The FA Cup would be taken seriously if the prize was a Champions League place

• FA Cup draws used to be as thrilling as Champions League ones are now
• Competition is belittled by fourth-placed Premier League club earning place among Europe's elite instead of FA Cup winners
• This simple change would return FA Cup to its former glory
• Bernie Ecclestone absurd to favour F1 engine noise of crowd roar
• Moving tribute by FA to delay kick-offs for Hillsborough 25th anniversary

By Patrick Collins

PUBLISHED: 18:00 EST, 22 March 2014 | UPDATED: 18:00 EST, 22 March 2014

The location was unremarkable, a small theatre in UEFA’s headquarters in the Swiss town of Nyon. And the ceremony was admirably understated, with dear old Luis Figo indolently fishing plastic balls from a Perspex bowl. Yet the tension was undeniable, because they were making the draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. And the thrill felt strangely familiar.

Some of us recognised that feeling from a hundred similar ceremonies involving plastic balls and coded numbers. We remember those dry, bloodless tones, informing us that ‘Number 38, Hartlepool United, will play Number 3, Arsenal.’ And we imagined the whoops and yells breaking out in the Hartlepool dressing room.

They were the days when the FA Cup occupied a central place in the English season, when footballers and fans alike would speak of Wembley as if it were Valhalla.

With the world watching: Ex-Real Madrid and Portugal star Luis Figo draws out Manchester United on Friday

Jubilation: West Brom's players (including the late Sir Bobby Robson, second left) hear they have been drawn against FA Cup holders Tottenham back in 1963

Centre stage: Swansea City fans listen to the FA Cup draw in 1964

A small experiment may demonstrate the current status of the competition. Ask a selection of keen football followers to recite that European quarter-final draw. There will be some hesitation, the odd mistake, but such is the status of the clubs involved that most fans would readily supply chapter and verse.

Now ask those same fans to detail the draw for the semi-finals of the FA Cup. I suggest that many would struggle to come up with Wigan Athletic v Arsenal and Sheffield United v Hull City. For it is now a contest of small consequence, an event which barely registers on the nation’s radar.

The FA Cup has become a competition which makes shifty evaders of upright managers: ‘You want to know why we’re putting out our third team? Well, our striker’s hamstring has tweaked, our winger’s grandmother has expired, and the work experience kid’s in goal on account of the virus which wiped out all our other keepers. Thankfully, they’ll all be fit for next week, apart, of course, from the winger’s grannie.’

Adulation: Wigan's matchwinner Ben Watson lifts the FA Cup trophy at Wembley last May

It is what we have come to, yet it does not have to be like that. With a single, modest adjustment, the Cup could regain its central place on our sporting stage. Quite simply, the winners of the FA Cup should automatically qualify for one of England’s four places in the Champions League. The idea is not original but the alarming decline of the competition lends it a desperate urgency.

At the moment, the Cup winners are rewarded with a place in the group stage of the Europa League, which is rather like winning the Lottery and sharing the prize with half a million other lucky punters. But a guaranteed place in the Champions League, with all that entails in terms of finance and status, is a different matter. Overnight, treatment tables would empty, excuses would evaporate and football managers would start to tell the truth. In short, the FA Cup would come roaring back to life.

Naturally, there is a snag, and that snag is called the Premier League. Suggest to almost any of the club chairmen that they should voluntarily cede a Champions League place and their indignation would be wondrous to behold. For Europe is the place where profits are measured in multiples of millions.

The prospect of Europe, however remote for some, is the carrot which enticed them to join their 20-club cabal in the first place. And yet, from time to time, this self-serving gang need reminding that the game is not merely a vehicle for their profits or their profile. The FA Cup existed and flourished long before they invested a single dollar, dinar or rouble, and if the task of restoring it to its proper place should cause them some slight financial inconvenience, then so be it.

Clearly, the people who ought to be fighting this cause are those entrusted with the welfare of the FA Cup competition. But the FA’s record of standing up to the Premier League is not impressive. As the body responsible for the governance of English football, the FA had the power to shape football’s future when the League was formed in 1992. Tragically, they lacked the vision to dictate intelligent terms. Today, they appear to lack both the clout and courage to take on the men with the money.

And yet, the stakes are genuinely important. In itself, the act of prising a European place from the hands of the Premier League could be seen as little more than a political manoeuvre. But the practical effects would be enormous.

Europe's elite? Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005 yet have qualified for the Champions League every year

Over the past five seasons, the fourth-placed Premier League team have finished 18, 16, 12, 20 and 16 points — an average of 16.4 points — behind the winners.

Fourth place in the Olympics, no matter how close to the winner you are, does not get you on the podium. Fourth place in a Parliamentary election usually means a lost deposit. And yet, in modern English football, such a trifling achievement offers an entry into the European elite. 

It is totally illogical and demonstrably unjust, and the FA must find the nerve to say so.

For 142 years, their trophy has found a fond place in the heart of our game. They have a duty to preserve its power and its glory.

Responsibility: FA chairman Greg Dyke (centre) needs to fight for the Cup

Time to turn a deaf ear to F1's big noises

Motor racing has been attempting to civilise the fuel-guzzling, air-polluting affront to the environment that is Formula One.

Engine manufacturers insisted that F1’s technology needs to be more relevant to their road car programmes. They, therefore, voted to switch from V8 engines to the quieter, greener V6 turbo. This, it appears, puts a far greater premium on driving skill and also allows the cheers of the crowd to be heard, something which was impossible with the ear-splitting V8s.

We imagined that this enlightened move would meet with universal approval. Not at all. Bernie Ecclestone, the famously feisty chief executive of F1, declared himself ‘horrified’ by the change. Not loud enough, apparently; certainly not as loud as, say, the slipstream of a Boeing 747. As Bernie put it: ‘These cars don’t sound like racing cars.’ So he wants to make them a great deal louder.

Bring the noise: F1 supremo bernie Ecclestone has criticised the new regulations on the sport

But if this may be passed off as the harmless eccentricity of an 83-year-old billionaire, then what to make of Andrew Westacott, who enjoys the title of ‘Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chief Executive’. He believed that the new rules detract from the ‘sexiness’ of the event. He complained that he did not need earplugs.

Finally, he described the noise in the pit lane as being like ‘harpsichords in a chamber orchestra’. I note that the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra are performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on Wednesday evening. If our Andrew is correct, it may be well worth a visit.

But we should not take him seriously, any more than we should indulge Ecclestone’s yearning for deafening decibels.

Instead, we should hope that the reformers stick to their guns. And that all the absurd objections are drowned in the roar of the crowd.

Winner: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg celebrates his triumph in Melbourne last weekend

Some of the best lines in sport were uttered by boxers before a fight. From the dazzling soliloquies of Muhammad Ali, to the first man who ever said ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall’, to that marvellously wry remark of Joe Louis: ‘He can run but he can’t hide.’ Tyson Fury has a mundane scuffle coming up, against somebody whose name escapes me. Sadly, droll witticisms are not Mr Fury’s style. So he made his point by standing up, turning over a table, and stomping out. Clearly, we are in for a feast of Wildean wit before the first blows are struck.

Turning the tables: British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury was lost for words last week

PS

Since we are not slow to criticise our football authorities, we must offer praise where it’s due. The FA have decided to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster by delaying the kick-offs of all Premier League, Football League and Conference matches by seven minutes. The same delay will apply to both FA Cup semi-finals, reminding us that the Liverpool-Nottingham Forest semi-final of 1989 was ended six minutes after kick-off as the extent of the crowd tragedy became apparent. The gesture is poignant, sensitive and admirably inspired.

Comments (28)

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adamperkins, ellesmere port, United Kingdom, 1 day ago

I think you underestimate the amount of clubs who did take the FA cup seriously liverpool did, chelsea did, city did against chelsea but then threw it away against wigan arsenal have if the draw had not matched so many top teams against each other they would still be there arsenal have played spurs, liverpool and everton while city played chelsea that is the top 6 clubs in england at this moment in time from league position if you look at who the other 3 teams have played it shows that why they faced challenges non played a top team apart from wigan if the semi had 4 of the top 6 in this wouldnt even be an article because you would be saying how the FA cup is taken seriously again all teams who are there deserve to be there but luck of the draw is a massive part of it credit where it is due arsenal got there playing tough ties all at home but still good

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dangledan, london, United Kingdom, 1 day ago

A Champions League place for winning 6 games, all of which could be at home plus 2 at Wembley, all of which could be against lower league teams you don't even have to win the games just win the penalty shoot outs. Champions League place decided by balls in the pot.

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freddy boy, london, United Kingdom, 1 day ago

I agree !

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Philip, Merseyside, 1 day ago

Make no mistake Patrick, all clubs want to win the FA Cup. If they didn'\t they wouldn't enter the competition in the first place. Oh, yes, Manchester United, did that one year didn't they? And in a trophy-less season they would love to be able to call themselves F A Cup winners.

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Daftfluff, Bedworth, 2 days ago

With more and more money going to the elite clubs in every league, this chance would be a good thing for smaller clubs to gain revenue and progress. How are clubs supposed to get into the CL when they don't have the money and the teams in the CL are getting richer and richer every year. Platini's fair play is not fair for those who are not already in the CL.

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citizen smith, Bradford, United Kingdom, 2 days ago

Wigan in the chumps league would be a laugh

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TigerEasy, London, United Kingdom, 2 days ago

It only takes 7 games to win the FA cup, but 38 to get into the league top four. Why would anyone bother with the long hard route to Champions League when you could sneak in through the back door with a lucky set of cup draws and a fraction of the effort. This is just A really, really bad idea.

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PG/56, Manchester, 2 days ago

Totally agree that the FA Cup winners should take a champs league place.

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Razib Ahmed, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2 days ago

So, it is wiser to send Wigan instead of Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool! Great logic and it will simply bring down co-efficiency points of England and soon England will be able to send only 3 clubs instead of 4 in Champions League. "Europe's elite? Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005 yet have qualified for the Champions League every year" Arsenal is ranked 6th or 7th in UEFA coefficient table and they should not be considered as a European Elite- really I am impressed with your logical conclusion. Sadly, UEFA cannot understand this simple point. Thanks a lot for enlightening us.

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ManCunian56, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2 days ago

Win 6 matches and get a Champs League place what a ridiculous idea compared to finishing fourth which is achieved over 38 matches against all teams home and away

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