The devaluation of the FA Cup Final

[Steve.5]

Once this match was the closing curtain of the English football season (unless fixture congestion played a part)
Now thanks to the mercenaries at the FA & SKY dictating affairs it has become a sorry side stall.
Not only has it been dropped from from its status it has also been shifted to a tea time kick off.

It appears that managers, clubs & the powers that be treat this old established Engish tradition as, of which they claim to be proud of, nothing more than an over priced third rate event in which the overlooked fans swell the coffers.

[rowanwitch]

I want a years gloating rights over Redman

[triggerhippy]

For Funks Sake, it put back 2 hrs, you bunch of jessies, what is wrong with you?
tell you what, why don't you protest and watch the voice instead?

[Duncer]

Fair's fair triggerhappy, I wouldn't fancy trying to get home from Wembley to anywhere outside London if the game went to extra time and penalties. I'm going to the Irish Cup final in Belfast this weekend and I will be tucked up in bed in Falkirk before some Liverpool fans even get home. And I will have had the pleasure of watching the FA Cup final in a pub before I even leave Belfast. And yes, I know, I shouldn't begin sentences with "and".

[FredPuli43]

Got it! It's at 5.15 because the 2000 Guineas is at 3.10. Very thoughtful of the FA to consider those who want to attend, but it only gives 2 hours to get to Wembley from Newmarket. Just possible. Perhaps they think we all have helicopters, like the jockeys?

[Hopkirk]

The FA Cup final used to be about the only time we could see a live game on the tele.

If you could wind back the years, then it might feel a bit special again.

[stanwixman]

i thought the champions league wasnt at Wembley till next year so why does that affect the date of this years fa cup

[Gromit]

The FA Cup is devalued. With the onset of more channels and satellite broadcasting more full live games have come to our TVs. That is a good thing. The increased TV viewers have enhanced the European competitions, the Champions League, Europa Cup and European Championships. That is a good thing. And we have a good recent record for qualifying for the World Cup. That too is good.

So there is more football to see. The FA Cup is just another competition. Why does it matter if kick-off is a couple of hours later than 3pm? Many more people work in shops and supermarkets than 30 years ago and work Saturdays.

[ichkeria]

The trouble with Linfield being in the Main Cup Final of the day is that it means the wonderfully (o)rotund David Jeffrey won't be treating armchair fans to a bit of commentary box badinage with Jackie Fullerton :-)

As for the support act, well it's sad for Liverpool fans I suppose but I can't see how having a 5.15 kick off devalues the game. Surely it means a bigger TV audience? The days when the FA Cup Final was the only live game on TV for months ended a lifetime ago.
The fetishisation of the FA Cup is one of the more bizarre sporting phenomena. No one gives a s**t about it really, but somehow we hate to see it "devalued". I heard a couple of commentators on 5 Live recently deploring the fact that one of the semi-finals clashed with a Premier league game and hence we couldn't watch both on TV. However, in the so-called "golden age" of the FA Cup the semi finals weren't televised at all.
Anyway, no one told ESPN it was losing its appeal - their build-up starts 9 hours before kick-off, the equivalent of the old BBC Grandstand screening their "It's a Cup Final Knockout" at 6am!

[Duncer]

Ichkeria, many thanks for elevating our little affair in Belfast to the "Main Cup Final of the day"; it certainly is for me as the Blues always take precendence over the glamour teams of England and Scotland. What a shame big DJ and our Jackie are denied to a wider UK audience, and by "shame" I mean "small mercy". DJ is a gem of a guy though, and great company.

My memories of the FA Cup are mainly those of a young boy when we had FA Cup "It's A Knockout", followed by a lengthy build up and cameras on the team coaches on the way to Wembley, and even my football hating mother and sister would watch the Final on telly with me. My memories of Linfield from that age are very strong too, even if the team weren't quite so strong back then, and I attribute a lot of that to my age as I was an impressionable young boy just falling in love with the game. Rose tinted glasses are a wonderful thing.

The onset of the Champion's League has destroyed the FA Cup as teams would now rather finish fourth in the Premier League and attempt to qualify for Mammon's Holy Grail of the group stages, rather than actually win a trophy. Foreign managers from backgrounds where cups are a sideshow have also helped, although nearly all managers now rest major players for the FA Cup. Therre are many reasons for the current situation and, in my opinion, it was devalued many, many years ago.

My major dilemma now is - do I accept two freebies in hospitality for the Hibs v Hearts Scottish Cup Final in Glasgow, or do I spend a fortune and go to Twickenham to support Ulster. It will cost me £10:20 to get to Glasgow. I am truly torn.

[ichkeria]

Duncer,
The "David and Jackie" double act was some consolation to me during the League Cup Final when we (Coleraine) lost to Crusaders.
I admire the way big DJ stands up for the Irish League. And he always seems very fair in his assessments.

[ichkeria]

...and I want to go to Twickenham too, for the atmosphere if nothing else. Half my family are from Leinster so I can't lose really, but an Ulster win would be amazing.

[Duncer]

A few of my good friends here in Scotland are Coleraine fans and I was almost as disappointed as they were when your side failed to show up for the League Cup final. I know Oran Kearney well and he is a lovely guy, and the Bannsiders can play much better than they did that day. I reckon they are a good shout for one of the cups next year, although the league may be a wee bit beyond them. As you say, DJ is a great advocate for the IL, and it's good to see the game get some coverage on Sky. Too many people dismiss it as rubbish without ever even having seen a game.