Commence Lift-Off!

It's finally here, the week of the FA Cup Final. OUR FA Cup Final!
As a result of this I'm throwing myself into just about everything FA Cup and Cardiff City related, and trying to savour as much of the experience as possible.
Yes, I've bought the official Cardiff City FA Cup Final song which has reached number 15 in the UK charts (and its not bad at all as these things go, certainly better than all of the manufactured pop-idol inspired rubbish thats around, and it actually has some heart and soul put into it), the unofficial fans one "Do the Ayatollah", and downloaded several other home-made ones.

So from now on, I expect to be talking, thinking, and posting about just one thing..... go on... have a guess!

To kick-off this week long celebration, here we have the words to the hymn "Abide with me". The origins of this tradition are way back in 1927, in Cardiff City's second FA Cup Final appearance, (the one we won) and its been sung before every FA Cup Final ever since.

A copy of the crowd singing this 81 years ago has even been found, and can be heard HERE.

I won't be at all surprised if I end up getting a bit emotional when we start singing this on Saturday. I never believed that I would see Cardiff City in an FA Cup Final, and while of course sport isn't the only or most important thing in life, its the shared memories and achievements (and failures too) with friends, family, fellow fans, and even total strangers, that can make the most unlikely events seem that much more special.



abide with me


abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.


Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.


Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.


Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.


Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.


I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.


I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.


Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.


Henry F. Lyte