this winter.
The pros might be able to cope with more change, but lower down the ladder it will only serve to drive more people away and reduce skills.
England, Wales and Ireland have come out against the changes - let's hope they have enough support from eleswhere to stop them going through.

Kuyt mark for ridiculous rule

2008-04-23T11:10:40Z

IN the fraction of an added-time second it took for John Arne Riise's diving header to skew into his own net last night, the dynamics of next week's Champions League return at Stamford Bridge took a 180-degree turn south.
Suddenly it's Liverpool who must score to secure their spot in the final, Chelsea who have the luxury of knowing that a 0-0 draw would be good enough to get them to Moscow. And what a difference that one outrageous fluke made when the rival supporters offered their contributions to the post-match analysis on Sky TV and Radio 5Live.

]]> Most Chelsea fans now seem ready to concede that Avram Grant probably does know what he's doing, but the rant lines were choked with embittered Anfield regulars reviving their absurd accusations that Rafa Benitez, the man who has steered them to two of the last three finals, is 'tactically naive.'
We were also assured by most callers of a Merseyside persuasion that the referee "gave us nut'n" - a claim which confirmed that they are as short on gratitude as they are on perspective and fairness.
The opening goal scored by Dirk Kuyt (a man, incidentally, who is regularly accused of being a pedestrian insult to the tradition of Keegan, Rush, Dalglish et al) was, in its way, as bizarre as the equaliser. For not only was it built on an amateurish aberration by Frank Lampard and a freakishly convenient miskick by Javier Mascherano, it also involved no less than three generous decisions by Konrad Plautz.
First he was taken in when Fernando Torres (a truly magnificent player who at times, unfortunately, seems determined to prove that he's the white Didier Drogba) unveiled his dying swan act after minimum midfield contact with Michael Ballack.
The Austrian upgraded that gift by allowing the Reds to take the free-kick yards away from where the 'offence' occurred, leaving Chelsea's left flank fatally exposed.
And finally he (presumably with the complicity of his linesman) ruled that the clearly offside Ryan Babel wasn't interfering with play as Kuyt tucked the ball between Petr Cech's legs. Which, even under the current offence-favouring definition of the rule, is ridiculous.
Yes, Babel was walking away from the goal at the time, but his route took him between the last two Chelsea defenders, creating the momentary distraction that enabled Kuyt to brush past Claude Makalele's belated challenge. As Graham Taylor might phrase it, how can that not be interfering with play?
The old offside law had its flaws and, like any football rule, was exploited and corrupted by negative teams to smother creativity. But at least it was easy to understand, (relatively) simple to implement and didn't require overworked officials to undertake an extra level of interpretation.
To paraphrase the late Bill Nicholson (not, as some Scouse sources would have it, the equally great Bill Shankly) if an attacker isn't interfering with play, what's he doing slap-bang in the middle of the opposition penalty area?

Bears lacking bite

2008-04-17T19:22:48Z

Howling winds, ice cold temperatures, squally showers - it must be the start of the cricket season.
And not just any old cricket season.
After Warwickshire's double relegation last year and the subsequent sacking of coach Mark Greatbatch, hopes are high that the appointment of Ashley Giles and Allan Donald to head the coaching staff will bring happier times to Edgbaston.

]]> Already there's a feeling that team spirit is better than it's been for a long time, probably since the days when Giles and Donald last shared the home dressing room.
The team looks fitter, too, after a pre-season training schedule that included a spot of square-bashing at Bramcote Barracks near Nuneaton.
Now all we need is that to be translated into a few results out in the middle.
I can't help thinking Giles's men could do with some more experience in the side, especially the bowling attack. The bowlers Warwickshire sent out for the first game against Worcestershire were, with the exception of Neil Carter, pretty inexperienced. I know they have Ian Salisbury, Boyd Rankin and Monde Zondecki to come in but they still seems short of a the kind of heavy wicket taker a side needs to do conistently well in the four-day game.
The batting looks a mite brittle too. Alex Loudon's retirement and the loss of Tim Ambrose to England have left The Bears a little short of runs down the order and has put more pressure on the likes of Darren Maddy and Jonathan Trott to get the big scores.
Let's hope, too, that local lads Luke Parker and Michael Powell can get in among the runs.
But while the Bears may lack experience they do have potential and I can't think of two better men than Giles and Donald to bring that out of the likes of Parker, Lee Daggett, Naqaash Tahir and Navdeep Poonia.
So Warwickshire's new coaching team might just surprise us and lead the side back into the top tier of English cricket - but maybe not this year.

How to celebrate Coventry City's 125th anniversary

2008-04-11T15:28:21Z

Coventry City celebrate their 125th anniversary this season and at the Telegraph we'd like to help them do it in style.
We will, of course, be publishing a souvenir supplement to mark the occasion. It's due out in August but the planning starts now and I'd like to hear from Sky Blues fans with ideas on what they'd like to see in it.

]]> Some things spring readily to mind - the great players, the great matches, an all-time best Coventry City XI.
But what else?
Here's your chance to have some input into the supplement by telling us how we can mark 125 years of our famous football club.
Leave a comment on the end of this blog or e-mail sport@coventrytelegraph.net and let's have your ideas so we can make the supplement a fitting tribute to Coventry City.

What about a statue at the Ricoh?

2008-04-09T15:16:08Z

IT'S fast becoming trendy for football clubs to erect statues to famous players from their past.
Leeds have a bronze action figure of Billy Bremner outside Elland Road; there's an impressive sculpture featuring Bobby Moore at the new Wembley; larger than life studies of George Hardwick and Wilf Mannion welcome visitors to Middlesbrough's Riverside ground; and even Carlisle United have their own tribute, in the shape of Hugh McIlmoyle, who actually played for six other clubs in his goal-scoring career.

]]> Stoke City are about to go one better in July, when Pele will unveil a statue of Gordon Banks at their Britannia Stadium, which already features Sir Stanley Matthews in triplicate on a plinth.
So what about Coventry City's Ricoh Arena? Which Sky Blues hero could be immortalised in stone overlooking the A444?
What about George "Iron Man" Curtis, who led City to the First Division and was joint manager when they won the FA Cup? Or, perhaps, dashing Tommy Hutchison, who regularly tops fans' polls as their all-time favourite? Then again, although he wasn't an ex-Coventry player, Jimmy Hill, the bearded wonder and mastermind of the 60s' Sky Blue revolution, could be a candidate.
The Ricoh is an impressive venue, in a prominent position and, hopefully, will one day be the stage for the Sky Blues' return to the top-flight. Wouldn't an appropriate statue be a good idea?

Wayne Rooney is the best all-round English player in the past 50 years

2008-04-09T07:48:58Z

I HAVE no second thoughts in saying that Wayne Rooney is the best English footballer I've seen in my life-time.
Many will think Brownie has lost the plot when one reminisces of the skills of Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Johnny Haynes, Jimmy Greaves, Bryan Robson, Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker, I'm too young to can't recall Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney or Duncan Edwards, but to me Rooney takes the biscuit.

]]> Having kept a close eye on Rooney's rise from boot cleaner to and spotty teenager in Everton's youth set-up, I knew England had something special on their hands.
The lad was class as a 15-year-old and the bee's knees now in my humble opinion although he's still to reach his peak.
Yes he's got a temper and sometimes sees red but let's not forget he's still learning his trade and the days when he argued persistently with officialdom has now long gone - one hopes!
Being an Evertonian, it was sad to see him leave Goodison but in after-thought to join Manchester United was the only move he could make and I feel The Toffees have also gained by his departure.
Rooney was too big a talent for Everton at the time he left and joining the world's top club - Manchester United - it's tough to admit that - was a partnership made in heaven.
While many thought, particularly Liverpudlians of the Blue variety, he was a traitor to leave Everton, far from it! Rooney's career needed a step up and The Reds of the Manchester variety was the obvious, and only, option.
In the next five years I predict Rooney will prove me right and become an England legend.
He has it all. Pace, power, strength and quality in possession. His first touch is exquisite, almost as exquisite as my wife's when she's after some shopping money.
I know I'm putting my head on the block and there will be soccer fans out there saying what Brownie knows about football and 99 pence would make a quid. Maybe they're right but I've got my views and opinions - what are yours?

How wrong can you be, Jim Beglin

2008-04-09T07:42:37Z

I don't know if you can normally bet on such things, but Ladbrokes, Coral and co must surely have closed the book on Jim Beglin walking off with the 2008 award for the most inane comment by a TV sports pundit.

As we watched the slow-motion replay of Ryan Babel completing Liverpool's grotesquely flattering 4-2 win against Arsenal last night, Beglin declared: "that should make the penalty less of an issue." Some hope!

]]> The reality, of course, is that a tie that produced so much sumptuous entertainment and should have been settled by the supreme opportunism of Fernando Torres or the thrilling intervention of Theo Walcott will always be remembered for the outrageous decision that gifted Liverpool their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

If the wisp of contact between Kolo Toure and Babel truly constitutes a foul these days, every Premier League match should produce a dozen or more penalties because defenders are guilty of infinitely worse manhandling every time a corner or a free-kick is slung into the area. And if the yellow card that Peter Frojdfeldt flourished at Toure is now adopted as the disciplinary benchmark for referees, it's hard to see how any team can hope to complete a match with a full complement of players.

Toure's phantom foul certainly paled into insignificance in comparison with Dirk Kuyt's sly tug on Alexander Hleb which went unpunished by Pieter Vink in last week's first leg. And for that reason alone Arsene Wenger deserves huge respect for his restrained reflections on how Arsenal came to lose despite their clear superiority in individual skill and team tactics.

What's done is done, so we'll have to stomach a few more weeks of that condescending triumphalism that Liverpool supporters fondly imagine makes them 'special.' But recent events at Anfield and the Emirates Stadium should surely prompt a move to ensure that, in future, one referee takes control of both legs of a home-and-away tie.

That way, at least, we should be reasonably certain that we'll get a consistency of decision-making over the 180 minutes and Wenger (or, indeed, Rafa Benitez) won't have to waste time fretting on the odds of falling foul of a Dutch bottler one week and a Swedish showboater the next.

Waving the Nuneaton flag at Wembley

2008-04-08T16:40:38Z

WASN'T it great to see a local lad playing at Wembley Stadium last weekend?
Nuneaton's Peter Whittingham was in the Cardiff side for the FA Cup semi-final against Barnsley.

]]> Whittingham had trials with the Sky Blues but joined Aston Villa as a trainee and graduated into their first team.
When Martin O'Neill took over as Villa manager he lost his place and was twice loaned out. It was a frustrating time for the 23-year-old midfielder, who was eventually given a transfer and joined Cardiff in January 2007.
It's a move that has paid dividends for the former King Henry VIII student. He has become a key member of Dave Jones' revitalised Bluebirds side and after scoring one of the Match of the Day Goals of the Month in the last round, he helped Cardiff beat Barnsley 1-0 to earn another Wembley appearance for the Cup Final against Portsmouth.
Whittingham's dad, Harry, who works in a fishmonger's in Nuneaton town centre, enjoyed " an absolutely fantastic day" - and is now Mr Popular at his local, the Royal Oak, in Attleborough, where he is already being inundated with requests for Cup Final tickets.
Now here's a simple quiz question: Who was the last Nuneaton-born player to appear in an FA Cup Final?