Scott 5The FA Cup! Is it becoming irrelevant?
January 12th 2010 16:29
As my first official post (excluding the welcome post) I would like to talk about an issue that I've read an awful lot about. This would be the FA Cup in England.
Being stuck in Australia makes it pretty hard for me to watch matches besides the final (which is on the anti-siphoning list here meaning free to air TV can show it exclusively). I am a huge fan of knockout football and I love it when the likes of a Leeds United can knock out a team of the calibre of Manchester United. This is what makes the FA Cup so attractive and so special to all football fans.
Having been in existance since 1872, the FA Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world and over the past 137 years, we have seen some of the most incredible moments. Who could forget the famous Wembley final of 1923 when it is said that a policeman on a horse controlled a crowd of 200,000 people? Who could forget the famous final in 1953 when Stan Matthews weaved his magic and inspired his team Blackpool to come from 3-1 down to win the final 4-3 against Bolton? Who could forget the upsets that plagued Wembley in the 1970s and 1980s when Southampton beat Manchester United (1-0 in 1976) and when Wimbledon shocked Liverpool (1-0 in 1988)? (1)
It is these moments that makes The FA Cup what it is.
Unfortunately though, over the past 10 years, the lustre of the FA Cup has declined a lot. It could be argued that Manchester United are in part to blame, when they withdrew from The FA Cup to participate in the FIFA World Club Championship in Barzil in January (with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss against Necaxa, South Melbourne and Vasco da Gama). This was the first instance of a team not defending the FA Cup. We could then add the prolonged saga over the Wembley reconstruction which saw finals played at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff from 2001 to 2006 as another cause.
The acceleration of talk began 2 weeks ago following the 3rd Round matches. According to some, crowd figures were horribly down, but yet, the English FA reported the biggest average attendance on 3rd round weekend (2) It seems that individual matches are being used with a Wigan vs Hull game attracting just 5,500 spectators and with a ridiculous low attendance at Middlesbrough vs Man City.
My view is that currently the FA Cup could be going better. It continues to attract crowds and the games are entertaining but it has lost a little appeal with the elimination of Manchester United. Also it's my view that teams fielding reserves or second-string players are eroding the integrity of the competition and this doesn't contribute to the spectacle at all.
So what solution could be proposed, which would encourage teams to go all-out for the FA Cup?
I think the one that has as much traction as any is that the FA Cup winner gets a spot in the UEFA Champions League the following season. Now this would be very radical in that the Big 4 (Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United) would argue that if they finished 4th, they'd be demoted to the Europa League if they didn't win the FA Cup. My view is tough luck. It would encourage them to field their best teams throughout the FA Cup and would make it a lot more exciting. Imagine what would've happened in 2008 with Portsmouth potentially taking on the likes of a Real Madrid, Sevilla, AC Milan in the Champions League. It would've potentially saved them from the financial bust they currently are going through.
A league that uses this currently is the J-League. This year had a situation where the final contained Gamba Osaka (already qualified for the AFC Champions League - Asia) and Nagoya Grampus (needing a win to qualify for the Champions League otherwise Sanfreece Hiroshima who finished 4th in the J-League would've got the spot).
A situation like this in England I believe would be of great benefit, not only to the EPL in that 4th may not necessarily guarantee the reward it currently does but to the FA Cup, where the prize could potentially be huge for a team that didn't finish in the top 3 of England. It would restore the FA Cup to its rightful place in the English calender.
In the meantime though, it's up to the fans to turn up and continue to show their loyalty to their team in the cup.
(1) - The FA Cup History of Classic Finals?
(2) - Crowd Figures suggest FA Cup is in good health - itv.com
Being stuck in Australia makes it pretty hard for me to watch matches besides the final (which is on the anti-siphoning list here meaning free to air TV can show it exclusively). I am a huge fan of knockout football and I love it when the likes of a Leeds United can knock out a team of the calibre of Manchester United. This is what makes the FA Cup so attractive and so special to all football fans.
Having been in existance since 1872, the FA Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world and over the past 137 years, we have seen some of the most incredible moments. Who could forget the famous Wembley final of 1923 when it is said that a policeman on a horse controlled a crowd of 200,000 people? Who could forget the famous final in 1953 when Stan Matthews weaved his magic and inspired his team Blackpool to come from 3-1 down to win the final 4-3 against Bolton? Who could forget the upsets that plagued Wembley in the 1970s and 1980s when Southampton beat Manchester United (1-0 in 1976) and when Wimbledon shocked Liverpool (1-0 in 1988)? (1)
It is these moments that makes The FA Cup what it is.
Unfortunately though, over the past 10 years, the lustre of the FA Cup has declined a lot. It could be argued that Manchester United are in part to blame, when they withdrew from The FA Cup to participate in the FIFA World Club Championship in Barzil in January (with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss against Necaxa, South Melbourne and Vasco da Gama). This was the first instance of a team not defending the FA Cup. We could then add the prolonged saga over the Wembley reconstruction which saw finals played at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff from 2001 to 2006 as another cause.
The acceleration of talk began 2 weeks ago following the 3rd Round matches. According to some, crowd figures were horribly down, but yet, the English FA reported the biggest average attendance on 3rd round weekend (2) It seems that individual matches are being used with a Wigan vs Hull game attracting just 5,500 spectators and with a ridiculous low attendance at Middlesbrough vs Man City.
My view is that currently the FA Cup could be going better. It continues to attract crowds and the games are entertaining but it has lost a little appeal with the elimination of Manchester United. Also it's my view that teams fielding reserves or second-string players are eroding the integrity of the competition and this doesn't contribute to the spectacle at all.
So what solution could be proposed, which would encourage teams to go all-out for the FA Cup?
I think the one that has as much traction as any is that the FA Cup winner gets a spot in the UEFA Champions League the following season. Now this would be very radical in that the Big 4 (Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United) would argue that if they finished 4th, they'd be demoted to the Europa League if they didn't win the FA Cup. My view is tough luck. It would encourage them to field their best teams throughout the FA Cup and would make it a lot more exciting. Imagine what would've happened in 2008 with Portsmouth potentially taking on the likes of a Real Madrid, Sevilla, AC Milan in the Champions League. It would've potentially saved them from the financial bust they currently are going through.
A league that uses this currently is the J-League. This year had a situation where the final contained Gamba Osaka (already qualified for the AFC Champions League - Asia) and Nagoya Grampus (needing a win to qualify for the Champions League otherwise Sanfreece Hiroshima who finished 4th in the J-League would've got the spot).
A situation like this in England I believe would be of great benefit, not only to the EPL in that 4th may not necessarily guarantee the reward it currently does but to the FA Cup, where the prize could potentially be huge for a team that didn't finish in the top 3 of England. It would restore the FA Cup to its rightful place in the English calender.
In the meantime though, it's up to the fans to turn up and continue to show their loyalty to their team in the cup.
(1) - The FA Cup History of Classic Finals?
(2) - Crowd Figures suggest FA Cup is in good health - itv.com
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