Shahanga Posted January 30, 2020 Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 i was thinking about the declining fortunes of the FA cup the other day. Forty years ago it was arguably the biggest club competition of any sport in the world. Bigger than the English first division, bigger than the European Cup, bigger than the super bowl. Certainly for most Australians it was the one game of football you were interested in all year. Now it seems to be a back water competition where clubs won’t even play their best players least they get injured or just plain tired. Latest in that vein is Liverpool saying they will play their full U23 in the 4th round (?) replay. How did this disastrous state of affairs come about? Normally people refer to European managers or clubs as the cause, but I think the FA must shoulder most of the blame. They allowed their asset to deteriorate away under their watch. As a fan it is shocking to see such a great competition wither away from neglect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Polak Posted February 2, 2020 Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 On 31/01/2020 at 7:06 AM, Shahanga said: i was thinking about the declining fortunes of the FA cup the other day. Forty years ago it was arguably the biggest club competition of any sport in the world. Bigger than the English first division, bigger than the European Cup, bigger than the super bowl. Certainly for most Australians it was the one game of football you were interested in all year. Now it seems to be a back water competition where clubs won’t even play their best players least they get injured or just plain tired. Latest in that vein is Liverpool saying they will play their full U23 in the 4th round (?) replay. How did this disastrous state of affairs come about? Normally people refer to European managers or clubs as the cause, but I think the FA must shoulder most of the blame. They allowed their asset to deteriorate away under their watch. As a fan it is shocking to see such a great competition wither away from neglect. Being born in the mid 90's and growing up watching the English Premier League and not prior, the fa cup never appealed to me as it should, while I am well aware throughout my time that it was treated as one of the most anticipated tournaments as you have described during the 20th century. My only guess is you can only blame the marketing investment and the rewards clubs gain by just achieving higher positions in the league alone. The financial rewards the Premier League offers and the marketing hype it generates just trumps national cup competitions and the FA can't compete since their first division is run separately by a third party? You'd hope that the revenue rewards that clubs get from whatever positions they finish in the league could be taxed on putting that money into the FA Cup prize pool to turn some heads. I'm sure it wont happen but rewarding a champion's league spot for the FA Cup winner should hilariously raise the intensity and desire to win the cup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 On 31/01/2020 at 7:06 AM, Shahanga said: i was thinking about the declining fortunes of the FA cup the other day. Forty years ago it was arguably the biggest club competition of any sport in the world. Bigger than the English first division, bigger than the European Cup, bigger than the super bowl. Certainly for most Australians it was the one game of football you were interested in all year. Now it seems to be a back water competition where clubs won’t even play their best players least they get injured or just plain tired. Latest in that vein is Liverpool saying they will play their full U23 in the 4th round (?) replay. How did this disastrous state of affairs come about? Normally people refer to European managers or clubs as the cause, but I think the FA must shoulder most of the blame. They allowed their asset to deteriorate away under their watch. As a fan it is shocking to see such a great competition wither away from neglect. It is the EPL and the national football pyramid system that has relegated the FA Cup to secondary status. As someone who grew up watching non-league football in England, it was the Cup that was the glamour competition that was eagerly awaited every year. The non-league competitions that I am familiar with had no automatic promotion or relegation, so it was the Cup that we looked forward to every season, and the possibility of making it through to the First Round Proper and a home match against a Football League team. The whole country got behind the teams that went on a "Cup run" - known as "giantkillers." The one I remember best of all was 3rd Division Norwich City making it to the semi-finals in 1958-59. Traditional East Anglian loyalties were forgotten that season. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958–59_FA_Cup Football has become so bland since those glory days. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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