The FA Cup is awesome | Vital Football

The FA Cup is awesome

MichiganImp

Vital Newbie
I know a lot of people (generally Premier League fans) will poo-poo the cups but I love them! It is crazy to me, as an American, that you have 8th-tier Marine playing Tottenham, one of the best teams in the country. This is madness! It is like the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers playing my high school basketball team in a REAL competition.

There is nothing like it here in the States and I find it fascinatingly ridiculous, entertaining, and occasionally hilarious.
 
It is a great competition, sadly belittled by the so called "bigger" clubs. Probably why I find it difficult to stop smiling when I think about us beating Burnley. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I thought that result breathed a bit of life back into the Cup and made clubs take it a bit more seriously. Suddenly, so called lesser teams began to dare to dream again that they could do a bit of giant killing and a little bit of the old magic of the Cup was restored.
 
People say the elite clubs belittle the competition but despite playing fringe players and U23s in the early rounds they've still won 23 of the last 25 competitions.

In last Saturday's 3rd round Luton and Reading made 18 changes between them. So it has nothing to do with the bigger clubs.

It had its day when it was the ambition of every footballer to play in the final, but it's been on the wane for over 30 years.
 
Just to pick a few:

Odd Down
Bristol Manor Farm

I've seen those two play. There used to be some good names in the Western League (and no doubt still are), e.g.:

Oldland Abbotonians
Cadbury Heath
Roman Glass St George

And playing in the Hellenic League you find Tytherington Rocks.
 
For lower league / non league clubs the fa cup is massive. I chaired a step 9 club and getting to the 3rd pre qualifying round made a massive financial difference to the club and that was against Buxton Town
 
I love the F a cup. I believe it still has magic. Marine v tottm. in another year that would have set marine up for years .
 
It is a great competition, sadly belittled by the so called "bigger" clubs. Probably why I find it difficult to stop smiling when I think about us beating Burnley. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I thought that result breathed a bit of life back into the Cup and made clubs take it a bit more seriously. Suddenly, so called lesser teams began to dare to dream again that they could do a bit of giant killing and a little bit of the old magic of the Cup was restored.

I think that it's not the 'big' teams who show scant regard for the competition. They will often put out teams from their first teamers with only a small amount of rotation, yet the likes of Newcastle will make wholesale changes just because they would rather finish 13th in the Premier than winning some silverware.

FA Cup is a great competition still in my opinion. The only game which has become less of a pull is the final. That used to be a full day in front of the TV with It's a Knockout etc......whereas now I even forgot that the Arsenal-Chelsea match was on this year until I saw the reports on it later in the day
 
I think that it's not the 'big' teams who show scant regard for the competition. They will often put out teams from their first teamers with only a small amount of rotation, yet the likes of Newcastle will make wholesale changes just because they would rather finish 13th in the Premier than winning some silverware.

FA Cup is a great competition still in my opinion. The only game which has become less of a pull is the final. That used to be a full day in front of the TV with It's a Knockout etc......whereas now I even forgot that the Arsenal-Chelsea match was on this year until I saw the reports on it later in the day

Indeed the 'value' is usually to be found in the third and fourth rounds.....although it has on rare occasion been known to stretch into the fifth and sixth.
 
I remember talking to someone at Lincoln United when they entered for the first time in the mid nineties when they reached the first round and the entry fee was £75 and every team however big or small paid the same entry fee.

I think the prize money in each round is a brilliant idea for the smaller teams a good run can as we saw can transform a club.
 
Marine sold 20,000 virtual tickets so it might just do that.

I wonder if Tottenham demanded their 50% cut from those?

Spurs apparently have been very supportive of Marines efforts with the virtual tickets. Marine arranged a raffle for those who purchased and upon hearing of it Spurs donated some half decent prizes. In addition, many of Spurs fans bought tickets which went down well with those at Marine.
 
Marine sold 20,000 virtual tickets so it might just do that.

I wonder if Tottenham demanded their 50% cut from those?

Arsenal tried to donate their share of the gate money when they played Sutton in the round before they played us. The FA said no it was against the rules. I have a vague memory they gave them a donation of around £50k somehow though.