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UNIT 7:Are You a Football Fan?
Integrated Skills Development
Passage The Most Dramatic Cup Final Wembley
The Cup Final is still the only football match guaranteed to attract 100,000 spectators to Wembley Stadium every year, even though it is also shown on television. It is a great public event, as much as a game of football. I was very excited when my father managed to get two tickets for the Final a few years ago, though I did not realise then that it could be the most memorable ever played.
The teams, Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, both came from the north, but almost everyone in England wanted Blackpool to win because the greatest player of his generation, Stanley Matthews, then 40 years old, was playing for them in what would surely be his last Cup Final. He had twice reached the Final before, but each time a cup winner's medal had eluded him.
The atmosphere before the match was traditional, but electric. The crowd sang songs for an hour, led by a conductor in the middle of the pitch. At one end there was a sea of orange, with Blackpool supporters roaring for their team; at the other, there were black and white scarves, hats and banners waving in the air for Bolton.
The game began on a false note for Blackpool. Farm, their goalkeeper, had an attack of nerves, and let a simple shot bounce over his outstretched arm in the first minute. Twenty minutes later, he made another terrible mistake to give Bolton their second goal. It looked as if Matthews would be disappointed once again. But then one of the Bolton half-backs, Bell, was injured and in those days no substitutes were allowed. He limped along the wing on one leg, and Blackpool, inspired by Matthews and the tireless Mortensen at centre forward, began to recover, and Mortensen scored.
Early in the second half, however, disaster struck again. The injured Bell bravely headed a goal for Bolton, and though Mortensen again reduced the arrears, Bolton were still holding onto their 3-2 lead with four minutes to go.
I can still remember Mortensen placing the ball for a free kick over 30 metres from the Bolton goal, just in front of where I was sitting, as if it were yesterday. He swung his boot. No one moved, not even Hanson in the Bolton goal. Then the whole terrace in orange colours to my left went mad with joy. The ball had travelled so fast that we could hardly believe it had hit the back of the net. Two minutes later, the old master, Matthews, made one of his inimitable runs down the right wing, and centred for Perry to score the winning goal.
New Words and Expressions
arrears
n. 落后；欠款
atmosphere
n. 大氣；空氣；氣氛
attack
v. & n.攻擊，進攻
attract
V. 吸引；引起，誘惑
banner
n. 旗；旗幟
bounce
V. 反跳，彈起；跳起
