Hate to admit it but the Cup’s dying a death

THE FA Cup was exposed as a mishmash of nothingness in midweek.

That replay between WBA and Brighton. There was zero interest from the two clubs, two reserve teams and all of it live on the telly.

Next weekend, thanks to the Football Association, there will be no replays in the fifth round and fixtures spanning four days, the majority of it also broadcast.

So there are replays in rounds three and four but none when the stakes are higher? Something wrong with that logic. VAR in some games, not in others. Gigantic mess.

English football used to be proud of the FA Cup.

Not any longer. It is still valued by the smaller clubs as a significant money-spinner but the larger ones see it as nothing but an inconvenience.

We’ve got to the stage where middling Championship outfits are now fielding fringe players with the justification that one day off is going to recharge a player’s batteries sufficiently for him to make the difference during the run-in.

Do me a favour.

I’ve railed against the gradual erosion in its popularity and have stuck up for it for the past five years in this column – but I can’t anymore.

I hate to say it, but there is no evidence to the contrary – the competition is dying on its feet.

Unless action is taken – severe and quickly – it will soon be an irrelevance.