Jon Mcleod
Andrew MacdougallThe FA Cup – why do we still love it?
Over the years the landscape of football has transformed and, for many, the FA Cup has been a victim of a new globalised world.
Financial imperatives, spreading fan bases, fixture congestion and the glamour of the UEFA Champions League have all dulled the shimmer of the FA Cup. Leagues are now recognised as the lifeblood while the Champions League has become the most coveted trophy in Europe. Other cup runs, for the ultimate elite, are shunned.
Teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal routinely send out second choice XIs in the early and even latter rounds to protect players for more 'important' games ahead. Now the FA Cup the can no longer claim to crown the best teams in the land. The trend has even sucked in smaller clubs who, deterred by the unfavourable odds of reaching the final, prefer to focus on the reality of promotion and relegation.
So the FA Cup has lost its pre-eminence as the most desired trophy in the land. But there was always more to the Cup’s allure. Its prestige and romance always owed as much to its knockout and open-to-all format, which is ripe for story generation, as it did to grandeur.
In the fourth round of last season's competition, non-league Havant and Waterlooville led seven-time champions Liverpool 2-1 at half-time. They ultimately lost but could have won.
Such fantasy can only be played out in this unique setting. The FA Cup may no longer command the material value it once did but there is little let up in the passion, little let up in the drama and little let up in the stories.
Financial imperatives, spreading fan bases, fixture congestion and the glamour of the UEFA Champions League have all dulled the shimmer of the FA Cup. Leagues are now recognised as the lifeblood while the Champions League has become the most coveted trophy in Europe. Other cup runs, for the ultimate elite, are shunned.
Teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal routinely send out second choice XIs in the early and even latter rounds to protect players for more 'important' games ahead. Now the FA Cup the can no longer claim to crown the best teams in the land. The trend has even sucked in smaller clubs who, deterred by the unfavourable odds of reaching the final, prefer to focus on the reality of promotion and relegation.
So the FA Cup has lost its pre-eminence as the most desired trophy in the land. But there was always more to the Cup’s allure. Its prestige and romance always owed as much to its knockout and open-to-all format, which is ripe for story generation, as it did to grandeur.
In the fourth round of last season's competition, non-league Havant and Waterlooville led seven-time champions Liverpool 2-1 at half-time. They ultimately lost but could have won.
Such fantasy can only be played out in this unique setting. The FA Cup may no longer command the material value it once did but there is little let up in the passion, little let up in the drama and little let up in the stories.
