Tonights FA Cup attendance

[johnny jigsaw]

2 simple ways to revive it:

1 - the winner goes into Champions League.
2 - stop having opera singers murder "Abide With Me" at the final, the crowd don't need any help with singing it thanks.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

... or preferably introduce a play off element into European qualification which would revitalise the league like it has done for every other.

What leagues do that?

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I saw some stats in The Times for the 3rd Round and they showed that in fact overall attendance for the third round was up on last year and was at its highest average for about 10 years.

Lies, damn lies and ........

Although I would agree that the FA Cup does seem to have lost some of it's sparkle because the bigger clubs don't take it seriously. Not sure it's the semi's at Wembley. I'm convinced that The Champions League (or League of Europe as it really is) has detracted from it).

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

The Champions league Idea is wank.

Two years ago it would of meant Portsmouth would have been in it.

Most of the big clubs dont have a problem selling out for Cup games, its the likes of Wigan and Bolton because they play rubbish football and put out reserves. A simple way to solve this is bring in the same rule as the Paint pot.

 

[Simster]

I think putting the winner into the Champions League is the main thing that needs to happen, and if UEFA have a problem with the cup winner not being from the top division, then in those cases perhaps the winner should be allowed in the EUROPA league and 4th place gets the Chumps league spot.

And if the competition must be sponsored, then I'd also like to see the FA insist on low ticket prices for cup matches to ensure gates are as high as possible.

With those measures in place, I really do think the competition could cope with the changes: one replay (max), fixtures played over a 4 day period thanks to telly demands, semi finals at Wembley, the draw being made before one or two games the round before are even played and so on.

The problem at the moment is that the authorities have done NOTHING to halt the slide into indifference.

 

[ebfc1]

Poor really isnt it !

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

I'd like to see all replays abolished. It might not please the smaller clubs who fight for a draw at home to a big club, but it would keep attendances higher in the latter rounds imo.

 

[Sheebo]

Most of the eason is seasonticket holders have to pay out more cash - fact.

 

[drew]

Yep, for a variety of reasons:
Semi finals at Wembley takes away much of the magic
Most premiership teams play weakened sides in the early rounds
Extra games to watch costs money when fans are already paying over the odds.
League games more "popular" and exciting

League games more exciting than the cup. You are from a different planet surely!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

League games more exciting than the cup. You are from a different planet surely!

Maybe for lower league clubs, but I cant get excited about Spurs Vs Peterboro or Leeds.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Are lower FA Cup attendances a new thing though? Unless you get a really tidy draw I thought they were always slightly down.

Football is so expensive, if you've got to fork out another forty odd quid on top of your season ticket price to watch your team against a side they play in the league anyway, well it's not that tempting, is it? I'll be honest, when the draw for the third round was
made, I was hoping we'd be away unless we got a big club. After paying out to watch Wycombe yet again it wouldn't have been very enticing if we'd got say Notts County at home. Would have gone I guess, but would have moaned about the cost of it all

 

[withdeanwombat]

Would Portsmouth have won the Cup if there was a Champions League place up for grabs?Or would other clubs have tried a lot harder,put out proper teams,etc.?

Last night's attendances were probably a lot to do with the weather,the fact that some games were on telly,and that some games were not interesting enough for the casual supporter to bother with.Too much available football.

 

[Brovion]

i dont see that semi's at Wembley really make a difference. people arent going to not watch because a match in May is not at Hillsborough or Anfield. ...

I dunno, I think the 'semi finals at Wembley' thing is part of the general devaluation of the FA Cup and thus contributes to people not giving a toss about the early rounds, but I'll grant you it's not the major factor. Time was that an FA Cup tie between two teams in the same division would generate a much bigger crowd than the corresponding League fixture - even a 3rd Round tie. Now the big clubs (and their fans) seem to treat the FA Cup the same way that we treat the JPT: all but the die-hards don't give a toss about the early rounds but if we get to the final we might start to take an interest.

 

[drew]

Maybe for lower league clubs, but I cant get excited about Spurs Vs Peterboro or Leeds.

Sorry, I was speaking as a fan of a club and watching that club in either competition, not as an armchair 'fan' of football. The point of the debate is not whether it excites armchair fans but why it does get people of their arses and down to the ground to see the 'live' action in the flesh.

I don't get excited about any other games in the leagues that don't involve Brighton. I might watch them, or the highlights on MOTD, but I certainly don't get excited by them, even if it's Manure v Arsenal. Apart from Brighton, the only other team that raises the blood pressure is England.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

But then would we really have wanted Pompey in the Champions League?!

They wouldn't have won it.

The Champions league Idea is wank.

Two years ago it would of meant Portsmouth would have been in it.

.

No it wouldn't

Would Portsmouth have won the Cup if there was a Champions League place up for grabs?Or would other clubs have tried a lot harder,put out proper teams,etc.?
.

Is the right answer.

 

[backson]

A mate of mine tells me all of the above clubs have gold, blue and white memberships which you have to join via phone apparently; then seperately apply for a fan number; then book online; and then link a/c to anyone you might want to sit with. And vica versa. Before finding out your password doesn't work.....

This impacts on the attendances by all accounts because people come to the end of their natural lives before getting to the last hoop in this process.

In spite of all that, that the only club I know with all the above, are getting close to selling out.

 

[beorhthelm]

I'd like to see all replays abolished. It might not please the smaller clubs who fight for a draw at home to a big club, but it would keep attendances higher in the latter rounds imo.

that really would help kill the "magic".

 

[Keeping The Dream Alive.]

The main issue is that clubs earn a lot more money for a successful season in the Premier League; therefore the Manager places less value on the FA Cup as financially it's more important for the club to do well in the league. This results in second-string teams being played and fans being put-off. In turn, fans of 'average' Premier League clubs adopt the same attitude as the Chairman/Manager of the club.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

like tonight Portsmouth one down and Coventry get a 90th min own goal then Portsmouth get winner on 120+1

As there was no time added on at the end of the 2nd period of extra time why did the ref not blow the whistle when the ball went out of play instead of letting Portscum take a corner ?

 

[Brovion]

The main issue is that clubs earn a lot more money for a successful season in the Premier League; therefore the Manager places less value on the FA Cup as financially it's more important for the club to do well in the league. This results in second-string teams being played and fans being put-off. In turn, fans of 'average' Premier League clubs adopt the same attitude as the Chairman/Manager of the club.

Indeed. You get attitudes like Reading had when they were in the Prem: "We'd rather stay in the Prem than win the FA Cup." With that sort of attitude it's no wonder the Cup's dying on it's arse. In 1983 me and I think every other Brighton fan I knew were of the opinion (admittedly only by the time when we were in the semi-final) that we'd glady accept relegation if it meant getting to Wembley.