Seeding the FA cup third round draw


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:
LOL - did you think more or less?

I was amazed by how many of the cup finals up to the late 90’s I could remember, and how few since the turn of the century that I could remember.
 
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.
If the LC was to be changed I’d love it to be a full UK cup
 
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.

They wouldn’t have any objections to the rule change then, I’m sure.
 
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If the LC was to be changed I’d love it to be a full UK cup
I just can’t see the attraction myself. Bad enough getting beat by Crewe, never mind The Spartans, Penybont or Carrick Rangers!
They wouldn’t have any objections to the rule change then, I’m sure.
I genuinely don’t think most would have objections. Problem is that the FA are so institutionalised that they can’t even come up with the ideas to ask people about.
 
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LOL - did you think more or less?

I was amazed by how many of the cup finals up to the late 90’s I could remember, and how few since the turn of the century that I could remember.
Thought it was a lot less. Was the year I left school so it couldn’t possibly be 35 years since then.
 
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.

I remember Telford getting to the 5th round and getting Everton when they used to be a biggish club.
 
If the FA Cup was seeded it would take away what little romance there is, removing the random and limiting the chances of lower clubs getting through past the third round by defeating their peers. It is already filtered with all those rounds pre the first round and rounds one and two not including the top two divisions. It's already been pinned up against the wall and battered as clubs turn their nose up and field weakened teams, don't get taken to first replays never mind second replays and playing the semi finals at Wembley.
 
Thing is, why stop at the third round?

Seed the first round and the money trickles down even further down the pyramid. Where do you stop?

It’s a daft suggestion.
 
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.
If it was seeded and all games were lower leagues v higher leagues then then by the fifth round it would be over 90% PL teams. That'll kill the cup imo.
Non league clubs would have no chance of beating a PL club in the 3rd and 4th round.
 
I would remove all the teams in Europe from the league cup completely. Give someone else a chance and they all moan about the extra games anyway. Maybe also add the National league teams in as well.
 
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.
It's a completely mad idea to award a place to the winners of the F.A. Cup.

A team like Millwall could have won it by beating just one top flight club.

The big six don't treat the F.A. Cup as an 'inconvenience' either, they've pretty much dominated the competition for the last twenty years.
 
If it was seeded and all games were lower leagues v higher leagues then then by the fifth round it would be over 90% PL teams. That'll kill the cup imo.
Non league clubs would have no chance of beating a PL club in the 3rd and 4th round.
I was proposing the league cup to see how it went (so no NL sides involved).

To be fair, for the FA Cup, it would mean that the 3rd round would have 20 ties with Premier League clubs away from home against sides in L1 down, and 12 all Championship ties. Might work, might not, but at least there would be 32 potentially cracking matches, 20 with great atmospheres and real potential for shock, all over the same weekend.

By the way, why do you think FA Cup 3rd draw is so special, and watched by so many? It’s because fans of every lower / non-league club involved is desperate to see their side get drawn at home to a PL team. Supporters of Maidstone and Eastleigh must be gutted - drawn against Stevenage / Port Vale and Newport / Barnet.
 
It's a completely mad idea to award a place to the winners of the F.A. Cup.

A team like Millwall could have won it by beating just one top flight club.

The big six don't treat the F.A. Cup as an 'inconvenience' either, they've pretty much dominated the competition for the last twenty years.
Yep, I agree, although Millwall did get into Europe by beating Walsall, Telford, Burnley, Tranmere and Sunderland.

As posted earlier the big 5 have won the FA Cup in 30 of the past 35 years.
 
I would remove all the teams in Europe from the league cup completely. Give someone else a chance and they all moan about the extra games anyway. Maybe also add the National league teams in as well.
No space in the calendar for NL clubs with their season starting later
The FA Trophy is their inconvenience competition
One club last season asked parents of 16/17 year olds if they wanted to stump up the fee to register them so they could play in their tie against lower opposition
They duly did and of course, got beat
 

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