Saddened By The Lack Of Respect Shown To The F.a.cup

[tigerfish]

dont know about you, but the f.a.cup doesnt have the same hold on me as it did when i was growing up. i am a 39 year old life long arsenal fan, yes yesterdays result wasnt great, but it has no berring on why i feel the oldest cup competition in the world has lost its..... cant think of the word wright know.

anyway, i was born in london and brought up in WEMBLEY so you could say that i have a pretty good understanding of what final day in the middle of june is all about. i remember waking up as a kid and watching the b.b.c and i.t.v networks, all day until kick off. standing at the side of the road and watching all the coaches go by, seeing all the bars and pubs packed out, with fans trying to top up their tans on a sunny day, looking out for the team buses, etc, etc....

then their were the classics. the matches you never forget, some good some bad, being an arsenal fan. arsenal v ipswich, m.utd v liverpool, (it pains me to say it) but, tottenham v man city, tottenham v q.p.r., arsenal v man utd and arsenal v west ham and i am sure their are some games that you will all be to quick to remind me of previously and after. not to many though that i can think of though in the modern day.

then their are the goals that define the history and the romance of the f.a.cup. alan sunderlands extra time winner, after man. u came back from being 2 goals down to force extra -time. ricky villas goal for spurs, the boy wonder norman whitesides curler form the right handside touch line and many more.

so maybe as i reach my 40th birthday im not a kid anymore, far from! it but to me it just isnt the same.

so what is it?, well i think it is a mix of alot of things some more significant than others that have changed peoples attitude towards the way they look at the f.a.cup.

i can point out many things that i can think of, to try and put it into a smallish nutshell. money! the f.a., the clubs(i.e arsenal, man u, liverpool and chelsea) fielding weaker teams, the champions league, fixture lists, wembley itself. have you ever been to wembley what a shit hole, not the same place i grew up in. the new stadium, a shadow over half the pitch. the sale of tickets to so called supporting fans(or what i like to call the prawn sandwich brigade) f... off 5 minutes before half time and dont reappear until 10 minutes into the 2nd half. the cost for a father of 2 and a day out in the capital. overseas players, foreign management and ownership. replays on thursday evenings, semis being played at wembley itself, instead of highbury, villa park or hillsborough. it takes something away from the big occasion itself. sep blater and mechelle platini, noway into europe via the cup winners cup, seating and no standing room, and the list goes on and on.

i am interested to hear what you have to say on the matter and your views.

as an englishman i have seen enough things taken out and away from my country, concerning culture and indentity that is why i now reside in thailand. the f.a.cup and football in england is the envy of the world, just take a look around you in the land of smiles on a saturday and sunday evening.

ITS CALLED THE BEAUTIFUL GAME FOR A REASON , dont let them spoil it.

[bangkokrick]

I agree with you it seems to have lost it's magic over the past decade. When i was a kid it was the best thing that any team could win I think even including the 1st Division, as it was then. The great thing about the FA cup was that it produced 'the underdog' teams, there have been so may upsets over the years and my team Leeds have sure been involved in a few. It also gave the players in the lower clubs a chance to shine on the big stage when they were drawn against the big teams, so get a possible signing to one of them.

Sad to say that now the top premier sides don't even play their best team and rest the top players for more important events like the Champions league and of course the Premier. On a good note for Arsenal, at least they can concentrate on winning the Premier from now on and i think that they have a good chance this season.

Cheers, Rick

[sharecropper]

The early rounds are still good for big name knockouts, but maybe the emphasis on the top 4 fighting for the Premiership and European places has added more drama and tension to many Premiership games instead.

[NearestTheTee]

tigerfish

One of the biggest changes since you were watching the FA Cup as a kid is the number of foreign players. Take a look at the Arsenal squad of '84-'85. Foreign players in those days were Irish....Niall Quinn, David O'Leary etc. The majority, and i mean the MAJORITY were English!!!!!!!!!

IMHO, the more English players in the team = the more passion, pride and history about the oldest cup competition in the world

[tigerfish]

tigerfish

One of the biggest changes since you were watching the FA Cup as a kid is the number of foreign players. Take a look at the Arsenal squad of '84-'85. Foreign players in those days were Irish....Niall Quinn, David O'Leary etc. The majority, and i mean the MAJORITY were English!!!!!!!!!

IMHO, the more English players in the team = the more passion, pride and history about the oldest cup competition in the world

i agree totally, a sad but true fact!

[bangkokrick]

The early rounds are still good for big name knockouts, but maybe the emphasis on the top 4 fighting for the Premiership and European places has added more drama and tension to many Premiership games instead.

Hey. I am a Leeds supporter, so every round so far has been good for us! I take your point though and there are some great games to watch.

Cheers, Rick

[tigerfish]

I agree with you it seems to have lost it's magic over the past decade. When i was a kid it was the best thing that any team could win I think even including the 1st Division, as it was then. The great thing about the FA cup was that it produced 'the underdog' teams, there have been so may upsets over the years and my team Leeds have sure been involved in a few. It also gave the players in the lower clubs a chance to shine on the big stage when they were drawn against the big teams, so get a possible signing to one of them.

Sad to say that now the top premier sides don't even play their best team and rest the top players for more important events like the Champions league and of course the Premier. On a good note for Arsenal, at least they can concentrate on winning the Premier from now on and i think that they have a good chance this season.

Cheers, Rick

cheers rick, and thanks for the vote of confidence, hoping we win the league. somehow though and it pains me to say it, but i cant see the blue outfit from south of the river losing it. noway will man. u do it this year.

good luck in the replay against those yids from up round the dirty part of n.london. dont be too hard on our harry though, hes a true gooner at heart.

there that should ruffle a few feathers. only joking lads clam down, calm dowm.

and yes before anyone jumps down my throat i know the arsenal were originally founded in s.e. london

[bangkokrick]

I agree with you it seems to have lost it's magic over the past decade. When i was a kid it was the best thing that any team could win I think even including the 1st Division, as it was then. The great thing about the FA cup was that it produced 'the underdog' teams, there have been so may upsets over the years and my team Leeds have sure been involved in a few. It also gave the players in the lower clubs a chance to shine on the big stage when they were drawn against the big teams, so get a possible signing to one of them.

Sad to say that now the top premier sides don't even play their best team and rest the top players for more important events like the Champions league and of course the Premier. On a good note for Arsenal, at least they can concentrate on winning the Premier from now on and i think that they have a good chance this season.

Cheers, Rick

cheers rick, and thanks for the vote of confidence, hoping we win the league. somehow though and it pains me to say it, but i cant see the blue outfit from south of the river losing it. noway will man. u do it this year.

good luck in the replay against those yids from up round the dirty part of n.london. dont be too hard on our harry though, hes a true gooner at heart.

there that should ruffle a few feathers. only joking lads clam down, calm dowm.

and yes before anyone jumps down my throat i know the arsenal were originally founded in s.e. london

Thanks mate, the trouble is it's not often we can see these games on TV in Thailand, so i just hope it's televised. The Premier could go either way and there are still some 6 pointers to play.so keep the faith..

Did'nt know Arsenal were formed in SE London. We learn something everyday.

Cheers, Rick

[samuibeachcomber]

arsenal got what they deserved a quick exit and shows how much wenger wanted to win the FA cup.Its not like he has n't got the squad to compete for all three trophies.If they want the FAcup to be taken seriously it has to have instant qualification into europe.

on another note,i find the league championship more fun to watch than the premier league,reminds me of the old division 1.

[bangkokrick]

Tigerfish I think that this Yahoo article explains it all.

Wenger

[kennkate]

Have to agree it's not what it was. now it's all about money. The more you have the more you get.

my team ( scunthorpe) played there socks off yesterday against a Team with cash to spare. All credit to Scunthorpe

It was good football. But it would have been better without the imports.

we cannot turn back the clock. It would be nice if we could get back to the good old days

Sad as it is we have to live with it. To all the Leeds fans Good Luck

[Sparkles]

"Money is the root of all evil" an old cliche but so true in todays world of football. Managers are under pressure to prioritise the various compeitions and obviously for some clubs winning their division is paramount.

I grew up in Bedford UK ,my Grandfather played for our local team the "Eagles" whose main claim to fame was to draw with Arsenal ,in the 1950's, at Highbury in the FA Cup and losing the replay 2-1. The whole town was united in cheering them on, I still have the photos passed down through my family but those days are gone and if you happen to mention them people say "oh youre living in the past" if so seems like a nice place to me . Now we have mega rich middle eastern owners and Americans ,who wish they were mega rich and the powers that be have sold the game and will never retrieve it . Football has become a rich mans toy and we are the bit players that put more money in their pockets every time we switch on the TV , buy a shirt or heaven forbid can afford to go and watch a game live. Long live the FA Cup

[bangkokrick]

Have to agree it's not what it was. now it's all about money. The more you have the more you get.

my team ( scunthorpe) played there socks off yesterday against a Team with cash to spare. All credit to Scunthorpe

It was good football. But it would have been better without the imports.

we cannot turn back the clock. It would be nice if we could get back to the good old days

Sad as it is we have to live with it. To all the Leeds fans Good Luck

Great result and it shows that the spirit of the FA cup is not dead. thanks for the Leeds comment.

cheers, Rick

[rijit]

So the 'big four' have bigger fish to fry than the fa. cup SO WHAT! If they want to play there youngsters and second teams than like utd and arsenal than they have to take the rough with the smooth. Its still as important to everyone else as it was b4 . Don't bite the media hype so much!!

[pattayamike]

Tigerfish The final is played in May not June, Alan Sunderlands winner was in normal time.... Bangkokrick The games are televised on UBC!

[tigerfish]

Tigerfish The final is played in May not June, Alan Sunderlands winner was in normal time.... Bangkokrick The games are televised on UBC!

stand corrected! guilty.

[rijit]

"Money is the root of all evil" an old cliche but so true in todays world of football. Managers are under pressure to prioritise the various compeitions and obviously for some clubs winning their division is paramount.

I grew up in Bedford UK ,my Grandfather played for our local team the "Eagles" whose main claim to fame was to draw with Arsenal ,in the 1950's, at Highbury in the FA Cup and losing the replay 2-1. The whole town was united in cheering them on, I still have the photos passed down through my family but those days are gone and if you happen to mention them people say "oh youre living in the past" if so seems like a nice place to me . Now we have mega rich middle eastern owners and Americans ,who wish they were mega rich and the powers that be have sold the game and will never retrieve it . Football has become a rich mans toy and we are the bit players that put more money in their pockets every time we switch on the TV , buy a shirt or heaven forbid can afford to go and watch a game live. Long live the FA Cup

Sparks love the imagery that u conjure up,its just so nice, And it still works for smaller clubs going to bigger clubs. Exeter went and played at leeds earlier this season It was totally amazing and the fa cup to everyone outside of the top 4 is a bonus and wecomed open armed . But Lets be honest football has always been rich mans play thing , just b4 the owners were just business men, gregory at qpr , purcer at millwall, edwards at utd ect ect. there wasnt really a global market available then, but rest assured what ever market there was these guys who were greedy nasty self interested little shits would have wanted their fair or unfair share of it.

football IN terms of cash Today is abso, no diference to the 1960s, but the figures all have a extra few noughts on them. just as any other commodity in the world has. for example back in 68 astle at west brom was reputed to be paid 1000 per week , couldnt he have bought a house every second week? , so maybe that makes rooneys pay packet of 100, g s a week maybe makes his buying power less than astles was back in the day. football has always been about cash and always will.

[bangkokrick]

Tigerfish The final is played in May not June, Alan Sunderlands winner was in normal time.... Bangkokrick The games are televised on UBC!

stand corrected! guilty.

Thanks for the information mate.

Cheers, Rick

[carmine]

The two main reasons for the devaluing of the FA cup are; the doing away with the cup winners cup and the "big four" thinking they have bigger fish to fry,and foreign managers (not all) with no regard or respect for it's place in the history of English football.

[SweatySock]

Isn't one of the reasons why the FA Cup has lost some of its magic down to televised football?

I seem to remember that the FA Cup Final was one of the few games televised live and hence was just that bit special.

Nowadays there are multiple games televised live every weekend.

[siggie2]

The early rounds are still good for big name knockouts, but maybe the emphasis on the top 4 fighting for the Premiership and European places has added more drama and tension to many Premiership games instead.

Hey. I am a Leeds supporter, so every round so far has been good for us! I take your point though and there are some great games to watch.

Cheers, Rick

Well done Leeds,who could have feilded a weakened team also.

The only people to blame is the Wengers and Sir Rednose for this.So Mardass Wenger put a weakened side out,who bought these players in the first place.If he cant get a strong squad then sorry but its his own fault and also the players for having small balls against a powerhouse side,not dirty but effective.

At 1-1 he bought on Arshavin and co but still conceded 2 more due to the old man Sol,another poor buy.

Manager and players cocked up this game for the fans,as the likes of Leeds keeps this competition a showpiece.

GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARN STOKE

[NearestTheTee]

arsenal got what they deserved a quick exit and shows how much wenger wanted to win the FA cup.Its not like he has n't got the squad to compete for all three trophies.If they want the FAcup to be taken seriously it has to have instant qualification into europe.

on another note,i find the league championship more fun to watch than the premier league,reminds me of the old division 1.

Agree. And the Championship supporters seem more voiciferous and passionate throughout the whole match. Is it because they have more 'diehard supporters'? Seen their team through thick and thin, promotion, relegation etc.