Tranmere Rovers
Who murdered the FA Cup?
By Alex Daff
November 1 2023
This weekend sees Tranmere travelling to Stevenage in the 1st round of the FA Cup. Once upon a time, the competition was the most exciting aspect of the season. Yes, of course, promotion and relegation were important, but the FA Cup offered the chance for glory, the opportunity to get all the way to the twin towers at Wembley. Now? It's not special is it? Less important than the League and unwanted by many clubs. Who murdered it?
The first culprit is the Premier League. Premier League clubs see the FA Cup as a distraction. It doesn't offer much glory just high risks. Who wants to get beat by minnows like Tranmere when there is the vast array of European competitions to compete for? That's where the real action and the real money is. The FA Cup, it's a quaint English tradition like bonfire night or pancakes on shrove Tuesday. To many of the foreign managers all it means is nostalgia.
Second on the list of culprits is television. Ironic, no? Yet with so many games televised now gone are the days when the FA Cup final represented an exciting end of the season. When I was a kid the build up to the FA Cup final started at about 11am. There was 'it's a cup final knockout', all manner of ridiculous derivatives, and we lapped it up because live matches were a rarity. Now you can watch a match most days of the week, you can usually get to see your own team live on Sky at least once a season, regardless of what division they're in. In fact, if your team is in the National League you will probably see them two or three times a season. Gone are the days when the FA Cup, either in later rounds, or in the final, represented the only chance of seeing your team on the box.
Worse still, as Mark Palios has pointed out recently, the new TV deal does away with replays from the 3rd round onwards. No more dragging Southampton back to Prenton Park to do them over when you're 0-3 down. No. Games will be decided on the night. And another nail in the coffin of the competition has been hammered into its soul.
Then there is Wembley itself. Play off finals, FA Cup Semi Finals, the League Cup, the meaningless EFL trophy, all end up culminating at the national stadium. Getting there in the FA Cup final doesn't seem that much of an achievement. The uniqueness of the FA Cup has, consequently become diluted. It raises the question, if the National team can play their games away from Wembley why can't some of the other competitions do the same? The old arrangement, where semi-finals were played on a neutral ground seemed to work well, but not anymore. Doubtless the reason is because Sky would object to Man Utd v Burnley having to be moved to another night whilst a semi final between two other clubs takes place. It just undermines the competition a bit more.
There may be life in the old thing yet. However, I strongly suspect the competition will die a death within the next five years. Make the most of this weekend, there won't be many more like it. We might win, we might face the chance of going to Wembley, but is anyone really that bothered?
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01/11/2023 16:08
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Underdogs winning, monies in coffers, chances to grow fan base, opportunities for players to be scouted with transfer fees paid in January etc etc.
We've had some big draw home games in recent times, likely contributed a fair whack to our new pitch replacing the 'sandy beach' when we played Man Utd/other smaller improvements made.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023:11:01:18:30:03 by TRFCooooooo.
Build up to the 1975 Cup Final...Freddie Starr has Dickie Davies in stitches, lol....Oh for those days!
Quote:it’s lost its magic is because we are older or semi finals played at Wembley big clubs not caring for it even in the final the good final I can think of was when Liverpool played arsenal battered them in wales Michael Owen scored 2 or the Liverpool v West Ham onehong kong rover
Remember the time of FA Cup Final day, it was such a tradition that everyone watched it, even people that never liked footy would watch it, it was such a tradition.
The FA only see the income and not the game.
Everything else is a result of the man u, liverpoo, @#$%&, chelski, spurs and others to dominate the game. And secure the profits from Euro and domestic comps.
Quote:Loyden1
The whole crowds rendition of abide with me was special years ago.
Still is at the challenge cup final loyden, sends a tingle down your spine
Quote:the kav
' now for the latest cock sucker, oops cup soccer' Wallasey man, dickie Davies freudean slip
Was at oldershaw with my eldest brother.
'The players feared injuring the spectators on the pitch, while the players were put in danger by some of the fans. Some spectators would stick their feet out to try and trip the wingers, sometimes successfully.'
Quote:hong kong rover
100 years since that 'White Horse Final.'..just been reading about that final on wiki...the official crowd was put at 126,000, but estimates had it as 150,000 and the police estimate was 300, 000...jeez..With the fans standing right on the touchlines, this snippet of that final on wiki made me chuckle..
'The players feared injuring the spectators on the pitch, while the players were put in danger by some of the fans. Some spectators would stick their feet out to try and trip the wingers, sometimes successfully.'
Another snippet..
'The referee had to adapt to having the crowd inside the field of play, the approach taken was to allow play to continue if the ball struck the crowd and came back into play, and only call a throw-in if the ball went over the heads of the crowd....Every one of the games throw-ins was taken from inside the field of play.'
Fergie, Wenger and The Special One would have been having heart attacks!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:11:01:21:47:39 by hong kong rover.
Quote:Marlow!'s foot
Eternally grateful to have watched the Worthington Cup final at the iconic Wembley. What a day despite the result.
Yep, great day in a packed Wembley. Not sure we’ll see the likes again. Wish my eldest would have been old enough to attend and experience it; it would have been his first Tranmere game, but he was just a toddler and a restless one at that! We bought him a season ticket the following season and what a mistake that was; the number of games I had to leave early due to his restlessness and crying (sometimes before half-time) brought tears to my eyes! To be honest, I can fully empathise with him right now! I digress!
The couple of lads next to us gave her a flag that she energetically waved too. Great day.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023:11:02:11:19:25 by dave-p.
