da betway： Wigan’s heroic victory over Manchester City to send them Wembley-bound for an enticing FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal led to the traditional out-pouring of that age-old discourse which is ‘the magic of the FA Cup’.
da dobrowin： But this notion of the FA Cup being something more than just another cup competition is far too regularly overindulged.
Now such is the extent of televised football that FA Cup weekends will often see ITV and BT Sport crammed full of fixtures as exciting as Arsenal vs Coventry, Bournemouth vs Liverpool, Stevenage vs Everton and Sheffield United vs Fulham.
For your regular football fan, they are not exactly what dreams are made of. And they certainly aren’t the kinds of fixtures I’d drop what I’m doing to tune in and watch.
The potential of a cup giant-killing is a great narrative for broadcasters. It gives them something to grab onto and run with in order to attract as many fans who are hopeful of a good spectacle. But for your everyday supporter it just isn’t convincing enough.
The empty seats at stadiums tell the story. The official attendance of 59,451 at the Emirates for the fourth-round tie with Coventry was apparently a near full house but the amount of empty red seats in the upper tiers seriously brought into questions someone’s mathematics.
For many sides the FA Cup provides an unwelcome distraction from the weekly grind of the domestic league calendar. Sheffield United and Fulham, both having been battling a relegation battle, elected to play weakened sides.
As if their apathy wasn’t clear enough, once more the number of empty seats in the stadium told the story from the fan’s point of view. They would rather not have bothered.
Football will always be football. And cup football will always be cup football. You’ll occasionally be lucky enough to see the unlikely occur, as in the case of Wigan at the Etihad, but more often than not the stronger prevail.
But let’s not pretend these kinds of results are exclusive to the FA Cup. Bradford City’s triumph over Arsenal in the Capital One Cup last season was every bit as heroic as Wigan. Their subsequent two-legged win over Aston Villa kept the cup dream alive. Wrexham fans remember Mickey Thomas’ legendary free-kick against Arsenal in the 1992 FA Cup fourth round. Grimsby Town fans will probably remember their third round victory over Liverpool at Anfield in the League Cup in 2001.
Because of the farce of FA Cup replays, it makes it eminently tougher for them to occur. I get why they occur. They place the round on an evening footing and they give home fans of the ‘smaller’ team something to look forward to while the club can gain it’s all-important big payday. But replays detract from the competition. When Exeter achieved a fantastic 0-0 draw at Old Trafford back in 2005, they won the privilege of hosting Manchester United at St James’ Park.
As enjoyable an experience for all involved with Exeter City, the potential of taking United to extra-time on their home turf and forcing them to penalties would have been have been more enjoyable. And the chance of beating them a second time round was non-existent.
In recent seasons the Capita One Cup has had a much greater allure to it. The fact the early rounds come thick and fast means that it doesn’t disrupt the early season flow in the way international breaks or FA Cup football does. The final being in February means that every fan is fully committed to their club season and the enthusiasm can percolate through to the League Cup.
Stories of fans queuing for hours to get tickets for their club’s third-round FA Cup tie were a result of simply being unable to see their team play any other way. Nowadays many people would rather sit in the comfort of their own home as opposed to sitting out on a cold January afternoon to see their side’s second-string XI knock Shrewsbury over 4-0.
This may just be reflective of the commercial growth of football today, but I also believe it is a product of the lack of ‘magic’ in the FA Cup. Big wins are what clubs base their history on. Every fan loves the big time and every fan loves an underdog victory.
But whether it’s part of the FA Cup is neither here nor there.
[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]