The Road to Wembley The FA Cup

We all know where the road leads

History

Glory

Frenzy

Wembley.

But there was no blueprint for this

You can't plan for these twists and turns

These routes come with diversions

Past the home ground floodlights

On rain-soaked cup ties

Of stone-cold winter nights

See these proceedings through the social media

Even a telephone

And the call to walk on Wembley Way in deepest May

Starts in many places

Back with fans in stands

And managers in dugouts

The chatter begins back in the summer

All across the country this might be

The one

After all, we are overdue a Cup run

But imagine trekkin' marathons just to reach the start-line

Seems so normal now

And these Premier League teams get to start at halfway

Those lower down the ladder had to battle

Just to get to the first round proper

See, many hurdles have been faced to get to this destination

So welcome

Welcome to your big day

A reward for the regulars to celebrate

And revel in the glory

Some prime time in the highlights

On Match Of The Day

It's also a potential place in the headlines

For a top-flight team

Whose nightmare is the non-League dream

And all captured

On the big screen

Not everyone enjoys round one

This is where the professionals wait

Nervously

They know that this is treacherous ground

Because the slips and the trips

Will be caught on camera

And it's not always all right on the night

Just ask Swindon Town

For many minnows, the road meets a swift end

But there are also godsends

At Merstham

Westfield

Stamford

Many a memory is to be banked

Some kept on earning

James Armson finished his marking

Before avoiding Gillingham's

Rumour has it he quickly got changed into his kit

In his car on the way down

Before scoring a hat-trick for Brackley Town

Six floors down in English football

And that saw them through to round two

Where the third-round giants stand on the horizon

Something didn't quite add up for Curzon Ashton

Three-nil up with ten minutes to play against AFC Wimbledon

There was still more than enough time

For Wimbledon to score four more

This year, we've been reminded of some of the magic

That the Cup provides

Remember Sutton United in '89

When they conquered poverty?

Well, I guess it's time

To update some upsets

Non-League Lincoln banished Oldham Athletic

Who sit two divisions higher

And we'll grow to see that Lincoln will make a habit

Out of punching above their weight

So remember the names

Remember the faces

The road to Wembley awaits

This is where the dreams are orchestrated.

Christmas, New Year.

Third round of the Cup.

Dates carved into the calendar.

For some, it's a love-hate relationship.

# You think you know who I am

# But you don't have a clue

# You ain't nothing but a stranger... #

We're seeing lots and lots of clubs playing weakened teams.

-We've had a lot of changes.

-Nine changes.

Every team's making changes, not just Premier League teams.

-Why would they not go for it in the Cup?

-The fans want to win trophies.

# Your words may hurt for a while

# But after a while

# They can only make me stronger

# And I'll do

# Do the best that I can

# But you keep bringing me down

# Don't you know I'm only human?

# And I never said that I was prefect... #

It's an incredible result in FA Cup history!

I hope we have enough players and then we can rotate.

# Everything that you say

# And anything that you do to try... #

Liverpool have survived a bit of a scare!

# I'll use it as motivation

# Go on, try to shake me... #

Liverpool crash out of the FA Cup

at the fourth round stage.

# I'll use it as motivation

# No matter

# No matter how hard I try

# I know that in your eyes

# I'll never be good enough

# So easy for you to just assume things

# You know you can't touch me... #

There's the equaliser.

Leicester and Derby must do it all again.

We've made quite a few changes.

I've got people who can't play three games in a week,

and that's what we've got from now till the end of the season.

If it was three Championship games and they're vying for promotion,

would he play that tight? I don't think he would.

# Everything that you say

# And anything that you do

# You try to hurt me

# I'll use it as motivation... #

It's a stunner!

What a goal!

Leicester City into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

# I'll use as motivation... #

Can he wrap it up? He shoots.

He scores!

If we'd known we'd perform so badly,

then potentially we would've made the changes.

# I'll use it as motivation

# I'll run a little faster

# I'll scream a little louder... #

Has the FA Cup had its day?

Are they giving it the respect it deserves?

Take this competition seriously.

# I'll run a little faster

# I'll scream a little louder

# I'll use it as motivation... #

Is that the winner for Wycombe Wanderers?

# Anything that you do to try to hurt me

# Try to hurt me

# I'll use it as motivation... #

The drama of the afternoon has not ended.

Tottenham have rescued it!

# Tell me why you hate me... #

Heung-min Son has got the winner for Tottenham

with just seconds left at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham go stumbling on. What an FA Cup tie.

# Ah-ah-ah

# I'll use it as motivation. #

What if the relationship is over?

What if we're living on memories?

The Cup isn't anything if absent of memories

Like Stanley Matthews dashing down the wing

See, my grandad saw him in the flesh

And I remember him telling me

How it seemed Matthews had the ball tied to his shoestrings

The closest control

And as he spoke it I saw it

With the clearest of vision

His memory of what would now be a grainy picture

Given to me in HD images

But misty romance can't compete with football finance

Mid-table safety ain't sexy but it pays

The excuses are there

Always there, they'll never change

From Wednesday's League games

Points at stake

To over here on a winter break

And so the Cup becomes a drain

Instead of a dream

What's all this about putting out a weakened team?

See, the Cup will always have an aroma of glory

That's why the fans remember Radford's rocket

Gerrard's stunner

And Villa's run

Why we harmonise Cup Final songs

Why we watch those coach routes

And why we still remember those white suits

See, there's no cup for reaching the top four

And what's more, the glory is ever so short

See, no-one ever remembers the year you were Champions League contenders

But the contentment of Cup glory

Well, that's endless

There's no open-top bus parade for reaching the Europa League

No T-shirt printed for beating the drop

What we need now are new memories

New twists

Proof that the Cup spirit still persists

A familiar melody

Set to a modern beat.

And the greatest stories come from unfamiliar tellers

In unexpected places

And once upon a time

In Gander Green Lane

There was a little team who didn't know where to stop.

# Just say the word

# We'll take on the world... #

If football still has a place for dreamers,

then Gander Green Lane is that place.

# I can see

# See the pain in your eyes

# Oh, believe

# Believe me, and I have tried... #

Oh, we're going to have last-gasp drama at Gander Green Lane.

Deacon with a shot, and Deacon scores!

Roarie Deacon for Sutton United!

# You should know... #

It's another historic day in the life of Sutton United Football Club.

It'll be a place in the third round of the FA Cup.

# And just say the word

# We'll take on the world... #

Biamou's onside! Could that possibly be the winning goal?

Fitchett seals the victory for Sutton United!

# Nobody knows you the way that I know you

# Look in my eyes, I will never desert you

# And just say the word

# We'll take on the world

# And it's the fight

# The fight of our lives... #

It's a really good save. Deacon hit that really well.

# You and I... #

Might be in here, Deacon...! Good save again.

Sutton United asking all the questions.

The keeper has come, and Sutton claim a penalty.

And they get it!

# Never forget we were built to last

# Out of the shadows, into my life... #

Jamie Collins of National League Sutton...

# Silence the voices that haunt you inside... #

Brilliantly dispatched by the skipper! They've done it again!

# We'll take on the world... #

Sutton United are into the last 16,

further than they have ever been, eclipsing even 1989.

Gander Green Lane goes mad.

# Nobody knows you the way that I know you

# Look in my eyes, I will never desert you... #

Tonight, the Arsenal players

will certainly not be used to these surroundings.

# We'll take on the world

# We'll take on the world... #

This is a bit different. It's like a throwback.

It's the David and Goliath thing.

It's gone all the way in!

And Lucas puts Arsenal in front.

# We'll fight, we'll crawl... #

Given away to May. What was Ospina doing?

They're still in this game.

They'll get another chance in the second half,

so they've done well.

# Just say the word... #

100 up for Theo Walcott in Arsenal red and white.

# Take on the world... #

Biamou! Up goes Collins!

Deacon! Oh, he smashed the bar,

nearly broke the bar.

# I will never desert you... #

Sutton's adventure has come to an end.

It's Arsenal that will go through.

But it's Sutton that will keep the memories.

# We'll take on the world! #

Eventually, the world kicked back

But there's one whose faith took them further

There was a time when the world looked up to Lincoln

This cathedral was the peak

The pinnacle of human existence

This football team sits down the hill

Never venturing out of the valleys for long

But one man had led them higher

The team aspired to reach

The heights they hadn't seen since back in the day

A moment's silence

Before the third-round replay against Ipswich Town

Former manager Graham Taylor

Passed away

And so before the game, a tribute

How well suited for Lincoln to reach the fourth round now

A stage the team hadn't seen

Since back when Taylor was leading the way

Cowley brothers Danny and Nicky proved a good fit.

Arnold! Lincoln City are through in the dying seconds!

They have knocked out the FA Cup 1978 winners!

What a night...

for the National League side!

The win was tailor-made

Or maybe even made for Taylor

Little more than ten days later, Lincoln faced Brighton

The Seagulls were flying high, headed for the Premier division

And had contacts for sure

The Seagulls' forecast a flight through clear skies

They never foresaw the oncoming onslaught

Robinson! It's three, it's all over for Brighton!

They've only gone and done it!

Lincoln City's FA Cup adventure continues

on a special, special day at Sincil Bank.

The win meant the team would reach the last 16

For the first time in 115 years

You see, the Cup is a place for dreams

And little Lincoln were dreaming big

The Imps had reached the 89th minute against Burnley

And were still firmly in the mix of it.

Headed back across goal...

Raggett!

And Lincoln City, of non-league football,

of the National League,

take the lead at Premier League Burnley!

Heaton can't believe it.

Let's make sure.

It's definitely over.

The Cup's soul connecting with modern technology.

The Lincoln bench are screaming to the referee.

They want the whistle.

Lincoln have made history -

this is one of the great shocks of the competition.

This is up there with the Herefords.

This is up there with the Wrexhams against Arsenal.

This is Lincoln City beating Burnley,

of the Premier League.

And this wonderful odyssey in the FA Cup journey continues.

A non-league team

Quarterfinalists for the first time in over a century

This was fantasy

The stuff of dreams.

Look who is left in the draw -

Owen...

Number four.

Sutton United or Arsenal.

And look who they will meet.

-Number one.

-Lincoln City.

The draw would see Lincoln pitted against Arsenal's artillery

And once again, Lincoln were cathedral-tall

The world looking up to Lincoln once more.

They've changed history.

There's a reason why no non-league team in the last 100 years

have been able to reach the last eight of the FA Cup,

and the fact that they have should make them mightily proud.

We're winners.

We don't like losing and, of course, we're disappointed that we lost,

but, while we're not celebrating our loss,

we are celebrating the journey that we've had.

When we are able to draw breath, I think we'll be pretty proud

of what we've achieved in this FA Cup run.

Of course they knew it couldn't last

The path would run out somewhere

Romance would give way to finance

Underdogs versus the overlords

The big beasts began hunting.

Road to Wembley.

Here we come.

What, what, what...

# Again

# Them can't walk the walk, not like we

# Them can't talk the talk, not like we

# FA Cup final, no friendly

# Who's gonna win the road to Wembley?

# The small clubs run out of tactics

# Round three where the big boys active

# Southampton, they were practise

# Walcott, he banged a hat-trick

# 5-0 whitewash, sad ting

# Fifth round, oh, what a mad ting

# Sutton didn't know what was happening

# Wayne Shaw ate the pie, had to sack him

# Hotspurs came on a mission

# Had a close call when they went Wycombe

# Fifth round, Kane don't miss them

# Another hat-trick, Fulham was the victim

# Millwall, moving different

# Got to the quarters, quite persistent

# Until they came to the Lane

# Another three, hot Son was blistering

# Them can't walk the walk, not like we

# Them can't talk the talk, not like we

# FA Cup final, no friendly

# Who's gonna win the road to Wembley?

# Them can't walk the walk, not like we

# Them can't talk the talk, not like we

# FA Cup final, not a friendly

# I said who's gonna win the road to Wembley?

# West Ham got hammered by City

# Another 5-0 night, weren't pretty

# Big Sam always knew it was tricky

# 5-1, Pep left Huddersfield dizzy

# Chelsea got through, no biggie

# Peterborough, Brentford, Wolves lost quickly

# After Aguero's winner Teesside

# Arsenal went on to face City

# Cup holders came London calmly

# Mourinho's men versus Roman's army

# Ander Herrera, sent off harshly

# Can't forget Conte and Jose's barney

# Kante spoiled the champions' party

# Now it's a London derby

# Them can't walk the walk, not like we

# Them can't talk the talk, not like we

# FA Cup final, no friendly

# I said who's gonna win the road to Wembley?

# Can't walk the walk, not like we

# Them can't talk the talk, not like we

# FA Cup final, no friendly

# Who's gonna win the road to Wembley?

# Them can't walk the walk, not like we

# Them can't talk the talk not like we

# FA Cup final, not a friendly

# I said who's gonna win the road to Wembley? #

The kings were gone

The throne was vacant

And then there were four

Four giants for Wembley.

The first two at Wembley Way were the top two

The Premier League's elite

Chelsea and Tottenham - a rivalry forged in geography

Then moulded in history

So this was a semi where we all look for a sign

A tale of two teams seeking their fortune.

GUITAR PLAYS

# Your twisted heartache surrounds me

# I don't know how you're still standing... #

Big omissions - Eden Hazard, Diego Costa.

-What do you make of that?

-It's a massive, massive surprise.

As a Chelsea man, I'm probably sitting here this morning

and I'm thinking, "How do we win this game?"

# Karma seeker

# Don't sway... #

Pedro, now...

Brought down.

Will it be a Willian curler or a David Luiz dipper?

# Karma seeker... #

Chelsea's Brazilian Willian gives them the lead in the semifinal.

# If you search you'll destroy while you miss... #

It's a good ball, a little flick-on...

It's in the net!

Harry Kane - who else?

And Spurs are level.

That was inventive improvisation at its very best.

# Love, I'm a slave to your game... #

It's a great ball in and headed just wide by Eric Dier.

# Love will convince you to stay

# Harrowed

# How could he let you go?

# Don't let him swallow... #

-Oh, Son slid in.

-What a crazy tackle.

And the referee has given it.

# Karma seeker

# Don't sway... #

Willian, to put Chelsea in front.

And he does.

# Karma seeker

# Pure bliss

# If you search you'll destroy what you miss

# I used to fear... #

Well, Lloris has handled that outside the penalty area.

Got away with one.

# But now he's gone

# I used to fear the one you love

# I used to see him up above

# But now he's gone

# But now he's gone... #

Eriksen - that's a delightful ball.

What a great goal!

Dele Alli scores it,

but Christian Eriksen makes it with one of the assists of the season.

Brilliant Tottenham equaliser.

# Harrowed... #

It's dangerous, it's Hazard...

It's in!

And for the third time in this semifinal,

they're in front.

Now, can Tottenham do it again?

# Karma seeker

# Don't sway... #

Driven... Oh, brilliant goal!

Nemanja Matic hammers Chelsea

to within touching distance of the FA Cup final itself.

# Karma seeker

# Pure bliss... #

If Spurs are going to do something incredible, this has to go in.

It's Harry Kane...

Oh, Courtois!

Backspin kept it out.

It has not been their day.

Chelsea are into the 2017 FA Cup final.

Their double is still on.

There's no way Spurs deserved to lose that game.

You don't win games by having possession.

-Listen, Spurs have dominated that game.

-Possession-wise.

# Convince you to stay. #

So fate was coloured Chelsea Blue

Again!

But what of semi two?

This was the game of second chances

The league's gone, but the cup's on

Were Manchester City at the birth of a new era?

Were Arsenal at the death of an old one?

When you get this far, you just have to trust

Now is not the time for doubt.

# I walked through hell

# And I've battled the storms

# I know too well... #

It's part two of the big-hitting Wembley weekend.

It's exactly how an FA Cup semifinal should be.

Both clubs and their bosses really need this trophy.

# Cos I'm on my way

# For so long

# I've been praying for a brighter day... #

It's tipped over the top by Petr Cech.

# I've been praying, trying to find my way... #

Ozil's pulled to the floor by Kompany.

# Time moves on and seasons change

# Nothing ever stays the same... #

Blue versus red, the lines have been drawn.

# I'll keep praying... #

Aguero down, as though tripped.

And Craig Pawson didn't think he was.

We're waiting for a game to break out, aren't we?

# Praying

# I'm overdue just a little bit of luck... #

The flag is up.

# I get the taste, but it's never enough... #

Arsenal got away with one, there.

# I'm on this road and I won't lose my faith... #

It's a desperate hold from Jesus Navas.

# Cos I'm on my way

# For so long

# I've been praying... #

And Aguero lifts the ball over Petr Cech to score!

Manchester City's magnificent number 10,

the breakthrough goal.

# Time moves on and seasons change... #

What a tie we've got on now. It has sprung to life.

# Praying... #

Nacho Monreal has buried that, and Arsenal are back in it!

# On my own, I search high and low

# Till I find what I've been looking for

# Cos I'm in the deep end and I won't be beaten

# Till I find what I've been praying for... #

Extra time at Wembley Stadium.

# I've been praying... #

Sanchez has scored!

Listen to the Arsenal roar around Wembley.

A smile creeps across the face of Arsene Wenger.

# Time moves on and seasons change... #

Delph has missed.

The great survivor of the Premier League era.

# Praying

# I'll keep praying... #

Arsenal are into the FA Cup final.

# I'll keep praying

# Cos time moves on and seasons change

# Nothing ever stays... #

He's got a chance to win the FA Cup for an outright record seventh time.

# Praying. #

Faith can't be renewed with a single game

Questions hadn't been answered

But Arsenal still had something to hope for.

And so to the final steps on football's most famous road

All the ups and downs are behind you now

It's one clash left between two of football's biggest giants

A London derby as well

Chelsea, once again, champions

Whereas Arsenal, everything's been called into question

Their players, their board and especially their manager

But it's an argument that won't be settled in an afternoon

So, for the sake of red versus blue

We can put it to one side for a few hours at least

That's always been the power of the Cup

It allows you to forget, to dream

To get lost in the history and the memories

The anticipation

See, these steps are the ones

That every fan in the country dreams of taking

So look up

You've made it

Wembley Way

The last junction on the road to Wembley.

# One time for the Lord

# And one time for the cause

# And one round of applause

# One time for Fraser T Smith on the chords

# I feel we got one

# I stay prayed up then I get the job done

# Yeah, I'm Abigail's yout but I'm God's son

# But I'm up now, look at what God's done

# Lord, I've been broken

# Although I'm not worthy

# You fixed me, I'm blinded

# By your grace

# You came and saved me. #