The FA Cup has just presented the most lame match in the history of the competition. They brought together the Premier League club, Tottenham Hotspur, with the 8th caste English League club, Marine FC. This match became the most hobbling after comparing the standings in the history of the competition.
According to the Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur and Marine FC are 161 standings difference in the English football pyramid. The imbalance between the two teams was then reflected in the results of the match which took place at The Marine Travel Arena, Sunday (10/1/2021) night
In a match that was included in the third round of the FA Cup, Tottenham ended Marine FC with a landslide score, 5-0. Brazilian striker Carlos Vinicius became the star of Tottenham’s victory after he recorded a hat-trick or three goals. Meanwhile, a pair of additional goals for Tottenham came from Lucas Moura’s free-kick and a right-footed strike from their youngest debutant Alfie Devine.
Regardless of these results, Marine FC experienced some wonderful moments. First, they make enough money to protect the club’s future. Evening Standard reported that they sold more than 30,000 virtual match tickets when they met Tottenham. Marine FC manager, Neil Young, thanked the Tottenham fans who had been willing to buy thousands of tickets. For Marine FC, the ticket sales proceeds to complement the broadcast rights revenue and the prize money they pocketed after entering the third round of the FA Cup.
Neil Young also said that this income could make the club survive for a certain period of time. “I’m very proud, you look at the teams we have faced and defeated, both at home and away,” said Young. “It is past our wildest dreams to bring Tottenham to Marine headquarters. I hope to do more. The FA Cup has been our savior financially, where we are in the non-league. Since there is no help (financially) for teams in the third caste and below,” explained Young.
Financial security, although it is estimated that it will only last for a while, is not the only beautiful moment that Marine FC feels. After playing the third round of the FA Cup, Marine FC players received a souvenir in the form of a jersey set from Tottenham. However, they did not get the new jersey that the players used like the ritual of changing costumes after the match. By paying attention to the health protocol related to Covid-19, Marine FC got a set of costumes that Lucas Moura et al have never used.
Tottenham said the gift was given via the club’s Twitter account. “The players did not change costumes after the match due to the Covid-19 protocol, so we are giving Marine FC a new set of shirts as a souvenir from this historic match,” said a Tottenham statement.
