How Can We Save Our Cup Competitions?
February 2nd, 2006 by Alan Hylands
There was a time, not too long ago, when FA Cup Final day was one of the pinnacles of the British sporting calendar. These days the top clubs dominate it despite fielding weakened sides in the earlier rounds and fans are staying away from matches in their thousands. The League Cup is similarly ignored with the Premeriship big guns such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United turning out reserve sides until the later rounds when they hedge their bets in a tilt for the diminished glory of lifting the trophy.
The problems stem directly from the growth of the Champion’s League and UEFA’s overpowering promotion of their cash cow during the 1990s. The day clubs and fans starting talking about the domestic cups as simply a way into European competition,and a path to the money on offer there, the death knell was sounded. If the winning of the trophy itself is no longer seen as the ultimate prize worth competing for then the competition itself can be deemed worthless and it’s glamour fades.
Along with the FA Cup losing it’s appeal, we also lost the European Cup Winners Cup as the Champion’s League siphoned off not only the actual League Champions of each country but up to four of their top clubs as well. The quality of sides competing in the European Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup was instantly downgraded resulting in the European Cup Winners Cup being eradicated and the UEFA Cup undergoing countless format changes and the ignominy of having to accept first group stage losers from the Champion’s League. What value does any cup competition have that accepts the losing sides from another competiton? Answer - increasingly none.
Even in the money men’s dream ticket of the Champion’s League we see attendances at pitiful levels for some of Europe’s top clubs including Juventus, Chelsea and AC Milan until the knockout stages. It’s not that the fans aren’t as passionate about their clubs, it’s just that a glut of pretty much meaningless group games hold no pulling power and don’t seem to be worth the entrance price. When the fans start getting tired of something then it’s time for a change.
In the pursuit of money, UEFA have created a monster, in the shape of the Champion’s League, which has destroyed the the value and credibility of all other cup competitions, both domestic and European, and is now in danger of eating itself. To redress the problems, UEFA and the domestic associations need to implement hard measures and finally get back to working in the best interests of football as a whole rather than subjecting themselves to the whims of the G14 clubs.
While there are many options available in doing this, State of the Game has put together some proposals which we feel might help address the issues:
Champion’s League - rename it the European Cup, only allow league champions entry into it and make it a straight knockout competition.
UEFA Cup - 2nd, 3rd and 4th domestic league places and FA Cup winners, make it a straight two legged knockout competition.
FA Cup - any club who declines entry once can NEVER play in the competition again (i.e. entry is mandatory to all English league clubs). Manchester United and their cohorts in the FA and FIFA did as much to devalue the competition as anyone when they were allowed to not enter so they could participate in the World Club Championships. This decision was catastrophic to the integrity of the FA Cup.
League Cup - a fixture congesting irrelevance to Premiership clubs who shouldn’t have to play in it. Maybe open it up to Scottish, League of Wales and Irish League clubs as well and make it a British Trophy.
Whatever happens, there will have to be huge changes if we ever want to see young fans looking at the FA Cup in awe again rather than thinking only of the UEFA Cup ties in Eastern Europe that it will bring.
Explore posts in the same categories: General Football Articles
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Just thought I’d add my tu’pence worth to your proposed new cup formats:
Champion’s League - Agree completely (hence the name “Champions”).
Also give the smaller nations’ clubs more of a chance of drawing a “big” name by not having so many qualifying rounds. UEFA seems to be doing all it can to kill the game outside England, Spain, Italy and Germany. The crowds and TV money that big European teams could bring to the likes of the Irish League could raise the quality of these Leagues immeasurably. Remember, the likes of Glentoran and Linfield have been as far as the quarter-finals of European competitions in the past!
UEFA Cup: Again agree completely (see above).
FA Cup: Oldest competition in the world ruined by greed. Not just Man U’s fault though. The competition has been declining since the late-90s due to lack of kudos. Hard to reverse.
League Cup: I’d take a slightly different slant on this. Allow Premiership club’s reserve teams to play in the competetion (maybe set Under-23 plus three over-age players limit?). Allows the blooding of young talent at a reasonable level, and this is really what happens at the moment, may as well make it official!
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:44 pm
I was tempted to say scrap the League Cup altogether and am still very close to advocating that route as I think it’s a competition that has really outlived it’s usefulness, whether that’s through the fault of the clubs or the governing bodies and their insistence on promoting the big clubs and money chasing over glory.
The cost issue of Irish League or League of Wales clubs having to travel long distances could make my suggestion unworkable in a British context but I think something radical needs to be done to bring any semblance of interest back to it.
For me the decline of the FA Cup is the saddest one as one of my abiding memories of childhood is watching the 1991 Cup Final with my dad and brother in the Football Club in Banbridge and going mad when Des Walker (Spurs reject) put through his own goal for Spurs to lift the trophy a then-record eighth time. Now it means nothing to clubs or fans.
Is this progress?