First quarter final of the FA Cup at Sunnyside with Burnley, originally a ref 74 Subbuteo heavyweight stripped and reworked into a ref 170, vs Newcastle United, a second hand Subbuteo heavyweight ref 8 (one repair). Listing: how they got here.

The second FA Cup quarter final has Liverpool, a second hand subbuteo heavyweight team (ref 41) from the early 70s (one repair) and Blackburn Rovers, a neatly painted second hand Santiago U-paint team (variant of ref 31). Both teams go into the game on a similar cup run!

A wayward clearance to the vacant left back position gifts Newcastle a first half lead that Burnley can't overturn. In the other match, Liverpool open the scoring from a free kick by legally disrupting the Rovers wall before doubling their lead with an untidy bundled effort.

Before I sit down to watch the real thing, the third FA Cup quarter final here has Manchester United, Subbuteo heavyweights (mixture of different figures and ref 16 bases) reworked into a 1970 kit and Sheffield Wednesday, Santiago U-Paint team. Kit from round about the same time.

From the third quarter final at Sunnyside, as United threw men forward in search of an equaliser they were left with some odd formations after the resets. Wednesday kept their shape in as close a game as there's been all season. Notes pretty much as I took them when I was a kid.

Fourth FA Cup quarter final at Sunnyside tonight has Luton Town, ref 290(?) Santiago U-Paint team and Preston North End, ref 154 Subbuteo heavyweights (probably use ref 1 as PNE are the away team). Semi-final draw after the game.

Town get off to the worst possible start and before they can test the Preston keeper, North End add a second. The game evens out but two saves by the Preston keeper bring Luton Town's cup run to an end. Preston North End move into the next round where they'll face Liverpool.

Sheffield Wednesday ramp up the pressure in the last quarter of the game but they can't find a way past the Newcastle keeper. So it's an early second half goal from the United no.8 that sends Newcastle United into the FA Cup final at Sunnyside. Second semi-final on Monday night.

Power headers and flying keepers! More from the brilliant Pedante Alighieri. Come on Feijenoord!

A day late but almost ready to go with the penultimate game of the season and second FA Cup semi-final. Ref 41 and ref 154 have played each other once before in the kitchen and that match ended nil-nil so here's hoping for something better (and no replay!).

Midway through the second half Liverpool keep the ball moving forward long enough to stop the Preston blocks and end the move with a crisp finish. Preston react by dropping their midfield back and, much as they try, Liverpool can't find the two goals they need to force a rematch.

Bringing a little of the old Wembley spirt to the kitchen for the last game of the season at Sunnyside. A mixture of old and new Subbuteo for the FA Cup final as Newcastle Utd and Preston North End line up for a polish.

Newcastle United are awarded a last minute penalty but it's too little too late. Newcastle United 2, Preston North End 4...

Last night saw the first use of the chess board pitch from Astrobase. It looked good and played really well. Next season we'll bring back the smaller pitch for English League Division 3 but the board will get another outing for some International football.

The light was good so the brushes were back out for some Subbuteo heavyweights: ref 23 (Partick Thistle), ref 114 (Switzerland, sort of), ref 167 (Rochdale) and Mexico (with red socks). Mexico is a 'back from the dead' job.

Bellshill Athletic FC wearing their BMX Bandits strips for a home game today at Rockburn Park. This made me smile. Bellshill Athletic FC

After a 22 year absence, had my first outing of the season on the bowling green yesterday afternoon. Extremely rusty but the left leg held up quite well so hopefully I'll be able to hop on the bike in the next week or two. Not sure about the blue benches though...

The BMX Bandits Bellshill Athletic FC football jersey has arrived at Sunnyside and it's a topper! Someone with better brushwork than me needs to paint this Subbuteo team.

#OnThisDay 1984: George Michael and Morrissey discussed a recently published book about the legendary Factory band Joy Division, though only one claimed to be a genuine fan of their music.

How fantastic is this from the brilliant Colourfield