anyone else watching this Napoli - Milan? I find this a very well play match - Milan is unlucky to give up the lead

check that - Milan just got the equalizer

It's a little unfair to say that City have insulted the cup too. We all grew up with the FA Cup being the curtain-closer of the season, with the whole day building up to the 3pm kick-off.

 

Now the Emirates FA Cup is likely to be sandwiched between the closing fixtures of the Premier League, on TV sometime around 5pm with the domestic season probably finishing a week or two later before the Champions League Final dominates proceedings.

 

The Premier League and Champions League have simply grown so large that it's hard for other competitions to compete for our attention. I'm not sure having two domestic cup competitions is a realistic proposition in the future although you could change the League Cup into a 'development squad' cup or an extension of the Under-21 league. For some that's what it is already. That relieves a bit of congestion, but I'm not sure what else you can do to elevate the FA Cup.

 

That's why I don't think Pellegrini deserves much stick. He isn't devaluing the FA Cup on his own, we all are. You can't have a massively richer Premier League and a hugely successful Champions League without taking attention, lustre and money from somewhere else unfortunately.

 

 

I hate this post so much, it illustrates the changing face of football, really sad. The thing though I hate most of all in it , is why give it its full corporate name...the Emirates FA Cup. Us fans know it as simply the FA Cup no matter who sponsors it.

I hate this post so much, it illustrates the changing face of football, really sad. The thing though I hate most of all in it , is why give it its full corporate name...the Emirates FA Cup. Us fans know it as simply the FA Cup no matter who sponsors it.

I agree with your post Charierre. The main changes to football in my lifetime have been the introduction of all seater stadiums and, with the advent of pay-per-view TV, businessmen realising that they could generate much, much more money from football than hitherto had been the case. The creation of the Premier League and Champions League as 'Jackpot' competitions has taken attention away from the FA Cup and sadly the FA hasn't had the nouse to act, sooner, to preserve the integrity of the contest. The Cup Final should be the last game of the season and the FA should insist that, for example, FA Cup matches are not played at the same time as premier league games. Sometimes the FA forgets that it regulates the domestic game, not the EPL...

Pellegrini seemed to me to be making a point by playing such a different team, so that - should City come unstuck in Europe - he couldn't be accused of over-working his best players. That is, his best players are clearly rested and, if they lose, it's not because he's spreading his resources too thin. However, unless City win the CL, the FA Cup was their main and arguably (no offence to CFC) most realistic chance of a trophy this season. It's odd to put all of one's eggs into one basket without good cause. That is, unless City are very confident of progressing in the CL, why neglect the FA Cup? If the only reason is money then that's a sad (but perhaps as Shedender91 intimates, realistic) situation.

I hate this post so much, it illustrates the changing face of football, really sad. The thing though I hate most of all in it , is why give it its full corporate name...the Emirates FA Cup. Us fans know it as simply the FA Cup no matter who sponsors it.

That's because you are not a pretentious, patronising prig Charriere.

On nights like this, Van Gaal must wonder what he's doing in England.

 

MU fans often wonder that too.

I hate this post so much, it illustrates the changing face of football, really sad. The thing though I hate most of all in it , is why give it its full corporate name...the Emirates FA Cup. Us fans know it as simply the FA Cup no matter who sponsors it.

 

The reason I used it's 'full' name was to highlight the contrast between it being the competition we grew up with something that is increasingly becoming an afterthought based on commercial reasons.

 

Yes it's sad in one sense because you are losing a bit of the history of the game, but there's something pretty special about being able to travel around Europe seeing your team play (OK you could do that in the past but the sheer abundance of matches mean more people can do that) and you really can't beat those special European nights at the Bridge.

The reason I used it's 'full' name was to highlight the contrast between it being the competition we grew up with something that is increasingly becoming an afterthought based on commercial reasons.

 

Yes it's sad in one sense because you are losing a bit of the history of the game, but there's something pretty special about being able to travel around Europe seeing your team play (OK you could do that in the past but the sheer abundance of matches mean more people can do that) and you really can't beat those special European nights at the Bridge.

Sorry I prefer a good rip roaring FA Cup tie to the majority of the European nights,just preference. Football is changing so much,not all for the good. The FA Cup has prestige around the world, the oldest competition. It holds a special place in the hearts of many fans,hoping their team goes on an extended run. What City did yesterday further degraded it, it went against the spirit of the game.Sadly now it's been done,it will be done again...maybe even by us.How will we feel?

The game is run by people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. There is a great product there,the fans love it,don't lose it.

The game is run by people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 What a brilliant way to put it. It's not just the people running the game, it's the athletes and their agents, the media, and I hate to say it, the fans. The money ultimately comes from the fans.

Sadly, I don't see it changing. The financial inequality between the haves and have nots means that the change would need to be initiated by the haves; power is concentrated there. Naturally, it's not in their best interest.

Sorry I prefer a good rip roaring FA Cup tie to the majority of the European nights,just preference. Football is changing so much,not all for the good. The FA Cup has prestige around the world, the oldest competition. It holds a special place in the hearts of many fans,hoping their team goes on an extended run. What City did yesterday further degraded it, it went against the spirit of the game.Sadly now it's been done,it will be done again...maybe even by us.How will we feel?

The game is run by people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. There is a great product there,the fans love it,don't lose it.

That right there is the nail on the head. Football has for years now been pimping itself to the highest bidder ( especially so in England ), and it's not a pretty sight

It's a little unfair to say that City have insulted the cup too. We all grew up with the FA Cup being the curtain-closer of the season, with the whole day building up to the 3pm kick-off.

 

Now the Emirates FA Cup is likely to be sandwiched between the closing fixtures of the Premier League, on TV sometime around 5pm with the domestic season probably finishing a week or two later before the Champions League Final dominates proceedings.

 

The Premier League and Champions League have simply grown so large that it's hard for other competitions to compete for our attention. I'm not sure having two domestic cup competitions is a realistic proposition in the future although you could change the League Cup into a 'development squad' cup or an extension of the Under-21 league. For some that's what it is already. That relieves a bit of congestion, but I'm not sure what else you can do to elevate the FA Cup.

 

That's why I don't think Pellegrini deserves much stick. He isn't devaluing the FA Cup on his own, we all are. You can't have a massively richer Premier League and a hugely successful Champions League without taking attention, lustre and money from somewhere else unfortunately.

 

It’s a good post shedender but for me highlights what is wrong about the game today. That’s probably down to my age, but I find it so sad that young kids now will never know the true magic of the FA Cup. When I was a kid, it was ALL about the FA Cup. The league meant nothing to me, we would go over the park and play out our own version of the FA Cup final – the local rec was Wembley. Same when we played Subbuteo, it was for the FA Cup with the little replica trophy!

 

Unfortunately, like in all walks of life, football has moved on. Okay, a lot of it is for the better, but for me (and again, it’s probably my age), I would prefer if we could return to the old 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd & 4^th divisions, League Cup, FA Cup, European Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners Cup. I longed for Chelsea to play in Europe and play teams I had heard of like Ajax, Juventus, Real Madrid etc. But now, barring the latter stages of the CL, European football is a complete bore – give me the FA Cup any day. The UEFA Cup used to be great but now teams seriously don’t want to qualify for the Europa League as it’s seen as a second-rate competition and means playing on bloody Thursday nights!

 

Great line Charierre about the price of everything and value of nothing – so, so true. If some people get their wish, FA Cup ties won’t get played on Saturdays and there won’t be any more replays – Jesus, I can remember when ties went to 3 or 4 replays!

 

I can totally understand why Pellegrini did what he did on Sunday and wouldn’t criticise him for it but would be gutted if Chelsea ever did the same thing. Unfortunately, the FA Cup will never return to how big it once was because of the money now elsewhere and the saturation of televised football, but it still should be looked upon as a prestige tournament and it MUST be the final game played of a domestic season. 

Sorry I prefer a good rip roaring FA Cup tie to the majority of the European nights,just preference. Football is changing so much,not all for the good. The FA Cup has prestige around the world, the oldest competition. It holds a special place in the hearts of many fans,hoping their team goes on an extended run. What City did yesterday further degraded it, it went against the spirit of the game.Sadly now it's been done,it will be done again...maybe even by us.How will we feel?

The game is run by people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. There is a great product there,the fans love it,don't lose it.

 

Still the finest game I've seen in the FA Cup is the 4-2 at home to Liverpool in 1997. Probably the best atmosphere I've experienced at the Bridge and brilliant football. But I'd be hard-pressed to say I preferred it over the 4-2 at home to Barca in 2005. That was the best opening 20 minutes of a Chelsea match I've ever witnessed and the rest of the game was pretty good too.

 

What I would say is that I can probably think of more memorable European nights than I can FA Cup ties off the top of my head. Part of it is probably down to the floodlights lighting up the night sky on European nights and there being a bigger sense of occasion but I just think that it's become the premier competition now and that adds to it.

 

I understand that by saying that I'm probably an enemy of football and what's wrong with the modern game and but I do love the FA Cup too. 1994 was an amazing run, going to Wembley twice and the associated pain with the Final, then 1997 was my first chance to see us win a trophy and then it's become a (lucky) recurring journey. And yes it does throw up fairytales full of romance....but the Champions League is the best versus the best. 

 

I think it's easy to lament the things you lose in life and under-appreciate the things you gain. I agree that football is changing, as is this club, and it's not always for the best and the FA Cup not being such a big deal is a shame. But the growth of the Premier League has seen the quality of football improve immeasurably in just my lifetime and being able to follow your club over land and sea is a massive privilege. I don't think that should be undervalued. 

 

I can totally understand why Pellegrini did what he did on Sunday and wouldn’t criticise him for it but would be gutted if Chelsea ever did the same thing. Unfortunately, the FA Cup will never return to how big it once was because of the money now elsewhere and the saturation of televised football, but it still should be looked upon as a prestige tournament and it MUST be the final game played of a domestic season. 

 

Not quite the same as City, but last year Jose put out a weaker team in the home tie against Bradford because we had Liverpool in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final three days later.

 

He made TEN changes to the starting eleven for that one. If either Zabaleta or Fernando starts for City, they will have made ten changes too.

 

Now they did play kids against us, and we used Christensen and Zouma against Bradford and they absolutely exploited Christensen's experience at right-back but the argument could be made that we played a weakened team to protect players for a 'more important' game a few days later.

 

It's not just the 'money men' who don't know the value of something who are diminishing the FA Cup, it's everyone. The supporters don't care as much about it on the whole because there's more exciting, shinier things to focus on. Again, you can't have a better league or European competition without drawing attention from elsewhere - but you're spot on about the Europa League and that is a consequence of the growth of the Champions League.

You say "The supporters don't care as much about it on the whole", but the majority of posters in this thread/discussion would appear to be saying the opposite.  Most of the people I speak to at matches or down the pub are of the same opinion, so you might be in somewhat of a minority amongst the supporters I associate with.

You say "The supporters don't care as much about it on the whole", but the majority of posters in this thread/discussion would appear to be saying the opposite.  Most of the people I speak to at matches or down the pub are of the same opinion, so you might be in somewhat of a minority amongst the supporters I associate with.

 

That's entirely possible. Yes 3rd round weekend is still an important date for everyone but there's a few things you could point to that suggest the general level of interest is down in it. The prices of tickets at this club for those games are reduced, the FA had trouble getting a sponsor eventually renaming it the Emirates FA Cup rather than the 'FA Cup with whomever' and they've had to move kick-off time in recent years because ratings really aren't there any more (our replay in 1970 got about three times as many viewers as last season's but there are other factors involved there).

 

Coming out of the Bradford game, most people I saw weren't really that bothered by the result and the atmosphere was dead for most of the game. 3 days later against Liverpool and the place is jumping but that's always a big game nowadays. So you may be correct and I might be in the minority who loves the traditions of the FA Cup but can see why it's just not as important as it once was. Having said that, Abide With Me is one of the most unique, special things in all of sport and has a regal majesty that the more bombastic Champions League and Premier League can't match. We shouldn't lose that, but we also shouldn't be slaves to tradition for it's own sake. I think you need to make some changes to the English game to protect the Cup and I think the first thing you do is either scrap or significantly alter the League Cup.

Brilliant article by Giles Smith in The Times this morning on this very topic…

 

“Gary Lineker could have been forgiven for having one eye on the Champions League. After all, he’ll be pulling on a shirt and turning out for BT Sport during Arsenal v Barcelona tonight. But did that mean that he fielded a weakened version of himself in the FA Cup at the weekend? No it did not. It’s called respect for the oldest knockout competition in the world and Lineker will not be found lacking in it. But that’s true of the BBC in general. Bigger fish to fry? Not for the BBC — not in a lifetime of “other priorities”. The corporation didn’t rest anybody. Graeme Le Saux, Brendan Rodgers, the new, reborn Alan Shearer, once merely the stiffly poseable Action Man of the punditry toy box, but now with real, gripping opinions - all were called upon to appear in a competition the BBC cares about so much that it commissioned some poetry in its honour (“the sparkle of sapphire, the blue-riband event, the blue-chip opportunity,” etc).

 

Same attitude on BT Sport: Jake Humphrey covering every blade of grass in that critical area just outside the touchline; Peter Drury turning it up to 11 in the commentary box; all of them getting the fifth round covered, from the Emirates via Bournemouth and Stamford Bridge to Shrewsbury last night. People berate broadcasting for meddling with the schedule, but only television grants the FA Cup this much time and weight. Only television takes it this seriously. When the FA Cup finally perishes of contempt and indifference, in about four seasons’ time, television’s conscience will be clean. Manuel Pellegrini’s conscience? Less so, surely, after the Manchester City manager weighed participation in the “tie of the round” against a match in Europe happening more than 72 hours later, and promptly offered starts to six teenagers, the training ground’s car park security man and the bloke who does the shirt-printing in the megastore. The best anyone could say for this team selection was that it granted some young talent “an opportunity on the big stage” — except, of course, it didn’t, because if you flood the big stage with young talent, the stage is no longer that big. With this confirmation that the match was no longer as billed, steam appeared to start escaping from Shearer’s formidable forehead: “I don’t get the talk of resting players. They’ve got more resources than anyone. To moan and to complain that they’ve got too many fixtures . . .”

 

Indeed. What was their difficulty? Le Saux didn’t seem to be saying anything unreasonable when he contended that “playing three matches a week isn’t a problem for a fully-fit, top-level footballer”. But Rodgers seemed to differ. “Some players aren’t as robust now,” he said. “Some players play three games in a row, they can break down.” And the reason for this? “That might be genetics,” Rodgers suggested. He didn’t elaborate and Lineker didn’t push him to do so. Yet in a world where the overwhelming evolutionary tendency of athletes is to become faster, fitter and stronger, it’s an arrestingly counterintuitive theory. But, of course, Rodgers would be bound to tend towards a managerial view. Pellegrini, Jürgen Klopp, Arsène Wenger, Louis van Gaal, even Steve Bruce, have all declared themselves variously irked at the impertinence of the football season for having football in it. You wonder what they would rather be doing. Hosing the patio, maybe.

 

Afterwards, his side predictably thrashed, an unrepentant Pellegrini insisted, “We have to play for England in the Champions League on Wednesday.” This attempt to represent all-you-can-eat dining at Europe’s top table as some kind of national service, dutifully endured, was always going to be a stretch. The view that City are in Ukraine this week doing it on behalf of the nation won’t necessarily be shared by the majority of fans who don’t support City and who will spend 90 minutes on Wednesday happily cheering Dynamo Kiev. Funnily enough, though, if Pellegrini really was in search of such a thing, the future health of the FA Cup represents a plausible, broad-spectrum national cause that people could instinctively unite behind without prejudice. And it was right under his nose all along.” 

 

Have to say, “Pellegrini, Jürgen Klopp, Arsène Wenger, Louis van Gaal, even Steve Bruce, have all declared themselves variously irked at the impertinence of the football season for having football in it.” is a vintage Giles Smith put down. 

.

I think the prize money for the FA Cup has to be looked at, I heard yesterday Chelsea got £200 k for that win against us, That's £100 k less than Rooney's weekly wages for pete sake. It doesn't have to be big bucks but a respectable amount which will make the clubs take it seriously, When the clubs take things seriously that usually rubs off on the fans otherwise this will become like Horse Racing where trainers complain about prize money or even similar to what O'Sullivan was complaining about last week.

 

Having said all the above, The sponsors of the FA Cup are the sponsors of the most stingiest football club on the planet, Which means any chance of increased prize money is hard to see.

 

Brilliant article by Giles Smith in The Times this morning on this very topic…

 

“Gary Lineker could have been forgiven for having one eye on the Champions League. After all, he’ll be pulling on a shirt and turning out for BT Sport during Arsenal v Barcelona tonight. But did that mean that he fielded a weakened version of himself in the FA Cup at the weekend? No it did not. It’s called respect for the oldest knockout competition in the world and Lineker will not be found lacking in it. But that’s true of the BBC in general. Bigger fish to fry? Not for the BBC — not in a lifetime of “other priorities”. The corporation didn’t rest anybody. Graeme Le Saux, Brendan Rodgers, the new, reborn Alan Shearer, once merely the stiffly poseable Action Man of the punditry toy box, but now with real, gripping opinions - all were called upon to appear in a competition the BBC cares about so much that it commissioned some poetry in its honour (“the sparkle of sapphire, the blue-riband event, the blue-chip opportunity,” etc).

 

Same attitude on BT Sport: Jake Humphrey covering every blade of grass in that critical area just outside the touchline; Peter Drury turning it up to 11 in the commentary box; all of them getting the fifth round covered, from the Emirates via Bournemouth and Stamford Bridge to Shrewsbury last night. People berate broadcasting for meddling with the schedule, but only television grants the FA Cup this much time and weight. Only television takes it this seriously. When the FA Cup finally perishes of contempt and indifference, in about four seasons’ time, television’s conscience will be clean. Manuel Pellegrini’s conscience? Less so, surely, after the Manchester City manager weighed participation in the “tie of the round” against a match in Europe happening more than 72 hours later, and promptly offered starts to six teenagers, the training ground’s car park security man and the bloke who does the shirt-printing in the megastore. The best anyone could say for this team selection was that it granted some young talent “an opportunity on the big stage” — except, of course, it didn’t, because if you flood the big stage with young talent, the stage is no longer that big. With this confirmation that the match was no longer as billed, steam appeared to start escaping from Shearer’s formidable forehead: “I don’t get the talk of resting players. They’ve got more resources than anyone. To moan and to complain that they’ve got too many fixtures . . .”

 

Indeed. What was their difficulty? Le Saux didn’t seem to be saying anything unreasonable when he contended that “playing three matches a week isn’t a problem for a fully-fit, top-level footballer”. But Rodgers seemed to differ. “Some players aren’t as robust now,” he said. “Some players play three games in a row, they can break down.” And the reason for this? “That might be genetics,” Rodgers suggested. He didn’t elaborate and Lineker didn’t push him to do so. Yet in a world where the overwhelming evolutionary tendency of athletes is to become faster, fitter and stronger, it’s an arrestingly counterintuitive theory. But, of course, Rodgers would be bound to tend towards a managerial view. Pellegrini, Jürgen Klopp, Arsène Wenger, Louis van Gaal, even Steve Bruce, have all declared themselves variously irked at the impertinence of the football season for having football in it. You wonder what they would rather be doing. Hosing the patio, maybe.

 

Afterwards, his side predictably thrashed, an unrepentant Pellegrini insisted, “We have to play for England in the Champions League on Wednesday.” This attempt to represent all-you-can-eat dining at Europe’s top table as some kind of national service, dutifully endured, was always going to be a stretch. The view that City are in Ukraine this week doing it on behalf of the nation won’t necessarily be shared by the majority of fans who don’t support City and who will spend 90 minutes on Wednesday happily cheering Dynamo Kiev. Funnily enough, though, if Pellegrini really was in search of such a thing, the future health of the FA Cup represents a plausible, broad-spectrum national cause that people could instinctively unite behind without prejudice. And it was right under his nose all along.” 

 

Have to say, “Pellegrini, Jürgen Klopp, Arsène Wenger, Louis van Gaal, even Steve Bruce, have all declared themselves variously irked at the impertinence of the football season for having football in it.” is a vintage Giles Smith put down. 

.

 

 

Rodgers and genetics in one sentence makes me shudder.

I think the prize money for the FA Cup has to be looked at, I heard yesterday Chelsea got £200 k for that win against us, That's £100 k less than Rooney's weekly wages for pete sake. It doesn't have to be big bucks but a respectable amount which will make the clubs take it seriously, When the clubs take things seriously that usually rubs off on the fans otherwise this will become like Horse Racing where trainers complain about prize money or even similar to what O'Sullivan was complaining about last week.

Having said all the above, The sponsors of the FA Cup are the sponsors of the most stingiest football club on the planet, Which means any chance of increased prize money is hard to see.

Shouldn't have to increase the prize money just so some clubs take it serious IMO.

If other clubs don't want it then fine but I'll take the FA Cup every single year. It's the second most important domestic trophy to play for.

Doesn't matter how much you increase it either, it's never going to reach the levels of the CL or EPL place winnings which will still come first for some regardless.

Time to lighten the mood. Take a look at the absolute state of Arsenal fans.

 

 

I have no words for this.

Edited February 23, 201610 yr by CFCholland

Just to tie the two subjects together, we're just a class apart really.

 

 

Go see Madness if you can this summer. Saw them a couple of times last summer and they're still f**king excellent.

Edited February 23, 201610 yr by ShedEnder91

The idea of the FA increasing prize money to the point that teams would take it seriously is unrealistic unfortunately. It would require the Premier League to agree to revenue redistribution which is against their self interest.

The most viable solution is to offer a Champions League spot to the FA Cup winner.

It's a good idea in more than one way.

1. Giving prizes to the top 3, not the top 4, is standard in sports. The World Cup 3rd place finishers get some recognition; the 4th place ones do not. The Olympics awards gold, silver, and bronze medals; no medal for 4th place. By the way, the FA Cup is even older than the modern Olympics. That's the degree to which history has been devalued.

It doesn't make sense to give a guaranteed spot to fourth place.

2. It would increase variety in the Champions League. Right now the Champions League is basically the same teams every year.

Imagine if Stoke had won their final back in 2011. We could settle the question of whether Messi could do it on a cold wet night at the Britannia!

Imagine if a Championship team were there. What a story that would be! The whole country and much of the world would rooting for them. If there were some revenue sharing with the FA, it could go a long way toward supporting grassroots efforts.

So apparently wenger claims to have a plan to beat barca. Does that involve giving them his special french wine before the game and hoping they fall sick.

The most viable solution is to offer a Champions League spot to the FA Cup winner.

It's a good idea in more than one way.

1. Giving prizes to the top 3, not the top 4, is standard in sports. The World Cup 3rd place finishers get some recognition; the 4th place ones do not. The Olympics awards gold, silver, and bronze medals; no medal for 4th place. By the way, the FA Cup is even older than the modern Olympics. That's the degree to which history has been devalued.

It doesn't make sense to give a guaranteed spot to fourth place.

 

1. Fourth place does not guarantee anything other than a place in the qualifiers.

 

2. If English clubs keep playing in Europe like they have done recently, England will soon have only three Champions League spots.

Edited February 23, 201610 yr by Maksimov

The idea of the FA increasing prize money to the point that teams would take it seriously is unrealistic unfortunately. It would require the Premier League to agree to revenue redistribution which is against their self interest.

The most viable solution is to offer a Champions League spot to the FA Cup winner.

It's a good idea in more than one way.

1. Giving prizes to the top 3, not the top 4, is standard in sports. The World Cup 3rd place finishers get some recognition; the 4th place ones do not. The Olympics awards gold, silver, and bronze medals; no medal for 4th place. By the way, the FA Cup is even older than the modern Olympics. That's the degree to which history has been devalued.

It doesn't make sense to give a guaranteed spot to fourth place.

2. It would increase variety in the Champions League. Right now the Champions League is basically the same teams every year.

Imagine if Stoke had won their final back in 2011. We could settle the question of whether Messi could do it on a cold wet night at the Britannia!

Imagine if a Championship team were there. What a story that would be! The whole country and much of the world would rooting for them. If there were some revenue sharing with the FA, it could go a long way toward supporting grassroots efforts.

 

I swing one way and the other on this but thinking about it, I think it is a MUST.

 

I know the argument against was a team like Wigan or Portsmouth winning the FA Cup (the last two smaller clubs to do so) and then we run the risk of having our numbers reduced if they get knocked out early (as is likely to happen). But I think the pro's far outweigh the cons. To be honest, other than Wigan and Pompey you would have to go right back to 1988 which was the last time another "small" club won it, Wimbledon - unless you want to consider Spurs & Everton small clubs!

 

I totally agree, Top 3 get CL football and all the time there is a 4th spot available it goes to the FA Cup winners. If the FA Cup winner happens to be in the Top 3 (which is often the case) then it could go to 4th spot rather than runners up or better still, the 4th spot and runner up could have a play off - what a massive game that would be!

 

Come on, this HAS to happen!

Edited February 23, 201610 yr by Nibs