Soccer
FA Cup could get revamp
2010-02-25 20:49
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London - English Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore admits the FA Cup could become primarily a mid-week event in a bid to make the competition more relevant.
The FA Cup is arguably the most famous knockout tournament in world football, but it has lost its shine over the last decade as English teams have placed more importance on success in the Premier League and Champions League.
With cup attendances dwindling and managers regularly fielding under-strength teams, Watmore knows something has to be done to restore the competition to its former glory.
He is keen to retain the third round as an "iconic" weekend event but would not rule out moving other rounds of the competition, including the final itself.
He told talkSPORT radio: "I do think that over ten or 20 years (the FA Cup) has lost a little bit of its lustre. When you or I were growing up you could name every FA Cup winner.
"Kids today do the same with the Champions League and less so with the FA Cup. So we do have to do something with the FA Cup to turn it around and make it become more relevant, particularly for the younger generation of fans.
"One of the things we've found is that some of the best games and FA Cup nights happen mid-week and not at weekends.
"It means that with some rounds it may be better to look at mid-week fixtures rather than weekends. The third-round weekend, the first week in January, is one of those iconic weekends of the football calendar and I wouldn't want to mess with that.
"We've also looked at all sorts of ideas with the prize fund, with the scheduling of the games, to try and make them not clash as much with the busy periods of Champions League and Premier League.
"The FA Cup final on the second or third Saturday in May at 3pm is a fantastic day so I wouldn't want to mess with that for any reason. But if there's a really good reason to change some of the format and to bring it back to the sort of glory that it had when you or I were growing up, then why not?"