Fading FA Cup faces revamp

Falling attendances and weakened teams are leading to consideration to being given to a range of initiatives to revamp the competition.   Read more here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7025721.ece


Staging matches midweek would probably depress attendances rather than enhance them and it is doubtful whether experiments with new technology, useful though they might be, would bring in the fans.

Falling attendances and weakened teams are leading to consideration to being given to a range of initiatives to revamp the competition.   Read more here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7025721.ece


Staging matches midweek would probably depress attendances rather than enhance them and it is doubtful whether experiments with new technology, useful though they might be, would bring in the fans.


The fact that Chelsea are the only top four club left in the competition (and may yet retain it) emphasises that the cup has become a focus mainly for second-tier clubs.   Even for a club like Aston Villa, claiming a place in Europe is a higher priority.


In continental Europe cups are regarded as second order competitions and top clubs often enter their reserve teams (which in Spain play in lower tier leagues anyway).