Shake-up required if Cup is to maintain excitement

THE CHAIRMAN

FALLING attendances, apathy from clubs in the Premier League, and only two major shocks in the third round. Whatever happened to the magic of the FA Cup?

Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan thinks it is still alive but may be starting to fade – and last night urged the Football Association to make changes.

Ryan, whose side visit Derby County this weekend in the fourth round, thinks top-flight clubs should be kept apart until the fifth round stage.

He believes the introduction of a seeding system in rounds three and four will not only guarantee more giant-killing opportunities but help lower division clubs financially and spice up the oldest Cup competition in the world.

"Something needs to be done because, although I don't like to say this, the FA Cup has started to lose a little bit of its magic," he said. "Excitement grows in the latter rounds but, for many, the early rounds are not as vital as they should be.

"Money is one of the big reasons, money for staying in the Championship or the Premier League," he added. "At least if Premier League clubs were kept away from each other early on it would make the draws more interesting.

"Both the FA Cup and Carling Cup have been devalued in recent years by various top-flight clubs fielding weakened sides but I understand their points of view, " he said. "The money is immense in the Premier League yet for clubs in the Championship the FA Cup remains an important source of income. Personally, I regard the FA Cup as a great tradition and a great opportunity for smaller clubs to have a go at the big boys."

Only 5,335 supporters attended the third round tie between top-flight rivals Wigan Athletic and Hull City while Sheffield Wednesday opted to close the Hillsborough Kop due to a lack of demand for tickets against Crystal Palace.

"Some of the gates did not shock me," reflected Ryan. "The credit crunch is affecting everyone and many of the ties were not that interesting. There were only 2,800 watching our third round tie at Brentford on Tuesday night but I think we should have a few more when we play Derby this weekend.

"It will be a tough game but I know our manager, Sean O'Driscoll, will be keen to win and progress as far as we can. As long as you are lucky with injuries, there is no reason why the Cup should get in the way of the league.

"You only have to look what Burnley achieved last season," he stressed. "They had a squad of 20 players but reached the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, the fifth round of the FA Cup, and won promotion to the Premier League."

Despite the apathy towards some games, the overall average attendance for this season's third round was the highest for 30 years. Figures released by the FA showed that the 28 ties played on third round weekend attracted a total attendance of 514,172 people, which is an average of 18,363. Not since 1979-80 had so many turned out to watch this stage of the competition. It also represented a healthy increase on the third round average of 15,391 the season before.

The average was swelled significantly, however, by a 74,526 gate at Old Trafford where League One leaders Leeds United pulled off the shock of the round against Premier League champions Manchester United

Apart from Doncaster and Leeds, only Sheffield United have survived to fly the flag for Yorkshire in this weekend's fourth round. The Blades visit Premier League side Bolton Wanderers while Leeds have another televised trip to a top flight club in Tottenham.

There are three all-Premier ties as Everton host Birmingham City, Portsmouth take on Sunderland, and Stoke City face Arsenal. Only Notts County and Accrington Stanley represent the fourth tier or lower.

THE MANAGER

Martin Foyle

York City

IT means a lot more to lower league sides than those in the Premier League because they are chasing European football and the money that brings.

That's wrong in my view. You should want to win every competition.

I think the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League are happy to make a bit of money and then get out it so they can concentrate on their league programme.

The others have such big squads they can give reserve team players match practice and it doesn't make much difference to the strength of the side. When they get to the fourth or fifth round, they see what is ahead of them.

I still regard the FA Cup as the best Cup competition in the world. As a manager, you can't wait for the Cup draw and get excited waiting for the numbers to come out of the hat.

I have never lost the feelings I had as a young boy when I sat down in front of the television on a Saturday morning to watch the build-up to the Cup final.

Then, as soon as the game finished, we would be out in the park with a football trying to re-create what we had just seen!

The FA Cup fixtures are still one of the first things I look for in the calendar.

It is important for clubs like us in terms of income and as you progress it generates interest among the supporters.

Our involvement this season was absolutely fantastic, we starting in the fourth qualifying round and went out to a Premier League club in the third round.

It gave our players the chance to shine on Match of the Day. York City has endured a lot of doom and gloom since going out of the league a few years ago but this season's FA Cup gave everyone a bit of hope for the future.

THE FAN

Steve Watts

Leeds United

WINNING away at Manchester United was one of the best experiences I have had supporting Leeds.

Other than winning it, I can't imagine anything topping that in the FA Cup now.

Just seeing the looks on the faces of the United fans was brilliant.

They were gutted and we had waited a long time for that result.

I had gone to the game thinking that a draw would be brilliant never mind a win. When Jermaine Beckford scored, the roof went up. It will go down in history.

You can't get a ticket for love nor money for the Tottenham game this weekend.

They all sold out within 10 minutes of going on sale online. That shows you that the FA Cup is still important to us.

Obviously, winning promotion is the main aim this season, we need to get out of League One, but the tradition of the FA Cup is also important and should be nurtured.

Look at the memories we have had over the years – I watched the Chelsea final (1970) on our first colour television, we won it against Arsenal in 1972, and I remember crying at my mate's house after losing to Sunderland in 1973.

I do think there are too many games these days, like the Johnstone's Paint Trophy which is a Mickey Mouse competition, and it is not easy for people to afford them all.

Going to Old Trafford probably cost me about 200 as the day started in a pub at 7.30am in the morning.

I am working this weekend which means I can't go to White Hart Lane but I hope to get finished early to watch the game on TV.

If we stay in the Cup, that will be good news. Even if we get beat, we can go out with our heads held high.

We are different to a lot of other clubs because we always sell our allocation of tickets for away games.

I don't blame the FA Cup for what has happened in the three games since Old Trafford; the Beckford situation has something to do with that and, hopefully, that is now sorted.

THE PLAYER

Nick Montgomery

Sheffield United

THE FA Cup is not as important as winning the Premier League or getting promotion to the Championship – but there are a lot of Premier League teams who know they are not going to win anything else and see it as their main chance for glory.

I think that if you ask any player, they will all say that is their big dream: to play in an FA Cup final. You might get to play at Wembley in a play-off finals but there are two teams from each division who get there each season and the FA Cup is something extra special.

I am sure our opponents this weekend, Bolton Wanderers, are one of those clubs who want to go as far as they can.

There are no points at stake but every player will be trying to get through to the next round. I actually captained the side against Bolton in the Cup a few years ago and we won at the Reebok Stadium.

I even played that afternoon despite having a broken bone in my foot – so that shows you what the FA Cup means to me.

I have enjoyed some of my best moments as a player in the FA Cup.

I played in a semi-final against Arsenal and we beat Leeds United at a time when they had some very expensive players. You don't forget things like that in a hurry.

People go on about the attendances in the third round but don't forget there was a lot of really bad weather around and the recession has caused a lot of problems.

I think the magic of the Cup is still alive – that is why you get teams like Reading beating Liverpool and Leeds beating Manchester United.

As a player, it is a massive opportunity for you to do really well. No-one at Bramall Lane will be taking this weekend's game lightly.