Seeding the FA cup third round draw


tunstallhill

Striker
just seen a clip of Jeff Stelling banging on about it on Talkshite

he makes a decent case, Eastleigh and Maidstone of the conference south (?) have both played 5 games to get to the third round and have been drawn against league 1 and league 2 opposition

however, i disagree with seeding. for all we know eastliegh and maidstone could have drawn each other and one of them got to the 4th or 5th round.
 
If it's not broke don't fix it. A 'big draw' for relatively smaller teams is part of the magic.

Atleast with this proposition you can actually understand the reasoning and understand why it might be an alright idea, unlike the vast majority of propositions that pundits and ex-pros come out with just for a bit of attention.
 
The only change they should make to the FA Cup is to award the winners the 4th Champions League place,

That might stop the “big six” from treating it like an inconvenience.
Excellent shout, although the Prem would just wheel out their top lawyers and put paid to that idea.

Sky etc and all the twats who benefit from the PL would also kick off at that.

Agreed mind, it's lifting how the likes of Man City just see the FA and League cups as an inconvenience. To them the money of the PL and the Champs League / a new Superleague is all that matters. Plastic greedy kernts.
 
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I’d seed the league cup first rather than the FA Cup, and see how it goes. If it works, then try it with the FA Cup.

My proposal is: On the morning of each round the 50% of the teams in the higher league positions are put in the away pot, and the 50% of the teams in the lower league positions are put in the home pot. Then random draw of one from each pot, with one off games all the way to the final.

Pro’s? Hopefully fuller grounds, lower division fans more likely to see top players at their home grounds, more shocks, and more interest, as the lower placed teams would always be at home to the higher placed teams.

Con’s? No away days out to the big boys for lower division sides, and no big games (like Arsenal v Liverpool) in the early rounds.
 
The only change they should make to the FA Cup is to award the winners the 4th Champions League place,

That might stop the “big six” from treating it like an inconvenience.
I hear lots of people say that, but since Wimbledon won the FA Cup in 1988, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City & Chelsea have won 30 of 35 FA Cup finals (they have also won the last 10 league cup finals between them by the way). Spurs & Everton both won one of the other 5 FA Cups in the last 35 years. Since the “big six started treating it like an inconvenience”, they have totally dominated the FA Cup.
No, why shouldn't Arsenal and Liverpool not be drawn together?
Depends what your reason for change is I guess. If you want a random draw then carry on like now. However, if you want to rekindle a bit of life into a competition that is getting a little less important each season, then why not something else. Let me ask - would there be more interest generated for the general football public if the draw was Shrewsbury v Arsenal and Wrexham / Yeovil v Liverpool, rather than Arsenal v Liverpool and Shrewsbury v Wrexham / Yeovil? I pick these teams as they were 4 consecutive balls pulled at random. As I’ve said, personally I’d make a change for the league cup and leave the FA Cup for now.
 
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I hear lots of people say that, but since Wimbledon won the FA Cup in 1988, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City & Chelsea have won 30 of 35 FA Cup finals (they have also won the last 10 league cup finals between them by the way). Spurs & Everton both won one of the other 5 FA Cups in the last 35 years. Since the “big six started treating it like an inconvenience”, they have totally dominated the FA Cup.

Depends what your reason for change is I guess. If you want a random draw then carry on like now. However, if you want to rekindle a bit of life into a competition that is getting a little less important each season, then why not something else. Let me ask - would there be more interest generated for the general football public if the draw was Shrewsbury v Arsenal and Wrexham / Yeovil v Liverpool, rather than Arsenal v Liverpool and Shrewsbury v Wrexham / Yeovil? I pick these teams as they were 4 consecutive balls pulled at random. As I’ve said, personally I’d make a change for the league cup and leave the FA Cup for now.
My take from that was…… 35 cup finals since 1988. Idiot can’t count! Came as a bit of a shock to quickly realise you’re right. :cry:
 

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