A slight misnomer with the title because there are only a couple of clips in relation to TOTP, the others come from various other TV shows. Yes I am clickbaiting you now.
Because of the intervention of the music video, live appearances by the full FA Cup final teams have all but disappeared (as with the obligitory FA Cup song). Here for prosperity then are the few that I could find.
☛ Beginning with the most obvious and most frequent visitors to the Top of The Pops studio: Chas n’ Dave.
Their track record (sorry) begins in 1981 when they turned up with a Spurs team which included Ricardo Villa, Osvaldo Ardiles (subject of the song and sang a line), Steve Archibald, Glenn Hoddle and Garth Crooks.
Here they are “live” on the 7th May 1981 edition of Top Of The Pops, along with Legs and Co:
The single reached No. 5 and the team drew 1-1 with Man City in the Final. They won the replay 3-2.
☛ And then they did it again a year later. Another Top Of The Pops appearance. Much of the same team from above were there (apart from Villa and Ardiles because of the Falklands), with the addition of Ray Clemence, Chris Hughton, Mickey Hazard and yes, that Hoddle bloke.
That song didn’t do as well as the previous year. Reached No. 19. The team repeated the previous year by going to a replay (with QPR) and winning that one 1-0.
☛ We go forward to the 1985 FA Cup Final and it is Everton who get to mime on Wogan of all places.
Lining up for this we have one of the greatest Everton teams. In there you’ll spot Neville Southall, Gary Stevens, Kevin Ratcliffe, (cheer up) Peter Reid, Paul Bracewell, Kevin Sheedy and err.. Andy Gray.
Everton, after winning the league title with games to spare and then the Cup Winners Cup only three days before, went into this final full of confidence. But they lost by a single goal (against Man Utd) in extra time.
ALSO: A behind the scenes look as the Everton squad visit the Abbey Road studios to record the single:
You will see a short interview in the clip above, with Peter Reid and Adrian Heath – but he never made the cup final squad. I don’t know if he was injured or just dropped. If there are any Evertonians who remember.
☛ Jumping ahead another couple of years now and Tottenham made one more Top Of The Pops appearance in 1987 (which must be a record for the number of times a football team have been on that show) sadly though there isn’t any video of that. BUT…
…That didn’t stop them from going on Blue Peter.
ALSO: Mr Hodges and Mr Peacock then turned up on something that looks like it was broadcast on FA Cup Final day. The programme was presented by Gloria Hunniford, along with Richard Keys who pronounces that he’s a proud Coventry (the team that Spurs were were playing against that year) supporter. He stands there and looks uncomfortable as Chas & Dave do a medley of Spurs FA Cup songs.
As mentioned above Coventry City were in the final and the BBC provided equal coverage to both teams. Here’s Steve Ogrizovic, as well as Brian Kilcline, Cyrille Regis, and Keith Houchen amongst others.
In a reversal of fortune it was the underdogs of Coventry who took it to extra time and won it at 3-2 thanks to Gary Mabbutt’s knee.
Lastly for now we have Crystal Palace at the 1990 FA Cup Final. Some of the players in the team that year included Nigel Martyn, Geoff Thomas, Mark Bright, John Salako, Alan Pardew and Ian Wright. Their television appearance was via Derek Jameson chat show. They get extra kudos for some of them sitting on the sofa whilst they very convincingly mime away to this one:
This final was a stunning 3-3 draw and the following replay was a dull 1-nil win for Man Utd.
That wraps it up for the football team-tv show appearances. If you know of any that I missed please add a comment below. Next up is the FA Cup final promo videos.