Gone are the days when the FA Cup draw Was worth waiting for every year, These days the playing of them seems a chore Compared to the normal league fare Prestigious as they once were to all teams Capital One and FA Cup days, No longer carry any sort of dreams As they move in their mysterious ways Only those non-league or lower league folk Aiming to topple the big boys, Tend not to regard them all as a joke And keep some excitement and noise But Premier League and Championship sides Have eyes only for the next game, Cup games are now the bridesmaids not the brides Which somehow, to me, seems a shame. OTBC - INIT
Excellent RBF - I was having a discussion with another fan over a pint in the pub after the game and we were thinking back to the 70s and 80s when Cup final day was a momentous occasion and coverage started on the TV about 11am, talking to managers/players and following the respective fans as they made their way to Wembley. I feel that it's a sign of the times and for those with Sky Sports at home (or a pub nearby to watch it), we are swamped with football on TV and so the FA Cup holds much less interest for the majority of fans once their team is no longer in the competition.
Agree that it's a shame RBF. I grew up excited about the glamour of the FA Cup. It's total lack of importance to the perceived 'big teams' who care only about money is football's loss. Shame, those days will never return.
These days a cup run is seen as a hindrance with Wigan and Birmingham shown as examples, probably Villa too by the looks of things. The good thing about this turn of events is it's no longer painful to be knocked out! Love your poem though RBF, 5 's from me!
But then again ocf, Man City´s ´Cup 11´ are probably as good as, or better than, most other´s ´Premier League 11´, and they did, after all, make 7 changes for yesterday´s game. Both Cup competitions have been devalued out of all recognition, due to the ridiculous amounts of cash now at stake in the Leagues.
The reality is that staying in the league is by far the top priority for the bottom 8 or so clubs and getting into the Champions League is the priority for the top 8. It is unquestionably the right decision for all of those clubs commercially but it does make the cup a busted flush. The irony is of course that if everyone took the cup seriously then no team would necessarily gain an advantage although as always additional matches favour the sides with deeper squads and whilst noone would necessarily gain an advantage an injury to a key player could make a huge difference to the seasons prospects for any of the clubs so I don't see the situation changing.
Great piece of work RBF and the sentiments are sadly spot on. I did comment on another thread who now takes the cup seriously. The bottom 8 faer relegation the top 8 are looking for European slots which means that there are probably 4 teams at most who would focus on the cup as a priority and the same goes for the Championship. That said, would even Eastleigh prefer a cup win at Bolton or promotion to Division 4 (sorry it is now called Division 2 silly me!)
Did we set the trend for winning a Cup then going down the same season? Different days back in 1985 and I noticed yesterday's live games were on BT Sports 2. I'm not forking out more money. Nobody seems bothered about weekend international qualifiers either. Fans seem more focused on their team these days.
This all happened 3 years before I was born, hard to believe it was 57 years ago and at 87 years young my dear old Dad still eulogises about it all. http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/213539
Hi skald bor, the FA decided the fate of the FA Cup when they initiated the breakaway from the Football League and formed the Premier League under their domain, with the amount of financial incentive in the PL, clubs are reluctant to give the FA Cup the prominence it once deserved. The once premier club cup competition in the world has now been reduced to just another match in the season, unfortunately for full member clubs entry in this cup is compulsory, how many PL clubs would prefer just to concentrate on the league and European competitions and not forced to enter this competition ? Best wishes to yourself and family, not forgetting Rex. Have a good year.
Why don't they take 1M from each prem club into the winner's prise fund.... maybe people will take it more seriously then (yes I know politics would stop it but it would be a 20 million intensive)
Certainly some, but I think some of the big boys, I'm thinking of Arsenal, see it as a great competition for giving there squad players a run and to win a trophy doing so. I think with the U21 league being such an uncompetitive waste of space for most players, that most PL clubs can and should be happy to give the rest of their squads a chance to go out and prove themsleves and try and earn a first team place. Also with PL points being so important I would think it would also offer a great chance to try new things/systems. Unfortunitely though you are probably right in so much as they just can't be bothered. Could the FA cup regain some sparkle if the league cup was binned? Probably not! I think ZK is right in so much as the only way to add to it's alure is to increase the prizes on offer. If you could get a prize pot of £20M together and split it down to £10M for a winner, £4M for runner up, beaten SF £2M, beaten QF £0.5M for example I think you may see a fair amount more interest. Between that, gate receipts and TV money everyone below the PL would be taking a more serious look. PL clubs might even think twice especially in the later stages. Bah!
