Most match days, you can barely squeeze into the bar of the Royal George Hotel at the north-eastern corner of St Andrew’s. An hour before Birmingham play Blackburn, however, there are still plenty of chairs and tables available. A short distance away, in front of the Tilton Road Stand, a lone steward stands solemn guard in front of a bank of silent turnstiles. The magic of the FA Cup is still very much in evidence, it seems – but these days it tends to be more of a vanishing act.
It’s a similar story inside the stadium, where only one of the four stands – the Kop – is fully open, along with a sliver of away fans in the Gil Merrick. This despite Blackburn bringing a healthy away contingent and tickets being attractively priced at £12. Birmingham’s Twitter account was still trying to flog them early on Saturday morning.
Written by Jonathan Liew at St Andrew’s
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/jan/05/fa-cup-third-round-magic-birmingham-blackburn under the title “St Andrew’s empty stands a sign of FA Cup’s fading, but not forgotten, magic | Jonathan Liew”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
