The FA Cup… the oldest Cup Competition but losing its Greatness?
It is the eve of one of English football’s great days- FA Cup 3rd round day. From an initial 737 clubs, 64 (65 actually at the time of writing as Bristol Rovers & Crawley have a 2nd round replay) of them are just 6 wins away from lifting the famous trophy, now in its 133rd year. The 3rd round marks the first stage at which 44 clubs clubs from the top 2 divisions join the competition and the 20 teams who have made it through qualifying rounds and the first 2 proper rounds.
The 3rd round draw is one of great excitement. Will the non league ‘minnows’ draw one of the biggest teams in England (and also the world)? Will there be any tasty local derbies thrown up which are normally rare due to the gulf in level between them? Are there any big head to heads or any non league sides guaranteed a passage to Round 4?
There are 3 non league clubs remaining, but all have tricky home ties against opposition at least 2 levels higher (Macclesfield v Sheffield Wednesday, Grimsby v Huddersfield and Kidderminster v Peterborough). There is a mouth-watering North London Derby to look forwards to at the Emirates, as well as a couple of interesting ties such as Nottingham Forest v West Ham and Derby versus Chelsea.
But despite this, FA Cup crowds will be significantly lower than most of those clubs’ average league crowds and for many, there will be significant changes made to the strongest available XI. One comment which received particular public attention was that of Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert. Villa- one of many teams likely to be involved in the race to stay in the Premier League, are at home to League 1 strugglers Sheffield United, a great opportunity to get through to the last 32 and to build up confidence ahead of a daunting home game against Arsenal (who they actually beat 3-1 away on the opening day)
When asked if Premier League managers could do without the competition, Lambert said “If they were being honest, they probably would do. Not just because of the money but survival in the league is vital.”
My first thought at hearing this was one of “Pull out and give Sheffield United the win if it’s that bad for you”
But let’s look at it…
Aston Villa will struggle to get into the European places on merit over a 38 game season, let alone the top 4 for Champions League football. Winning either the League Cup or the FA Cup is their only feasible way into the Europa League. They’re 6 wins away from doing this (5 if they lose to one of the top 4 in the final)
A run of wins against lower league teams (if they got a kind draw) would surely boost confidence around the club, the knock-on effect being they display such confidence in Premiership games and get themselves some good results.
Aston Villa’s last major honour (taking out 2 Intertoto Cups in 2001 and 2008) was the League Cup in 1996- for a club of their stature (European Champions and 7 time English Champions), that is too long and any hopes of attracting better players will be reduced unless they can get some success at Villa Park and get European nights back there.
Aston Villa’s last major trophy. The League Cup in 1995/6
The problem is a simple one… the prize money from winning the FA Cup and going on a reasonable run in the Europa League the following season is nowhere near as much as staying in the Premier League (over going down). The extra cup games supposedly take their toll on what should be super fit athletes and then the Thursday nights in the Europa League may play havoc with league form next season, causing results to suffer. For Aston Villa, who are not certain of their place in the Premier League on merit, it is a gamble Paul Lambert doesn’t want to take and one he feels other clubs don’t want to take.
Wigan Athletic went down despite winning the cup last season and they also struggled to find form in the Championship as midweek European games interrupted their schedule, but for Wigan, it was likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win the cup and play in Europe. For Aston Villa- who have eyes on bigger things, that lure is not as appealing.
Birmingham, Swansea (by winning the League Cup) and Newcastle (by league placing) also suffered to various degrees during the year they won the cups and/or the next season whilst playing in Europe.
Wigan’s reward for their cup win. European football. Here seen playing Zulte Waregem backed by over 2,500 fans
So how can we make the FA Cup more appealing?
The most important thing is that you need the reward for doing well being as big as possible. Merely getting a trophy, a few million quid and a place in the unfashionable (amongst English clubs) Europa League does not match the huge bonuses for just being mediocre in the Premier League and coming, say, 15th each year.
Part of my solution lies with UEFA. I would get rid of the Europa Legaue and re-introduce the Cup Winners’ Cup.
League Cup and National Cup winners from all UEFA countries would be eligible (runners up if winners are in the Champions League). The tournament would have 1 qualifying round for those countries with weaker leagues so to get down to 64 teams. It would then be straight knockout over 2 legs, with games played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights when the Champions League isn’t played. For English teams, it is a maximum of 11 games to win the competition, not the present 19 which Swansea City would’ve played if they win it. Even long trips to Belarus would be done on a Tuesday/Wednesday night, allowing players to fully recover for league matches on a Saturday/Sunday.
The Cup Winners’ Cup- Time to bring it back? I think so
I also think the prize money could be increased. For Boston, a win in the 2nd qualifying round is worth £4,500 (plus gate receipts), a sizeable sum for us, as that is a useful player until the end of the season on around £100-£120 per week. Win the 3rd qualifying round and it is an extra £7,500 plus gate receipts. Another player!
Yet for Aston Villa, a 3rd round win is ‘only’£67,500. A good player on a 1 week contract, going by a typical Premier League wage… it means diddly squat. Even winning the final nets them a mere £1.8 million That is the clubs’ wage bill for a mere 4-6 weeks.
Christian Benteke- A 3rd round cup win will barely pay his weekly wage
Televised FA Cup games net both teams around £67,500-£247,500, depending on the stage of the competition (Round 1 as opposed to Rounds 5 & 6), whereas companies will pay effectively £10 million PER GAME to show live Premier League matches. It’s a no contest.
One thing I do like about the FA Cup is the requirement to give a minimum 15% of tickets to away fans (except in exceptional circumstances). Oldham will therefore have 6,000 fans at Anfield, Man City will get 7,000 at Blackburn and Leicester get 4,000 at Stoke… given away fans create most of the atmosphere at these cup games unless the underdogs are at home, the atmosphere at some grounds will be excellent- though there will be plenty of empty seats on show at plenty of ties involving clubs of the same league.
But with many clubs only offering small discounts and all the big sides being placed on live TV regardless of how glamorous or not the tie is (ensuring the lower ranked clubs who really need £67,500 don’t get it), fans will stay at home and save their money for more expensive games later in the season.
A familiar sight- Roy Keane on Live TV at Old Trafford. Manchester United have their 43rd consecutive televised FA Cup tie when they host Swansea
Let’s see how this season’s FA Cup unfolds. Hopefully we get the clubs who really want to be there making it through to the latter stages and we get some great memories from the cup, but with only the best sides being able to win it on quality and the rewards for doing so not meeting their demands, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t really get serious until the 2 Wembley semi-finals.
Thanks for reading
Josh
Under The Floodlights 