Marine FC helps marks 150 years of FA Cup
A giant image, taken on the day they played Tottenham, has been projected onto the Marine Travel Arena
Crosby based amateur football club Marine FC has been chosen to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the FA cup.
It's one of five locations across the country, including The Oval, London, Trulife Factory, Sheffield, Coventry Transport Museum and LNER Stadium, Lincoln, which have seen images of historic FA cup moments projected onto them.
Their 3,000 capacity ground, the Marine Travel Arena, hosted 32,000 virtual ticket holders due to the Coronavirus pandemic when Marine AFC faced Tottenham Hotspur in the Third Round of last season’s competition.
The fixture represented the biggest gap in league places (161) between teams facing each other in the competition’s history and created a lasting legacy for both the club and the local community.
To commemorate the occasion the image, showing a young fan on their parent's shoulders on the day of the match was projected onto the side of the arena on Tuesday Night.
Simultaneously, four other images were projected onto the other locations across the country.
Paul Leary, Marine's chairman said:
"I think Marine has the best example of how magical the FA Cup can be. For little Marine to be drawn against mighty Spurs, in the third round of the FA Cup last January was such a fantastic day.
"Everyone connected with Marine and really words can't describe what that gave to everyone, players and fans. And of course, here we are celebrating 150 years.
"Everyone at Marine is just so delighted to be part of this really special event and special celebration."
"It's never been more relevant"
Mark Bullingham, The FA’s CEO, said: "The Emirates FA Cup may be 150 years old but it’s a competition that has never felt more relevant as it continues to lift the clubs, communities and supporters of more than 700 teams that take part each year.
"The competition has transformed the fortunes of many clubs and individuals over 15 decades and this campaign will highlight some of these life-changing stories.
"Over £25 million in broadcast fees and prize money will be distributed this season, which should help clubs across the country to tackle some of the issues that they face as we move out of the pandemic.
"We will continue to celebrate the competition throughout its historic season and look forward to seeing clubs across the country create even more memories through to the Final in May."