Mark Lawn said TV bosses should "hang their heads in shame" after choosing not to broadcast Bradford's next FA Cup tie live on television. The West Yorkshire club won the nation's hearts when fighting back from two goals down to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend in one of the biggest upsets of all time. But neither the BBC or BT Sport will be showing live coverage of their fifth-round tie against either Sunderland or Fulham at Valley Parade. "Whoever made the decisions at the BBC and BT Sport should hang their heads in shame," Lawn said. "They all promote the FA Cup's magic and romance, but where's the magic gone now? "Is there something I'm missing? I don't understand how we can't be one of the five televised games after our efforts last Saturday. "How can they justify it? It's a disgrace." Bradford's game against Sunderland or Fulham is one of only three fifth-round ties that will not be screened live. Blackburn versus Stoke and Derby versus Reading are the other two to miss out. The ties involving West Brom v West Ham, Crystal Palace v Liverpool or Bolton, Aston Villa v Leicester, Arsenal v Middlesbrough and Preston or Sheffield United v Cambridge or Manchester United will be screened live. Lawn said the club felt further aggrieved after losing out on the £247,500 windfall it would have received through television revenue. "That goes to the Premier League clubs because they really need the money don't they?" he added. "Last Saturday got voted on Match of the Day as the biggest shock ever, so surely we deserve to be shown on television in the next round. "It feels as if they've taken all the magic away from us. Where's the romance and magic going to be when they just want to show all the big clubs? "We're thinking of getting T-shirts printed with '#no magic'. For all the neutrals, the magic is in seeing if Bradford can do it again." The BBC said it had considered the fifth-round draw carefully before choosing the fixtures to show live and was hoping to present its Saturday lunchtime show Football Focus from Valley Parade instead. A BBC spokesperson said: "TV match selections have to be decided before the outcome of replays and for that reason, we have selected what we believe to be the best fixtures, given all the potential scenarios. "Providing Bradford City's game is played on Saturday afternoon, we will present Football Focus from Valley Parade to showcase the club's preparations and provide extended highlights on Match of the Day." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think the blokes got a valid point... As much as the FA love an upset to keep the romance going, they are STILL looking out for the Premiership teams. Totally shocking IMO.
further proof of the scales being unbalanced ,here i go again ,dont they realise what this money means to lower clubs ,,bag of ****e imo
He's absolutely spot on. It's a ****ing disgrace that villa v Leicester and west brim v West Ham are shown ahead of them. Regardless of who they're against the tv companies should be showing the romantic tie. They did with Man Utd so why not with Bradford? Edit: isn't it also no surprise that Liverpool are televised twice against Bolton but Fulham get no television money from the fourth round from their two games
To be fair, this tie could end up being Bradford vs Fulham which is astonishingly boring on paper. Above all else, where TV is concerned, the only thing that matters is viewing figures.
As boring as it may be - the figures would still be very good for following a league 1 team - I mean can you see West Brom v West Ham being an exciting game? Or Leicester v Villa?
Leicester vs Villa is gonna be like El Classico mate, what you on about? I hear they're giving free valium out at the stadium just for anybody who might not be able to contain the excitement. I don't think the figures would be good for Bradford vs Fulham, I think it's a total turn-off of a fixture, hopefully you'll get through anyhow and it'll all be academic.
I heard they're goiving away speed to gee up the crowd! On the other side of this - I reckon, if it was Bradford v Chelsea or Fulham I reckon they'd televise it
Going slightly ot. Sunderland’s fans have had to stay up late to catch their team on the main Match of the Day programme more than fans of any other Premier League club so far this season. Gus Poyet’s team have occupied the bottom slot – which usually airs close to or just after midnight – seven times, once more than goal-shy Aston Villa and twice more than Crystal Palace and Swansea. The one occasion Sunderland fans did get to see their side in the prized opening slot so far was the 8-0 drubbing at Southampton on 18 October. They also lost both times they were on second – at home to Arsenal on 25 October and at Manchester City on New Year’s Day. The BBC’s head of football, Mark Cole, said the trend was: “not personal … we’ve got a couple of Sunderland fans in the office and the chap who does all our stats is a Sunderland fan so he’s keeping a particular eye on it. “If they’re on last by the end of the season the most, then it means they’ll still be in the Premier League, because they won’t be drawn into those big relegation battles that feature highly in the programme.” http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/29/staying-up-late-match-of-the-day-sunderland
I'm not so disappointed this season as, other than a handful of matches we've been crap! (small hands!) I'm annoyed at the fact that, in past seasons, I've seen us play out a 3-2 win and be after a scrappy 1-0 for West Ham or Liverpool! That pisses me off a lot more
Aye but it wasn't at Bradford and it wasn;t after a massive upset in the previous round. I do reckon, had Bradford beaten You lot or Citeh and got drawn against Chelsea or Fulham they'd have televised it expecting Chelsea to beat Fulham. But I still say that any game involving Bradford is more attractive to a "neutral" than the West Brom and Villa games!
MOTD is absolute dump anyhow, I hardly ever watch it nowadays. Sky do a game of the day, followed by extended highlights of all the other games on that day, anybody who has sky should be watching that rather than watching that dribbling shirt-lifter Lineker and his odd-job friends.
I'm out working on a Sturday and always forget to sky+ it!! My son loves watching MOTD (he'll learn don't worry!)
