Lack of top 4 teams in FA Cup. Good or Bad?

[Disgruntled Goat]

From 1967-1980 we had a different team win every year.

From 1996 -2007 only a team from Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal or Man U. have won.

This year will be different. Some bemoan the loss of 'decent' teams, but all the teams left have got there on merit. I think it's great, although I wish ill upon Cardiff (or to be more precise, their fans).

 

[Landslide]

From what I've seen of the "Big Four" and their respective cup exits it doesn't seem that they've played poorly (except perhaps the Arse rolling over at Old Trafford), and like you say all the teams left in have done it on merit.

I think it's great that the recent winners' monopoly will be broken.

 

[mr_hippo]

Why do you think it 'cheapens' the competition? It is, in my opinion, possibly, the hardest domestic competition to win. With a league competition, you are playing with your peers, you know their style of play/speed, you know that state of the pitch, you are familiar with the opposition and almost 40 chances to get to the top. With the FA cup, you have one chance to get it right or else you are eliminated (Yes, I do know that there are replays in case of a draw). Let's pretend that my local club, Prescot Cables - currently 12th in the Unibond league - do extremely well next season, qualify for the FA Cup 1st round and win, also win in round 2 and then face Arsenal in round 3. What hope do Cables have of winning? Possibly 2 - no hope and Bob Hope and he's dead! Arsenal - put a reserve team , won't have to try too hard, 'it's a training session. Cables - Wow! Chance to be seen on TV, possibly only time I'll play on a 'proper' ground We've got nothing to lose so go for it! This is the FA Cup, dreams and nightmares happen!
So, the 'big four' are out - this enhances the competition and not cheapens it. By the way, Cables have competed in the FA cup 1st round proper - losing to Hartlepool in 57/58 and Darlington in 59/60.
If you want to read a fictional account of the FA Cup, try "How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup" by JL Carr - still in print.

 

[trustysteed]

i'm a man utd fan and while i'm a bit peed off they're out, it does mean that the semis and final will be exciting as the last unlikely teams battle it out. fair play to all of them.

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

The poll is lacking an option of "It doesn't have wheels, so who cares!!"

 

[Keith Oates]

The quality of the football may drop a little with none of the big teams playing but the excitement will not drop one iota!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

portsmouth v west brom
barnsley v cardiff

 

[Maz]

portsmouth v west brom

i wouldnt be surprised if the baggies won this one.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

if the presence of the smaller teams in the late stages demeans the cup, what the hell is the point of it? is it meant to be ok for the minnows to knockout some of the big boys up to round 4, but then it's time to leave it for the big time charlies?

i, for one, am delighted with the way the weekend went.

 

[Jaded]

Indeed - if the "Big 4" are expected to be in the Semi finals then just start off the competition with those four teams. It would all be over in two weekends. Alex Ferguson would be happy too.

 

[Maz]

if the presence of the smaller teams in the late stages demeans the cup, what the hell is the point of it? is it meant to be ok for the minnows to knockout some of the big boys up to round 4, but then it's time to leave it for the big time charlies?

i, for one, am delighted with the way the weekend went.

too right. thats the magic of the cup. priceless.

 

[QuickDraw]

It would cheapen it if it happened all the time. If the FA Cup was won by a Championship team or Premiership struggler every year it would have to be downgraded as a competition.

For this season it will give it some extra feelgood factor for now but not many people are going to change their plans for the weekend to watch Barnsley v Cardiff they way they would have for Chelsea v Man U. And I imagine the international viewing figures will drop dramatically for the final this year, so in the court of public opinion it will have been cheapened.

Having said that it's brilliant to see the Premiership big guns getting a football lesson.

 

[User482]

The last time the competition was won by a team outside the top division was West Ham in 1980. High time that record was broken.

 

[rich p]

Perhaps it's an indication of how little the foreign contingents in the Big 4 regard the FA Cup these days. The so-called Big 4 would rather finish 4th in the Premier than win the cup if they were given the choice.

 

[Haitch]

Sorry, the fact that four 'minnows' are through to the semis, nice though it is, shows that the magic has gone out of the FA Cup. The big teams are more interested in Europe.