This weekend represents an opportunity for David vs Goliath stories to come to life in the oldest soccer competition in the world, the FA Cup.
With the third round proper this weekend, Premier League and Championship teams enter the FA Cup to take on teams up and down the English soccer pyramid in the hopes of taking home the trophy in May.
The magic of the FA Cup has ebbed and flowed in recent years, but one man who knows the competition well is longtime ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop. The Trinidad & Tobago legend played for West Ham in the one of the greatest games in the history of the tournament, the 2006 Final against Liverpool. Hislop and the Hammers were denied in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw when an all-time strike by Steven Gerrard leveled the game in added time.
Shaka relives that famous game, talks about the hopes of Wrexham and other upstarts who hope to capture glory, and talks about how the FA Cup represents ESPN’s connection to the English game in a world where soccer rights are more valuable across American television than ever before.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: We’re coming up on the 20th anniversary of the “Gerrard” Final. What were your memories of that moment and that game because it is one of the historic games in not just the FA Cup but English soccer history?
Shaka Hislop: That was actually my last game in English football after playing there professionally for 14 years, and after that went off to the World Cup with Trinidad and then Dallas and retired a year or so later.
Alan Pardew calls me during preseason of that 2005-2006 season and said he was looking for an experienced goalkeeper to push Rob Green. I fancied the challenge. I played in the Carabao Cup, got an odd game here or there if Rob got injured. And then Rob got injured just at the turn of the year so I started playing again and got a decent run in the team and league games. And we went on a little bit of a run so even though Rob regained full fitness Pardew couldn’t change the team.
That West Ham team got promoted from the Championship the season before, won the playoff final, got promoted. So there was not a whole lot of expectation around that team. Like all promoted teams you’re just hoping to stay up. And I thought we were better than that, we certainly proved to be a whole lot better than that. We played well, I think we finished about 9th that season, but even then I thought we probably should have finished higher.
It was a young team, a young inexperienced team, fairly talented team obviously. And we just went on this run second half of the season, which came as a bit of a surprise to my son, Lionel Scaloni was the right back of that team, who has gone on to win the World Cup coaching Argentina. I want to think he came in January as opposed to the start of the season.
There wasn’t much expectation from us, we had this young team who somehow didn’t really feel the pressure and understand that Liverpool should be feared, we just went about our business as we could.
Gerrard goes down, the ball falls to Scaloni and rather than boot it up the field he puts it out right there for a throw-in. Gerrard gets back to his feet, Liverpool throw the ball back to Scaloni and then pressure him straight away. His clearance doesn’t go very far, nobody’s picking up Steven Gerrard because he was just on the floor. So he just goes unnoticed as he gets back up. And they clear the ball to him and I’ve heard a Gerrard interview where he said he wasn’t in the mood to run with it and just decided to have a lash at it. And my word, what a lash it was. Just as he picks the ball up, I actually hear the announcer in the stadium say, ‘the fourth official has shown four minutes of added time’ or what it was. I hear that right as the ball falls to Steven Gerrard. And he hits this and the ball flies into the back of the net. I still feel had I been five years younger I would have gotten there, but I’m 37 at this point and can’t cover the ground as I once did.
It was heartbreaking, you come so close. Nearly promoted team, a young team, no real expectation, we get all the way to the final, we get the upper hand in the final, and then have it cruelly snatched away. And then in extra time things just refused to go our way.
West Ham isn’t one of those teams that traditionally fights for trophies. Do you feel a special bond with those teammates knowing that you got so close and achieved something so memorable for their fans?
I do. I’ve stayed in touch with a couple – Nigel Reo-Coker who is here in the US and doing media work himself, Marlon Harewood, Anton Ferdinand on a couple occasions. I’ve played with both Rio and Anton Ferdinand of course. I’ve seen a couple of them. It really was a special time and I’d only been with that team for that one year, at the end of that I moved to the US. It was a special year in which we all individually and as a team exceed all expectations.
Crystal Palace last year was such a huge deal winning their first trophy in their history in the FA Cup. Do teams like that making the final, making a run, does it help bring back the magic of the FA Cup?
Absolutely. I grew up on the magic of the FA Cup. Small teams punching above their weight and leaving big teams with egg on their face and all that the FA Cup promised. A one-off affair, winner take all type of thing. I loved it. Because it’s so easy for the bigger clubs to take those smaller clubs for granted. The smaller clubs think this is their one big opportunity, you never know when this is going to come again. So this imbalance and approach at the very least can prove a little bit of a leveler.
I love the FA Cup. I really do, always have, always will. It makes for those special moments. We’ll talk about the Citys, the Liverpools, the Arsenals, Manchester United back in the day more times than not. Just witnessing smaller clubs go all the way just reminds you that this competition every year promises magic. It might not always deliver on the final day, but it always promises magic.
One of those smaller teams that has a big following in the states especially is Wrexham. They have Nottingham Forest, do you think they have a decent chance to knock down a Premier League team?
Absolutely. I know Phil Parkinson, Wrexham’s manager really well. Parkie and I started at Reading together. We stayed at the same bed and breakfast, we rented apartments next door to each other. I’m always rooting for Wrexham, for Parkie if nobody else. Watching their rise, following Wrexham more closely, the type of football they play, the type of man and manager they have, it’s been great to see.
Certainly in terms of continued progress, the Championship si the toughest of the divisions to get out of. But they’re there and they’re making some noise and up against a Forest team who themselves have been promoted not so long ago, flirted with relegation a couple times, close to that bottom three yet again even before beating my beloved West Ham on the weekend. You just wonder about their confidence. Wrexham will be playing with confidence from their progress over recent seasons. The magic of the cup and this being a big occasion for them and knowing it’s an opportunity to see what they need to do to be able to not just get promoted, but stay in the Premier League, this will be a good yardstick for them.
Are there any outsiders that you’re watching this year for a potential FA Cup run from the bottom half of the Premier League or the Championship?
Right now I think the form team, certainly when you look at the bottom half of the Premier League, is Leeds. They’ve put together some really good form of late. If they can continue their run, they are an organized team. In Dominic Calvert-Lewin they have an experienced striker who is difficult to play against because of his physicality. Brenden Aaronson of course will certainly raise eyebrows and raise interest with his performances. You’ve seen that when he’s been on the scoresheet over the last couple of weeks. He will be a story that American fans will be keen to keep an eye on. If I’m to pick a giant killing story to follow, Leeds are well positioned.
On the flip side, we’ve seen Manchester and United move on from their managers and Arne Slot is under serious pressure at Liverpool. Are these teams looking at the FA Cup as a nuisance to their Premier League or Champions League or is there one of these teams that might need a run in the FA Cup to build their confidence back?
I think they all need to go on a run in this competition because it means a lot to the fans. It means more to these fans than maybe it does ownership, in relevant terms there’s not a lot of money to be made from it. But given the history of this competition it means an awful lot to these fans. In speaking from personal experience, going on a deep run in the FA Cup does wonders for confidence because of the reactions it garners from the fanbase. You might be struggling in the league and that comes with a certain fan reaction. And then all of a sudden you go on a run in the FA Cup and that evokes a completely different reaction from the fans, one that’s needed, and earns you a bit of understanding if you’re having a bad time in the league.
In particular, I think Liverpool could do with a good FA Cup performance, a deep FA Cup run, in terms of steadying the ship.
A Top 4 and Champions League performance is in your grasp if you can just find that form. But having the fans be on your side goes a long way too that. And a good FA Cup run certainly helps with getting those fans to be on your side maybe more than they are right now.
What does having the FA Cup mean to you and ESPN as soccer has continued to grow, knowing the sizable fanbase that is here for the English league and its teams?
To answer that you have to look at what the FA Cup means in the footballing landscape. I get it, ownership is interested in maybe the other competitions for clearly obvious reasons if you’re talking about prize money and balancing your books and everything that comes with running a club right now.
The FA Cup is different. The FA Cup being the oldest cup competition in world football, it is for and about the fans in a way that the other competitions simply can’t match. So to be involved, to have it on ESPN’s air, for us to be involved in the level and capacity that we are, this is about serving the game’s truest fans. And it’s an honor to be a part of that.
About Matt Yoder