Why is the fa cup "passionate"???

Danye

Can anybody explain to me what people mean by the "passion" of the FA Cup?

Why is it always mentioned whenever the FA Cup rolls around? Is it more passionate than a match between Man United - Liverpool in the premiership? Or even Champions League?

Is it more passionate than a match between 2 of the bottom 3 in the premiership?

Its a trophy, a good trophy that teams want to win, what makes it so passionate?

Mikeyt086

Because small teams have the chance to beat big teams on TV and if a player does well he can get a big move. DJ Campbell anyone?

Im not talking Stoke beating Arsenal, im talking Accrington Stanley beating Fulham... Exept Fulham won this year.

That_Guy

It's passionate for fans of a lower league team to have the chance to play a big team from the Premier League because they may never play them again in the clubs history.

eagle eye

Its a knockout tournament which means if you beat somebody they are out, so that gives the chance to any team to make it because on any given day anything can and does happen. Its also not confined to just football league sides.

Morzadec

Kind of a myth to it as well. Marketing ploys, the TV stations are obviously going to play up to the 'magic' of the FA Cup, much in the way we always hear about the excitement of the Premiership from Sky.

Partial truth and partial hyperbole from broadcasters

rossie1977

the glory days of the fa cup are long gone, man utds decision to pull out one year and in recent years the premier league teams playing reserve teams have made a complete mockery of the competition

thats not to say there isn't magic in the cup from time to time, there is but its just not the same

Danye

All valid points, but the league cup has pretty much the same circumstances but ya dont hear "thats what makes this trophy so passionate" everytime the ball goes out of play.

GLaDOS

For lower teams I'd say it is, for top half premier , especialy those in europe, the attitude ranges from indifference to annoyance

CHD

Was the biggest trophy around last year imo

eagle eye

rossie1977 wrote: »

the glory days of the fa cup are long gone, man utds decision to pull out one year and in recent years the premier league teams playing reserve teams have made a complete mockery of the competition

thats not to say there isn't magic in the cup from time to time, there is but its just not the same

This will be the second time in three years that a big four team didn't win it.

And it was all big four teams for quite a while so they did take it seriously or they would not have won it.

Danye

CHD wrote: »

Was the biggest trophy around last year imo

Bigger than the Champions League?

In my opinion, the Champions League is the be all and end all of club football, and I think that even shows in how achieveing a top 4 finish in the premiership is more important that trying to win a trophy. Finishing 4th is considered a success.

If they gave a champions league spot to the winners of the fa cup I think it would give the tournament a massive lift, although I cant see the premiership giving a spot up.

CHD

eagle eye wrote: »

This will be the second time in three years that a big four team didn't win it.

And it was all big four teams for quite a while so they did take it seriously or they would not have won it.

Chelsea are still in it....

CHD

Danye wrote: »

Bigger than the Champions League?

In my opinion, the Champions League is the be all and end all of club football, and I think that even shows in how achieveing a top 4 finish in the premiership is more important that trying to win a trophy. Finishing 4th is considered a success.

If they gave a champions league spot to the winners of the fa cup I think it would give the tournament a massive lift, although I cant see the premiership giving a spot up.

You gotta do well in the league to achieve CL football

League > CL > FA Cup > League Cup

RandolphEsq

CHD wrote: »

You gotta do well in the league to achieve CL football

League > CL > FA Cup > League Cup

You just contradicted yourself!

You said that you must do well in the league to achieve CL football but you did not say that you had to do well once you got CL football! Then you concluded that 'League>CL'. That's a contradiction!

The CL is one step above the League which is 3 steps ahead of the FA cup which is 1 step above the League cup

_blank_

I've never heard it described as "passion"

I've heard of the "romance" of the cup.

And it does exist in my opinion.

Look what happens in small English towns when they draw a relatively big team. Everyone goes to the match, they get a twenty minute feature on football focus, and the ninety year old woman who was making sandwiches for the boys back in 1953 gets her time in the limelight too. We get to hear the story of when they nearly beat some other big team in 1974, only for their star forward/local postman to fall foul of Mrs Bradfield's jack russell the morning before the match, that pesky mutt har-har-har. Oh and we also get to see the players of today going about their day-to-day business, installing kitchens down the road, and one of them always has a pennant of today's opponents hanging in their van and telling us how they can't wait to go up against the England International and test themselves, but in reality everyone at home knows that that cheeky smile means he actually can't wait to kick lumps of that player, if he can get near him.

Then we get to watch the 12.45 Kick Off in some muddy field, with a tent put up at one end, and the away fans looking bemused under a tree. We all , root for the little team, and even manage a little cheer when they take the lead but know that as soon as the big team score that the "floodgates" will open, and that the word "plucky" will be used in tomorrow's headlines.

Or, in the event the little team win, we know that in ten years time, when some other little team draw a big team, we'll see the replay of the deflected goal.

That's the romance of the cup.

CHD

RandolphEsq wrote: »

You just contradicted yourself!

You said that you must do well in the league to achieve CL football but you did not say that you had to do well once you got CL football! Then you concluded that 'League>CL'. That's a contradiction!

The CL is one step above the League which is 3 steps ahead of the FA cup which is 1 step above the League cup

What are you on about?

I'd rather the League than the CL

TonyD79

They could easily restore the romance of the cup by getting rid of the league cup. Too many games these days or atleast exclude clubs in the Champions league from playing in the League Cup and make it just as Europa league themed event.

magma69

Morzadec wrote: »

Kind of a myth to it as well. Marketing ploys, the TV stations are obviously going to play up to the 'magic' of the FA Cup, much in the way we always hear about the excitement of the Premiership from Sky.

Partial truth and partial hyperbole from broadcasters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_uOgyBK1c

parker kent

Danye wrote: »

All valid points, but the league cup has pretty much the same circumstances but ya dont hear "thats what makes this trophy so passionate" everytime the ball goes out of play.

It's an historical thing. The FA Cup pre-dates European Cup and League Cup so it benefits from that. People say it had passion because it was a knock out tournament. The league cup used to be over 2 legs, and only launched in the 60s. Even then all the big teams did not immediately enter it. Only a select minority got to play in Europe so it had glamour, not passion or magic. The FA Cup is about the useless 4th Division clogger who gets his moment on a muddy pitch to knock out a top division team.

The FA Cup has tradition and many often said they would prefer to win it than the league. It had the magic of FA Cup final day, minnows knocking out giants and pitch invasions on muddy fields. It represented a time before football became about balance sheets, brands and "the race for fourth place".

Now of course, marketing men keep that alive but it is on the wane. What you see now is not the real passion or magic of the cup. True it has its moments, but the top teams stopped really caring long ago. That they almost exclusively win it just highlights how low it now is. They don't care yet still always win. More and more, teams down the leagues play reserve teams. In the old days, fans loved the Cup. It was different, exciting. Everybody had a chance of either winning it or at least getting a run in the cup. Top of the league or bottom, it didn't matter. Now it matters less and less. Last year United played a stronger team in the league cup semis than the FA Cop semis. That is the ultimate fall from grace.

The poster above is right about hyperbole too. The English do love to build the FA Cup up as more important than even the World Cup. But it did have its special place in football

Kenteach

Its when clubs who rarely get any exposure get the chance to feature on the national airwaves, where players who often earn the same as the fans that are cheering them still exist, where the fans who have followed their local club for years can go to the same game as their next door neighbour who's only ever seen his chosen team play on tv, where chairmen who annually operate at a personal loss to see their club survive get a momentary break from battling against the odds to make ends meet each week, where maybe, just maybe, all logic is thrown on its head and the people on whom the very survival of the game depends can dare to dream of putting a bigger club to the sword.

Basically, its the game at its most natural. Where a team from one area can play against a team from another area, regardless of history, money or league position. Its raw passion. And its every bit as intense as your top 4 clashes or your CL finals or your relegation dogfights.

stovelid

TonyD79 wrote: »

They could easily restore the romance of the cup by getting rid of the league cup. Too many games these days or atleast exclude clubs in the Champions league from playing in the League Cup and make it just as Europa league themed event.

The League Cup represents another chance of a trophy for smaller clubs.

If the big clubs want to wet the bed about having to play in it, they can just keep playing their scratch teams. They have the squads for it, after all.

parker kent

stovelid wrote: »

The League Cup represents another chance of a trophy for smaller clubs.

If the big clubs want to wet the bed about having to play in it, they can just keep playing their scratch teams. They have the squads for it, after all.

The league cup has had a renaissance in the last few years, just look at the winners list. United take it more seriously than they often take the FA Cup. Partly this is due to the timing of the semi-final and final. It is not happening at the same time as later rounds in Champions League and title run in. Read an article yesterday saying as much.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jan/24/carling-cup-bbc