#360view: We have to remember why the FA Cup is still relevant

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  • Success at Wembley is remembered for years to come.

    To highlight just where the FA Cup sits on the list of importance among club owners, of the four managers who took their clubs to the semi-finals last season, all have since lost their jobs.

    There are, of course, other circumstances beyond the positives of a good cup run but whereas once FA Cup success saved the reputation of managers – Sir Alex Ferguson being the standout – it now proves insignificant on an under-pressure manager’s CV.

    It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the rot set in the world’s oldest cup competition but common wisdom drifts towards Manchester United and the Club World Cup of 2000 where they abandoned their defence of the FA Cup in order to compete in Brazil. The bitter irony being it was the FA who pressured United into doing so in order to curry favour for their World Cup bid. But this act of self-sabotage only sought to question the long-term credibility of the competition.

    In 2001-02, Champions League places then swelled from three to four and there are now additional ‘trophies’ for managers to work towards. Consequently, it’s now unusual if the best top-flight sides don’t rest first-team players while to those managers whose sides are struggling down the foot of the table, extra games are an unwanted distraction in pursuit of survival.

    What perhaps is even more galling is that now teams in the Championship trying to fight their way up will also, undoubtedly, give tired legs an afternoon off.

    The financial incentives and security provided by a sustained presence in the Premier League is far more important than, you know, winning games of football and maybe a trophy. But who can blame them? As Louis van Gaal, Roberto Martinez, Quique Sanchez Flores and Alan Pardew can all testify to – the Premier League is the be all and end all.

    The sheer power of the league, in present and future earnings, is such that year by year it continues to erode the importance of those entities which do not inhibit their sphere; growing apathy for the international game being another.

    Such is the aggressive capitalism behind its success it divides and conquers. But the Cup should matter deeply to clubs and their owners obsessed with balance sheets.

    The financial boost in playing a Premier League side, from gate receipts to merchandising, only enhances both long-term profile and security. But as more clubs take it less seriously, the knock-on effect is that taking on a mid-range top-flight club loses its prestige and profitability. And a strong league system should matter to Premier League clubs because it’s where they send their players on loan, it’s where they find new players that actually make economic sense to buy, and it’s potentially where they could end up after a poor season.

    Nosediving into divisions of bankrupt, poorly-run clubs and facilities is not going to aid any return to the top-flight nor is it going to help produce your next star at a cut-price, irrespective of the proficiency of your Brazilian scout. Although the Premier League’s best are the apex predators, they need to help nurture those below to support their own health.

    That said, owners tend to be a selfish bunch and who cares about the overall strength of the pyramid when you have shirts to sell in Thailand? But the FA Cup is a fantastic advertising tool for your club and, for much of the 20 clubs in the top flight, when the likes of Middlesbrough, Hull, Swansea, even now Everton and Southampton are secondary in the top-six narrative which dominates the agenda.

    Cup victory propels an image of success around the world and is far more appealing for growing the identity of a club than finishing 14th each season. It surely gives you a platform to gain more attention than a television Sunday trip to Stoke.

    And identity forms everything for those supporters you already have. Wigan may now be struggling in the Championship, having fallen into League One, but the memories and the occasion generated by their win in 2013 will resonate far beyond the generation which experienced it. And supporters want to win things, they don’t want to striving for a Europa League place – at best. Happy fans tend to also embrace and cherish those running their club, giving them extra currency if and when things go pear-shaped, which for two-thirds of the Premier League is a very realistic proposition.

    The Cup should be about fun and a welcome breather from the intensity and ridiculous dramatics of the league. It still matters, it always has. We just have to start remembering why again.

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