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This year’s FA Cup Final will be opened to the sound of a choir singling the hymn “Abide With Me”, the Football Association has announced.
Fans of the game are being invited by the sport’s governing body to join the choir, which will be made up of football fans.
The BBC’s Songs of Praise programme is assembling the choir to include one member of each of the 64 football teams who have made it to the third round of the annual knock-out competition.
The choir will be accompanied by a military band.
David Taviner, Songs of Praise executive producer said: “The chance to sing at Wembley is a dream come true for any football fan and I’m delighted that Songs of Praise are teaming up with The FA to offer this opportunity.
Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on TwitterShow all 10 1 /10Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 10. April 9th – Bayern Munich defeat Manchester United in the second leg of their Champions League Quarter Final The full-time whistle of the Champions League quarter-final second leg saw Manchester United’s run in the tournament come to an end. Despite taking the lead, goals from Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben combined with the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford saw the holder through to the last-four.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 9. May 17th – Arsenal winning the FA cup final against Hull City Nine years of hurt and desperation poured out on Twitter when Aaron Ramsey completed the 3-2 comeback in extra-time to win the FA Cup for Arsenal. Their trophy drought had become such a burden that fans were calling for Arsene Wenger’s head, and when they went two goals behind to Hull the Gunners feared the worst. Luckily for the Arsenal faithful, Santi Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny managed to send the game into extra-time, and Ramsey scored the winner with just 12 minutes remaining to give Wenger his fifth FA Cup success.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 8. April 1st – Manchester United take the lead in their Champions League quarter-final against reigning champions Bayern Munich. There’s not much more surprising than a David Moyes-led Manchester United side taking the lead against Bayern Munich, but when the goal comes from a Patrice Evra thunderbolt, Twitter practically stops. Despite the Frenchman’s efforts, it was a case of awakening the giant, and when the full-time whistle rang out 33 minutes later, Bayern had triumphed 3-1 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate. But for Evra, the moment is likely to stand as his best ever goal when he reflects back on his career. And for Moyes? The rest, they say, is history.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 6. June 13th – Netherlands thrash Spain 5-1 in their opening World Cup group match. Spain had been simply untouchable when it came to the major tournaments since their run of success began in the 2008 European Championships. However, they hadn’t accounted for Arjen Robben and the rest of a pumped up Netherlands side, eager for revenge from their defeat in the World Cup Final four years previous. The Spanish were completely outplayed by the Dutch, and would go on to crash out at the Group Stage in one of the most surprising turns in international football.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 5. June 12th – Croatia score the opening goal of the 2014 World Cup against Brazil. Is there anything more dramatic than an own-goal from the World Cup hosts in to open the scoring of the entire tournament? Probably not, and unfortunately for Brazilian left-back Marcelo, he will be remembered for putting the Selecao behind in their Group A game against Croatia. Neymar managed to inspire the home side into recovering a 3-1 victory with a brace plus an Oscar penalty, but the own-goal from Marcelo was perhaps a sign for things to come.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 4. July 13th – Germany beat Argentina in the 2014 World Cup Final Somewhat surprisingly, Germany’s World Cup success only made it to fourth place in the list, despite being the biggest football game on the planet. Mario Gotze wrote himself into football folklore as he came off the bench to net an extra-time winner when the match looked certain for penalties. Ending Germany’s 24-year wait for a World Cup victory, the team received a rapturous welcome when they returned home, but at least this is one contest they won’t be winning.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 3. June 14th – England equalise through Daniel Sturridge in their opening World Cup defeat to Italy Sturridge got the ball rolling for the Three Lions in Brazil when he tapped home Wayne Rooney’s left-footed cross beyond Italian goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to level the score. Unfortunately, Mario Balotelli had other ideas as he headed in the winning goal shortly after half-time, but at least Sturridge can claim third place in the most talked about events of the year. Every cloud and all that…
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 2. June 19th – Wayne Rooney equalises for England in the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay in the World Cup. The wait for a Wayne Rooney World Cup goal finally ended this year when the Manchester United striker bundled home an effort to drag England back into the match and back into contention for a last-16 berth. In the end it wasn’t to be, as football’s favourite villain Luis Suarez scored a late winner to condemn England to near-certain elimination at the first hurdle.
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Top 10 sporting moments of 2014 on Twitter 1. July 8th – Germany beat Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi-final The complete demolition of World Cup hosts Brazil not only shocked the South American nation (as well as the 11 Germans on the pitch) but the world over. Such was the astonishment that the Selecao, forever a powerhouse of the World Cup, could be dismantled with such ease and in such brutal fashion, it recorded as the most talked about event of the year on Twitter.
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"The performance of Abide with Me is such an iconic moment in FA Cup final day and to be a part of that, at Wembley, in front of 90,000 people, live on BBC One would be something very special indeed.”
Abide with me is a Christian hymn and is often sung at funerals.
Fans will be invited to submit stories and personal memories about the FA Cup in order to be selected.
The competition to be part of the choir is now open and closes on 7 March 2015.
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