FA Cup run would be great for club

ANOTHER indication of the doom and gloom surrounding St James’ Park, and the once famous Newcastle United Football Club, will be if current manager Rafa Benitez feels forced to field a ‘reserve team’ for the third round of the FA Cup against lowly Luton Town on Saturday 6th January.

Luton are currently top of division 2 and could be one of the third round giant killers.

The Magpies were so dominant in the Fifties, winning the cup three times in five years, but since then have paled into insignificance.

A run in the competition can stimulate the minnows as well as the top teams, with confidence notably improving all round. As in any sport, success breeds success, so winning several rounds in the league or FA Cup can be a great boost.

If the Magpies are to be beaten by teams from a lower division, or a non-league club, it only highlights their current failings. Emirates, the cup’s sponsors, donate thousands of pounds to promote their company, and for the good of the game, so it’s only right participating teams turn out their top teams.

The hackneyed cliche of “saving ourselves for the league” is a lame excuse. Let’s hope in 2018, the Toon Army will aim for the top, fire forth, and hit the target, so the team doesn’t crumble in the cup, and remains in the premiership. If Jackie Milburn, Joe Harvey, Jimmy Scoular etc., knew that over past few seasons, subsequent Magpies’ managers have shunned the FA Cup by fielding inferior teams, they would turn in their graves.

Happy new year to the Chronicle and its many readers throughout the region.

CHRIS ROBINSON, Gosforth