The 2021-22 FA Cup was the 141st season and marks the 150th anniversary of the first Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world, starting in the 1871–72 season. The 2022 FA Cup was sponsored by Emirates and was known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. 

There are a lot of football fans at Priors Hall. Even for those with little interest in the sport, the FA Cup final is an event. This year Liverpool met Chelsea in a match that was nail biting until the very end.

We watched the game in our cinema room, the screen is so big it felt as if we were on the pitch. With the score standing at 0-0 at the end of the first 90 minutes, the game went into extra time. We were on the edge of our seats.

With no score at the end of extra time, beer in hand, we settled down to watch the penalties. This was Chelsea’s third consecutive FA Cup final, having made it into the final in 2020 and in 2021, having failed to win, being beaten by Arsenal and Leicester City, some of us were convinced that it would be a case of third time lucky for them.

The penalties were hitting the back of the net and it seemed that there would never be a conclusion to the match however eventually Chelsea missed, and the cup went to Liverpool, the first time that they have held it aloft since 2006.

What a great afternoon, the beer was flowing, and the room was filled with excitement and tension, watching the match surrounded by friends was just brilliant. As the final whistle blew, some of us drowned our sorrows and some of us toasted victory but all of us were happy to have had such a wonderful time together.