Ever since I was a young boy – and here ends the nod to the Who’s Pinball Wizard – I adored the FA Cup. I didn’t pay much attention to the first and second rounds, but the third round, when all the BIG CLUBS entered, that was exciting. And for me, the FA Cup third round draw is one of the highlights of the footballing calendar. It’s just everything else I no longer care about.
In the not too distant old days, there was barely any football on telly at all, and barring the FA Cup final and international games, no live football at all. Now, it’s everywhere, on both major terrestrial channels. When the first game was played last night, Swindon Town from the fourth tier versus ‘Covid hit’ Manchester City it didn’t even cross my mind to watch it. Even now, all I know is the totally predictable result. I have no idea which channel showed it. There are countless other games today, tomorrow and, for all I know, Monday night, just after – and how stupid is this? – the fourth round draw. I know a few of the fixtures. My old team Bristol Rovers are away to Peterborough (I know this because someone I know is going) and Liverpool are ‘entertaining’ Shrewsbury Town. And London’s favourite team, Manchester United, are playing Aston Villa live on telly. Why?
The FA Cup final used to be unmissable in my house or rather my grandad’s house. Whoever was playing, I’d watch it. I’d be glued to the telly all day and the only time I’d think of anything else was the pre match wrestling grudge match on ITV, between someone like Mick McManus and Jackie ‘Mr TV’ Pallo. I’ve only watched one final during the last decade when I was in a boozer in Liskeard in 2019 and watched Manchester City smash Watford 23-0 (I think it may have been been a slightly lower score, but it was a meaningless contest either way.) So, why is the FA Cup so worthless? Here are a few reasons:
- The Premier League is where the money is. Nothing else matters in football. Qualifying for the so-called Champions League is all that matters to the big clubs, staying in the Premier League is all that matters to the rest.
- Top teams rarely put their first teams out because of the above.
- The FA Cup is played across four days to maximise TV money.
- The semi-finals are both played at Wembley.
- Because the top flight has all the money, shock results are at a premium, so large has the gap become between top and bottom.
- The final isn’t played at 3.00pm anymore.
The glory of the FA Cup is a thing of the past. It carries on as an afterthought. That’s how many fans from the Premier League see it, and why should’t they? If the clubs they support treat it with dripping contempt, why should the fans feel any different?
I used to argue that if only the FA Cup returned to 3.00pm, that semi finals took place at neutral grounds, that winning it would provide a Champions League place, that all ties were played on the same day, that TV money would be shared out in a fairer way and that the actual draw be carried out at 12.50pm on a Monday, on the radio with three old FA officials drawing balls from a velvet bag (ooh er, missus) then we could just go back to the old days. But change has come. You can’t uninvent the Premier League because it’s too far gone. It’s either get rid of the FA Cup or carry on until everyone gets fed up with it. If I was a gambling man, I’d say the top clubs will not be playing in it within a decade. But maybe that might be a good thing, to give it back to THE PEOPLE?
All I know is I won’t be watching and I won’t be listening. Like Vienna, this means nothing to me.
PS We had the TV on for the start of the Millwall v Crystal Palace game. Millwall didn’t take the knee, Palace did and were roundly and loudly booed by the home crowd. TV off now.
