FA Cup Final Day - ITV-style (Part 2)

The second and final part of our look at the way ITV's World of Sport created a Cup Final Day experience for all of us watching in on the box.

1976
Duration: 12pm to 5.10pm

Everyone remembers the novelty of seeing the Cup Final teams in their chosen hotels before the big game, and in 1976 World of Sport made it their first port of call on the day. "Up-to-the-minute news on the fitness, mood and morale of the finalists" was what we were promised, but if anything we were probably more fascinated by the sight of both teams sitting around in their smart Admiral sweaters and freshly pressed slacks.

Fred Dinenage punctuated the day's coverage with 'Man In The Crowd' (i.e. interviews with fans and celebrities) while Ed Stewart returned for a third successive year with 'Football Crazy.' On this occasion, he took Martin Buchan and Peter 'Rodreegs' Rodrigues to a local school to meet young fans of Man United and Southampton rather than enlist the help of ne'er-do-wells like Gary Glitter. No bad thing either, if you ask us.

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FA Cup Final Day - ITV-style (Part 1)

With just seven days to go until the 2013 FA Cup Final, we begin a week-long series of FA Cup-themed articles here on The Football Attic..

If you heard our recent podcast called 'FA Cup Memories', you'll know that many people (ourselves included) still fondly remember the classic Cup Final Day coverage on TV.

As a child growing up in the UK, one tends to recall ITV and BBC starting their build-up to the big event well before lunchtime. Special features would be shown involving the Cup Final players, celebrities and all manner of novelty fare. This was, after all, the biggest game of the domestic season and the two main UK TV channels did all they could to make sure you tuned in to them for Cup Final Day.

While the BBC's coverage was somewhat earnest and straight-laced, ITV allowed itself to have a bit more fun in its presentation of the big event. To that end, let's remind ourselves of how World of Sport did 'FA Cup Final Day' down the years, starting here with Part 1...

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