After the disappointment of there being no programmes produced for this season’s FA Cup semi-finals, it is good to see the usual high-standard publication issued for the final between Arsenal and Chelsea. The programme is very much in line with what we have come to expect from big matches, being an A4-sized perfect-bound edition, with 116 pages. Including only minimal advertising, the programme offers more than 100 pages of content, providing plenty of coverage of both teams, as well as information on this season’s competition, and a few historical articles.
This season’s final is known as the ‘Heads Up FA Cup Final‘, marking a partnership between the Football Association and the mental health charity Heads Together. The theme is taken up in various columns and features within the programme, including a three-page look at the progress made by the ‘Heads Up’ campaign this season, in seeking to start conversations about mental health. ‘Highs and Lows of the Final’ meanwhile considers the impact on players of winning or losing the showpiece occasion of the English football calendar, featuring words from Lawrie Sanchez, Gary Mabbutt, and Rio Ferdinand.
As well as profiles of the Arsenal and Chelsea squads, there are features on various players past and present, including Rob Holding, Robin Van Persie, Christian Pulisic, and Didier Drogba, as well as Emmanuel Petit, who of course turned out for both clubs during his career. The programme provides all the results of this season’s competition, right back to the extra preliminary round, which started nearly a full year ago, on Friday 9th August 2019. Alongside these results, there is a look back at memorable matches from this campaign in ‘Glory Games’, while ‘The Long and Winding Road’ gathers various images that help to tell the story of the 358 day competition, featuring pictures of clubs as diverse as Dulwich Hamlet and Liverpool. An ‘Illustrated History of the FA Cup’ includes results of each final to date, together with images of notable moments in the competition’s 148 year history.
The programme is, of course, very well presented, featuring a striking cover design, and demonstrating the kind of quality we associate with modern cup final programmes. At a cost of £10 the programme does not come cheap but, in this most unusual of seasons, it offers a high-quality memento worthy of the occasion.