How the FA Cup became more muddled than magical

The FA Cup is supposed to be about magic and myth, but as top teams pull away,  soccer’s oldest cup competition has become ill-defined.

In the UK, a series of commercials have ran for the past few weeks promoting coverage of this season’s FA Cup. They’re designed to expose a number of myths and cliches around the competition, widely seen as a second rate tournament, but in making such an argument the case against the FA Cup is inadvertently underlined. The broadcaster doth protest too much.

‘The Magic Of The Cup,’ we’re told, is still alive and well, that upsets still happen and that every dog will have its day in world soccer’s oldest cup competition.

Upon closer examination, though, such sentiment doesn’t really hold up. Of the 11 third round ties that pitted Premier League teams against lower league tames, only three went against the odds — and those wins were pulled off by Derby County, Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday, all Championship sides.

The gulf between the Premier League at the top of the English soccer pyramid and everyone else below has killed what magic there once was. That is one myth that can be dispelled, although another frequently repeated cliche about the FA Cup, that the big teams don’t take it seriously, warrants a closer look.

It’s certainly true that for English soccer’s elite, the FA Cup features lower down on the list of priorities. Finishing in the Premier League’s top four is considered a greater achievement than finishing the season with a piece of silverware in-hand at Wembley. But with another gulf opening up between Liverpool and Manchester City and their rivals, the competition is gaining some unexpected relevance.

Increasingly, the FA Cup offers salvation. For those considered incapable of mounting a title challenge or even qualifying for the Champions League, it is a chance to prove progress where it would otherwise be in doubt. This season, for instance, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham could all do with winning the FA Cup.

While Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic got their hands on the famous, old trophy in 2008 and 2013 respectively, the last six iterations of the tournament have been won by elite clubs — Arsenal (three times), Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. This illustrates the change in how the FA Cup is now regarded.

This has given the FA Cup a fresh significance, at least at the top level, but at the same time further accentuates its irrelevance. The competition finds itself at a peculiar juncture in its 148-year history, caught somewhere between mattering to the biggest clubs and struggling for pertinence in its own right.

In truth, English soccer has one too many cup competitions. Most European nations, including the likes of Germany and Spain, only operate one major cup competition. In fact, France is the only other major European nation to have two major cup competitions and they have committed to scrapping the Coupe de la Ligue from next season.

By running both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, English soccer is only succeeding in stretching their clubs so thinly that they are forced to consider their commitment to both. One of the two needs to go, but with the Carabao Cup operated by the EFL and the FA Cup operated by The FA there is a political tug-of-war that benefits nobody.

This weekend will witness a number of compelling fourth round ties. There will be, undoubtedly, a number of entertaining matches with Leicester City up against high-flying Brentford, Southampton hosting Tottenham and Arsenal away to Bournemouth.

But in the grand scheme of what it all means, there is a lack of distinction. Even the clubs who are targeting the competition see it for its symbolism, the sight of a trophy in-hand, than anything truly meaningful. Soccer’s oldest cup competition has become an ill-defined one.