Uncle Albert Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 I remember when I watched my first FA Cup Final, Liverpool v Man United in 1996, the Spice Boys in the cream suits! I was 5 years old and I was just getting into Football properly, Steve Mcmanaman was my hero. The day started at 8am, the coverage on BBC1 was incredible. You had cameras at the teams hotels, you had the famous TV personalities doing things on their teams.. The FA Cup Final was a full day event, 8am right up until about 7pm at night. Before the Final, you had the wonderful Semi Finals at Villa Park and Old Trafford.. Everyone can remember the Man United v Arsenal Semi Final in 1999. My question is, when did the FA Cup lose its buzz for you? For me it was when it moved to the new Wembley. I really liked the Millennium Stadium, purely down to the fact I seen Liverpool win the FA Cup there in 2001. Nevermind the Gerrard Final of 2006. Now we have the draw being made for the next round before teams have even played, teams lose the buzz of playing at Wembley because they're more excited about getting a semi final spot (look at the Forest Fans.. "1 game from Wembley") they should be saying that when they're in the semi final, the kick off time being changed to 5pm, the BBC not having the rights to show the game and probably a few other things.
Kent Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 I think the semis being played at Wembley and also that top level football is on TV every weekend as opposed to more special occasions in the olden days have been the two biggest factors. I don't think it's the last fixture on the calendar anymore either which in my opinion takes away a bit of the sense of occasion as well.
Uncle Albert Posted 17 February 2014 Author Posted 17 February 2014 I think the semis being played at Wembley and also that top level football is on TV every weekend as opposed to more special occasions in the olden days have been the two biggest factors. I don't think it's the last fixture on the calendar anymore either which in my opinion takes away a bit of the sense of occasion as well. That's the point I couldn't remember, it used to be the Final game of the season, now you play a couple of League games after the FA Cup Final.
Nick Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 For me the cups drift in and drift out of importance. I think the reason for this is that the league and promotion is a priority, though when sitting comfortably mid table with no real signs of any possibility of league success, irrelevant of whether it's in L1, Championship or Prem, the cups become something of excitement and interest.
Craig Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 Give it a CL place and watch it become the holy grail again. Ridiculous really.
purpleronnie Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 There seemed plenty of buzz at the sheff utd game yesterday.
Bert Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 It's started to become a real farce since the semis were played at wembley. But I think it's partly down to the money that clubs get from the tv companies for staying in the prem which has changed everyone's outlook on the FA Cup. Teams would nowadays happily finish 16th in the prem and get knocked out in the cup at the third round. I remember the days also, of the FA Cup programme starting at 9am. You'd have everything, interviews, fans, teams routes to the final etc, it was great.
Captain... Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 When money became more important than winning trophies.
Kitchandro Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 When Man Utd decided it wasn't worth competing in. Well, it seemed to be around that time, I'm sure that wasn't the only reason. It was still popular and attracted big crowds until the late 90s/early 2000s. It seemed at that point though attendances started to dwindle. Certainly playing the semis at Wembley hasn't helped, nor has Sky Sports bigging up the Champions League and 4th place etc (and the fans buying into it). I also think every match should be either live on the BBC or not at all, with all highlights being on the Beeb too. Essentially, 'the buzz' is all about the interest from the general public. There was a time when even a crap tie was one of the best attendances of the season, that was even still the case in the mid 90s. Now, almost every match is poorly attended. It's all very well saying the magic of the cup is alive because a lower league team takes it seriously but that's because they're playing a bigger/better team, not because it's the Cup. For it to get it's buzz back all teams need to take it seriously. And obviously that won't happen until it's given some sort of injection, i.e: awarding a Champions League place to the winners.
Fox92 Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 When money comes ahead of winning the FA Cup. See Villa this year... I still love the FA Cup, I stand by my opinion that it's the greatest trophy in the World, and I wish more teams would give it the respect it deserves. Playing the semi's at Wembley, having the final during the season, the 3pm date has been moved recently as well, tv, money all ruined it.
Leicesterpool Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 Biggest problem is having the semi's at wembley it takes the shine of the final! once again they try everything to keep everything in london! Ideally the semi finals should be at Old Trafford, Villa Park, millennium stadium or even Hampden Park.
Uncle Albert Posted 17 February 2014 Author Posted 17 February 2014 Biggest problem is having the semi's at wembley it takes the shine of the final! once again they try everything to keep everything in london! Ideally the semi finals should be at Old Trafford, Villa Park, millennium stadium or even Hampden Park.
Captain... Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 Money talks, and nobody would jeopardise the following money for an FA cup: Premier League: The Premier League has secured its status as world football’s richest competition with an astonishing £3.018billion deal for domestic TV rights for three years.The league champions next season can expect to earn close to £100 million in broadcast earnings while the bottom club can expect their earnings to go up from £39.8 million, which Queens Park Rangers picked up this season, to around £63 million.The way the Premier League distributes its TV money means half of the total cash from the domestic deals is divided equally between the member clubs, and all of the overseas broadcasting income is also split equally.A further 25 per cent of domestic TV income is split as merit money depending on where each club finish in the league, and the final 25 per cent is paid in ‘facility fees’ for each time a club’s matches are shown on television in the UK. If my calculations are correct on the current deal Sky pay out around £1.25 million for every live game, + £50million for each club, + a prize pot depending on where you finish, (if someone can verify that I would appreciate it), Champions League: The net amount available to the participating clubs will be split – €500.7m in fixed payments and €409.6m in variable amounts (market pool). This will be distributed according to the proportional value of each television market represented by the clubs taking part in the UEFA Champions League (group stage onwards), and will be split among those sides competing from a given association.The 32 clubs featuring in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage can anticipate a minimum €8.6m – and the team that goes on to win the trophy next spring could collect €37.4m, not counting the market pool share.Each of the 32 sides involved in the group stage will collect a base fee of €8.6m. Performance bonuses will also see €1m paid for a win and €500,000 for a draw in the group phase.The teams competing in the round of 16 can also expect to pick up €3.5m each, the quarter-finalists €3.9m and the semi-finalists €4.9m. The UEFA Champions League winners will receive €10.5m and the runners-up €6.5m. Fa Cup:Winners get £1.8millionThe FA live broadcast fee for the Fifth Round is £247,500, The prize fund is £180,000 Sad but true, money talks.
CPW22 Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 I think the buzz is returning, both the Everton and Arsenal games yesterday were good games of football and the atmosphere seemed ok. Agree it's not what is was though. I haven't enjoyed it since the defeat to Wycombe.
Richard Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 The fact that we've never won it makes it a big deal for us definitely
Kitchandro Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 I think the buzz is returning, both the Everton and Arsenal games yesterday were good games of football and the atmosphere seemed ok. Agree it's not what is was though. I haven't enjoyed it since the defeat to Wycombe. That doesn't mean the buzz is returning. Goodison Park is nearly always full and obviously Arsenal Liverpool is going to be well attended. Plus it's the latter stages really. When Stoke v Leicester in the 3rd round hits 25k you can say the buzz is returning somewhat.
LCFC FOX Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 FA Cup - Every Club League Cup - Championship to Skrill Prem (Swap the prem clubs with the skrill prem clubs) JPT - League One and Two as normal Just a suggestion that could spice the competitions up a little?
RonnieTodger Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 FA Cup - Every Club League Cup - Championship to Skrill Prem (Swap the prem clubs with the skrill prem clubs) JPT - League One and Two as normal Just a suggestion that could spice the competitions up a little? But they're non-league teams? I agree with Bert. There used to be cup final themed programs like Question of Sport etc. It really is on its knees now. All down to money.
Kitchandro Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 FA Cup - Every Club League Cup - Championship to Skrill Prem (Swap the prem clubs with the skrill prem clubs) JPT - League One and Two as normal Just a suggestion that could spice the competitions up a little? So you're going to spice the FA Cup up by removing Premiership clubs from the league cup? I don't think you've thought this through.
Captain... Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 When Sky first bought all the prem rights, I think the FA cup had a bit of a boost as it was the only live TV available on normal TV, and you would watch it as for those without Sky Sports it was a rare chance to watch a live Liverpool or Man United match. I think now most people have Sky Sports, or a way to stream it on the computer, so it loses that buzz, and those that do watch a lot of live football may even see it as a weekend off to go and do something rather than watch footy. That and the fact now highlights aren't on the BBC, ITV does shit coverage of anything, whereas you would watch it in the usual MOTD slot, just out of habit. I also think we are close to reaching saturation point with the amount of live football you can watch, I know I am, there is so much live footy on TV these days I only really bother if Leicester are playing or I'm watching it down the pub with a mate, or I may have it on in the background while doing something else.
Trav Le Bleu Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 It lost it's buzz when ITV got the sole freeview rights. The highlights are abysmal. A 2 min openning sequence, which involves very dull sounding people talking about the passion of the cup, 5 mins of the first half, 5 min adverts, 5 min second half and then 10 min discussion about the game by people who patently don't understand it (I'm looking at you Andy Townsend! )
Vlad the Fox Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 I think the semis being played at Wembley and also that top level football is on TV every weekend as opposed to more special occasions in the olden days have been the two biggest factors. I don't think it's the last fixture on the calendar anymore either which in my opinion takes away a bit of the sense of occasion as well. It's started to become a real farce since the semis were played at wembley. But I think it's partly down to the money that clubs get from the tv companies for staying in the prem which has changed everyone's outlook on the FA Cup. Teams would nowadays happily finish 16th in the prem and get knocked out in the cup at the third round. I remember the days also, of the FA Cup programme starting at 9am. You'd have everything, interviews, fans, teams routes to the final etc, it was great. Also cup games being spread over 4-5 days, different kick off times, I think there was one cup game at 3pm on Saturday. Plus years ago you would get cup tickets included in your season tickets which would encourage fans to turn up to round three and four games that people don't appear to be interested in now.
Mike the Metal Ed Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 It lost it's buzz when ITV got the sole freeview rights. The highlights are abysmal. A 2 min openning sequence, which involves very dull sounding people talking about the passion of the cup, 5 mins of the first half, 5 min adverts, 5 min second half and then 10 min discussion about the game by people who patently don't understand it (I'm looking at you Andy Townsend! ) And putting the actual draw coverage in a box too small to see, especially if you're watching on some 15" monitor in a football ground. If constant reminders of the draw numbers are so important, just put them in an overlay. As for the last four ties, just have the summary at the end.
Corky Posted 17 February 2014 Posted 17 February 2014 Clubs prioritising the league money ahead of winning a trophy. Such a sad state of affairs where finishing 14th instead of 16th is more important than winning the FA Cup. Managers using the lame excuse of it being a distraction. Sorry, how can playing football be a distraction? Really pleased with Gus Poyet's mentality this season, using the cups to help league form and bring excitement to the fans. Cup runs and league form don't have to be mutually exclusive. Sadly, I think it is beyond repair, and we just have to accept that some clubs don't want the hassle of it. I will be very disappointed if we go the same way should we get promoted, and the excuse of "well, other clubs do it" shouldn't wash. For me, it lost some importance when they moved it from the last game of the season to include in a weekend with Premier League games. It should be a showpiece event, deserving of it's own day/ weekend. Semi-finals should have remained at Villa Park and Old Trafford (maybe the Emirates now too) and the final played at 3pm.
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