Graduate's 'FA Cup Factfile' is the "go-to" place for FA Cup facts
Phil Annets' hobby, 'FACupFactfile', has become his livelihood. With almost 16,000 followers on his Twitter account and featuring in three of the last four FA Cup Final programmes, Phil's blog is regarded as the "go-to" place for FA Cup facts and stats.
Phil, who graduated from Business Studies in 1987, launched the FACupFactfile in 2015, the most comprehensive database of FA Cup facts and stats. The database covers all 139 seasons of the FA Cup across almost 150 years, containing records for all 3,220 clubs that have ever participated in the FA Cup, including the result of every match (approximately 72,000) ever played.
The facts produced and shared with the footballing community fall into two categories. First, stats that would be expected to be created such as a list of FA Cup Finals, details of teams and players who have won the most titles, the biggest scores, the biggest crowds etc. Second, the database is also able to be manipulated to produce any potential conceivable stat such as which are the two clubs to have met most often in the competition, the clubs with the longest names, the teams with highest scoring draws, the team with the most withdrawals as well as many other variables.
"I've always loved the statistics side of football as much as the game itself and had always collated facts and stats as a hobby. Once I had completed the records of my favourite competition, the FA Cup, I decided to see if there was interest in what I had produced. After tentatively sharing the information through a third party, I realised there was a demand for the information I had, and so I set up the independent FACupFactfile identity."
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The FA Cup this season, like all sport, had been seriously impacted by the coronavirus lockdown. Phil wanted to keep the competition fresh in people's minds whilst it was in limbo so he set up the FA Cup Memories series as a lockdown project to cover people from all aspects of the game, seeking memories from those at the top end of the game as well as those unsung heroes at grassroots level. It means there are contributions from journalists, former top-flight players, national and local match day commentators, volunteers and Cup winners.
Phil contacted various potential contributors with a set of 4 simple questions, knowing that because of the lack of football there would be a chance they would have time on their hands to respond. And they did in their droves. Phil had so many contributions that he had to split it up into at least three separate series which run between 1st May and the revised date for the 2020 FA Cup Final on 1st August. Phil said "The response to the FA Cup Memories series has been phenomenal, not just from the calibre and scope of the contributors, but also from the feedback I've received from those amongst the thousands who have read them." Series 3 of Phil's lockdown FA Cup Memories project began on 1st July, and it began in style with a two-time FA Cup winner with Liverpool, Ray Houghton.
The FA Cup Memories are all published via Phil's FACupFactfile Wordpress blog and his intention is to collate these memories (and thoughts on the future of the FA Cup) into a physical book to be produced to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the competition in the 2021/22 season - if there are any publishers interested in helping to make this happen, then email Phil at; phil@facupfactfile.co.uk.
