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Episode 15 of High Press focuses on the FA Cup ahead of the Fourth Round, with a look at teams prioritising the competition and a discussion about replays.
Host Alison Bender is joined by Phil Hay, Matt Lawton and Mike Keegan to cover all things FA Cup and even ponder whether the League Cup should be scrapped.
Have the big clubs started to take it seriously again?
Starting out discussing if the top teams are taking the FA Cup more seriously, Lawton talks up the significance of silverware.
“So few teams can win the Premier League… I think yes, you have to take the FA Cup seriously. Yes, finances are integral to what we see in modern professional football, but fanbases still want to see their teams win trophies.”
Bender adds, “That lure of being at Wembley is just too much for any fan, isn’t it?”
Hay believes the winter break has helped Premier League teams take more interest in the competition.
Focusing in on Chelsea and Manchester United, Keegan says, “With United it was 2016, Manchester United is a football club that is about winning trophies. And the FA Cup, aside from the Premier League and Europe, is the biggest competition you can win.”
Battle relegation or go for the cup?
After touching on how relegation-threatened clubs are conflicted with the FA Cup, Hay explains the challenges Championship clubs face.
“You do have a division below the Premier League where clubs are not quite sure how to handle it [the FA Cup]. Clubs will accept going out of the competition, but generally won’t accept it being done in a way that looks like you’re disregarding it.”
The panel remember some of the FA Cup’s great underdog stories from Yeading and Lincoln to Chesterfield and Wrexham.
Ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Newport, Keegan jokes, “I saw a piece this week that said ‘the roof leaks at Rodney Parade so United will feel at home’!”
Giant killings and replays
After a mention of a possible replay helping Newport financially, the topic of scrapping FA Cup replays takes centre stage. Keegan cites fixture congestion as a reason to remove all replays, but also fondly remembers Oldham’s duel with Everton in 1990.
“They are a big part of the FA Cup, and to lose them entirely, and to take away that opportunity for the smaller clubs to get life-changing money, it just doesn’t sit right,” says Keegan.
Hay responds, “Mike’s right. Once you get further down the pyramid, the money really, really matters. I think that’s part of the issue further up the pyramid, is the money doesn’t matter in the same way.” Lawton, though, takes a stronger position.
Should the League Cup be scrapped?
“I think they should be scrapped. FIFA now are trying to introduce this World Club Championship, and I think the demands on players are too great.”
Even after praising the fitness levels of the top players, Lawton maintains that the schedule is just too much despite the size of most Premier League squads. He also suggests an option for home teams to be able to concede home advantage for financial gain instead of having replays.
With the panel agreeing that the demands on clubs and players are overwhelming at the moment, Hay says he thinks the League Cup could be what goes, even though he thinks there should be room for it. Lawton replies by saying he would ‘welcome its cancellation’, believing it would ‘elevate the FA Cup’.
Greatest FA Cup memories
The group go through their favourite FA Cup memories, with Lawton bringing up his father ‘abandoning’ his mother in hospital to go and watch Chelsea and Leeds in 1970, while Keegan picked out Oldham’s dramatic win against Liverpool in 2013.
Is the magic of the FA Cup still there?
The episode wraps up in agreement that the FA Cup has retained its magic.
What changes, if any, would you make to the competition? And what are your favourite memories?
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