No one can argue that 2020 has been an awful year that we all want to put behind us. But before we look ahead 2021, we have to take a minute to appreciate how sports have provided something resembling normality in recent months.
Considering the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been incredibly lucky to have soccer leagues playing regularly since June.
The FA Cup dream continues for Marine FC as the Northern Premier League Division One North West side qualified for the FA Cup third round for the second time in club history. The eighth-tier club defeated League Two side Colchester United on penalties in the first round, then dispatched sixth-tier Havant & Waterloo by a scoreline of 1-0 in the second round.
The Mariners reward: a third round tie at The Marine Travel Arena against current Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur.
That’s a hellish Sunday afternoon for supporters of Everton Football Club.
On the women’s side, the 2020 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium was lost after a dramatic 3-1 extra time defeat to Manchester City. City’s Sam Mewis opened the scoring with an unmarked header off a corner kick in the 40th minute.
The FA Cup just finished the final round of qualifying over the weekend, and we now know which 32 non-league sides will be joining the 92 Football League clubs to compete in the 140th iteration of football's most storied competition.
The cup was first contested in 1871-72 with Wanderers defeating Royal Engineers in the final. The competition now encompasses the top 10 divisions of English football with the final played in the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium in London.
An opulent spa town in North Yorkshire might not be the leading location for an up-and-coming football club, but one League Two side is set to dissuade those beliefs.
Nicknamed the Sulphurites for the town's healing sulfur springs, Harrogate Town will be playing in the Football League this season for the first time in its 106-year history. And the man responsible for this transformation also happens to be the longest-serving manager in English football.
USWNT star midfielders Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle joined Manchester City in August. They’ve already got their new club within striking distance of winning the FA Women’s Cup.
Mewis scored her first City goal and Lavelle made her City debut in an impressive 2-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Women’s Cup semifinals on Thursday.
The Gunners had won their first three matches of the season by a combined 19-2, including a 4-0 rout of Alex Morgan’s Tottenham on Saturday.
Alex Morgan didn’t get on the field in her first match at Tottenham. The USWNT striker was an unused substitute as Spurs lost to North London rival Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the FA Women’s Cup. But Morgan did get a front-row view of the gorgeous Jordan Nobbs goal vs Tottenham that sent Arsenal on its way to a 4-0 win.
Alex Morgan, having apparently eschewed any quarantines like Tobin Heath and Christen Press underwent, is set to make her debut with Women’s Super League club Spurs in the coming days. So we thought we’d provide some photos of the USWNT superstar training with her new club, plus provide details on how to watch the Alex Morgan Tottenham debut.
On paper, Watford traveled to southeast Wales on Tuesday as overwhelming favorite over Newport County in their third-round League Cup tie. Watford was a Premier League club last season, while Newport County was a middling League Two side. What the Hornets failed to account for though was Newport's penchant for upsetting upper-league opposition in cup competitions.
Former Derby County winger Reg Harrison, who was the oldest living winner of the FA Cup, has died at the age of 97, the Championship club announced on Friday.
Harrison lifted the FA Cup as a 22-year-old when Derby beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 after extra time at Wembley in 1946 for their only FA Cup triumph.
Derby County are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of 1946 FA Cup winner, Reg Harrison.
We will miss you, Reg