[Football] The FA Cup- How Do You Regard It ?
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Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 30,698
The FA Cup has amazing history and there is something quite random and exciting about the level playing field providing by "the luck of the draw".
There's also something quite exciting about watching a minnow play one of the big boys in a small ground on a shocking surface.
However, the integrity of the competition is undermined by teams fielding weakened sides because of prioritising on the league / European competition. The Top 6 will always rank FA Cup below these and that means the competition is devalued.
Progress on the competition is not only dependent upon the draw but also which key fixtures a club has that butt up against FA Cup ties. It is therefore no surprise that in the Premier League era the dominance of the Top 6 with the biggest squads has only been breached on 3 occasions - Everton in the 90s, Portsmouth in the Noughties and Wigan in the 2010s.
However, with the money from bigger TV deals enabling Prem sides to compete for better players and improve their squads that the frequency of non-Top 6 clubs winning it might rise to - maybe - once every four or five years.
Whilst the FA Cup has fallen victim to the Premier League and the Champions League it didn't help itself forcing Man Utd to miss the competition in favour of the World Club Championship or allowing Farnborough to cash in and play their "home" tie away at Arsenal - these were two horrendously bad decisions that have contributed to this competition being downgraded.
There's also something quite exciting about watching a minnow play one of the big boys in a small ground on a shocking surface.
However, the integrity of the competition is undermined by teams fielding weakened sides because of prioritising on the league / European competition. The Top 6 will always rank FA Cup below these and that means the competition is devalued.
Progress on the competition is not only dependent upon the draw but also which key fixtures a club has that butt up against FA Cup ties. It is therefore no surprise that in the Premier League era the dominance of the Top 6 with the biggest squads has only been breached on 3 occasions - Everton in the 90s, Portsmouth in the Noughties and Wigan in the 2010s.
However, with the money from bigger TV deals enabling Prem sides to compete for better players and improve their squads that the frequency of non-Top 6 clubs winning it might rise to - maybe - once every four or five years.
Whilst the FA Cup has fallen victim to the Premier League and the Champions League it didn't help itself forcing Man Utd to miss the competition in favour of the World Club Championship or allowing Farnborough to cash in and play their "home" tie away at Arsenal - these were two horrendously bad decisions that have contributed to this competition being downgraded.
Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
68% say it should be respected. Pretty low I reckon. The cup gets devalued when the fans start devaluing it, and our attendances and sizeable fan apathy to the cup will not encourage the clubs to pay it more respect.
I doubt many fans consider these notable/influential factors in the devaluing of the competition (many 20-somethings won't even been aware of them)
The over-riding factor is the increased importance (money) of the Premier League and Champions League - to clubs and owners, at least. I think most managers, players and fans still value it.
(As an aside, you could argue that the Europa League is a downgrade on the Cup Winner's Cup... unless you now win it, of course)
Javeaseagull
Well-known member
- Feb 22, 2014
- 2,510
I still think the FA Cup is magic! It is probably the biggest thing this club has a possibility to win so should be taken seriously. Yes I know it is all about the money these days but sometimes I think it is all about the Glory.
I suspect TB may think the same as well!
I suspect TB may think the same as well!
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 30,698
I think this is one of the reasons why the 50+ voters on this poll are more apathetic than the younger voters. They remember the days when the competition HAD integrity, when all teams fielded their strongest sides and BBC / ITV devoted the whole day to the Final. The fall from grace has been dramatic - and nobody under the age of 35 will remember watching Coventry beat Spurs in 1987 or Wimbledon beat Liverpool in 1988..
I used to love it but it has now become "less important" to me but I think it is the game itself that views the FA Cup as "unimportant".
All the games used to kick off at 3pm rather than being spread over days with ridiculous kick-off times and FA Cup Final Day was a highlight of the footballing year. The tv used to start at about 9am with a special Question of Sport, the Road to Wembley, WOS wrestling........all sorts of televisual goodies.
The clubs used to play their first string as winning the FA Cup used to mean a lot in terms of prestige and, indeed, money. Clubs tend to play their second string as the rewards in the PL and probably the Championship are far more significant. Abandoning replays and playing the semis at Wembley also diminishes the sparkle and magic of the FA Cup.
Not what it was but the FA has only itself to blame really.
All the games used to kick off at 3pm rather than being spread over days with ridiculous kick-off times and FA Cup Final Day was a highlight of the footballing year. The tv used to start at about 9am with a special Question of Sport, the Road to Wembley, WOS wrestling........all sorts of televisual goodies.
The clubs used to play their first string as winning the FA Cup used to mean a lot in terms of prestige and, indeed, money. Clubs tend to play their second string as the rewards in the PL and probably the Championship are far more significant. Abandoning replays and playing the semis at Wembley also diminishes the sparkle and magic of the FA Cup.
Not what it was but the FA has only itself to blame really.
Why is spreading them over a weekend a bad thing? (Unless you're going and inconvenienced by a KO time, but that's a small pool).
It means you can watch loads of games on TV. Chelsea v Man Utd was watched by 8m+.
Yes, when it was one of the few matches shown live on TV each year. Those days aren't coming back no matter what the FA does to the competition!
40 years ago, the FA Cup was indeed far more significant. I remember in the 80s, in the days of the draw being made on Monday morning, one of us would sneak off to the bogs during lessons to listen to the cup draw and report back.
A lot is made of the riches of the Premier league being give for this, but I reckon there is another factor too - in the days before play offs and a polarised top division, your season was over as soon as you exited the cup, assuming you didn't have a hope of finishing top 3. And in the top division as it is now, the sad fact is that you're likely to be fighting relegation all season unless you're in the top 6 (with 2 or 3 exceptions). Losing in FAC round 3 was every bit as depressing as losing a fairly important league game. Nowadays though, it feels more like a free hit until you're in the last 16, or maybe even last 8.