A Salute To Air Conditioning

Today was all about the football - FA Cup Final day. I've always loved this day of the year ever since I was a small kid. There is something so special about the FA Cup which no other competition has.
When I was a lot younger it used to be a whole day of television. There would be reporters travelling to the game with each set of fans, on the the team coaches on their way to Wembley, highlights of the great FA Cup games over the years, a tour of the dressing rooms and pitch side interviews with ex-players from each side - all before midday! The intensity would just increase from there so by the time the game kicked off me and my brother would be at fever pitch! Loved it!
Today's image was taken outside the Capel Morris Centre in the Royal British Legion Village on the way back from our local shops for supplies (well 90% beer actually!) for the big game. These perspex figures representing different arms of the armed services are dotted around the Village but I had never actually seen this saluting version which appears to be of a naval hue. Some of them have been placed in slightly strange places - including this one next to an air conditioning unit - but they do make you stop and think of the sacrifices that members of the armed services have made throughout this country's history.
Today's Cup Final was between Chelsea and Leicester City. When it comes to the game itself I will always try to support the underdog (if there is one) - unless my team (Liverpool) is playing of course! 
The game itself was a slightly cagey affair, especially in the first half, but it came alive in the second half. There might not have been a huge amount of goalmouth action but there was a lot of great defensive play to admire.
Then the Leicester City player Youri Tielemans struck a wonderful long range effort into the top corner of Chelsea's net. A strike befitting any final. What a goal!! 
There was still time for two world class saves from the Leicester 'keeper Kasper Schmeichel and, almost inevitably in the modern game, a goal disallowed (for Chelsea) after an intervention by VAR. The cheer from the Leicester fans for the goal being disallowed was arguably bigger than when the goal was scored! What a frantic finish to the game - I was a bit frazzled by the end.
Congratulations to Leicester City on your first ever FA Cup win!