The FA Cup is upon us and something different is in the air. What could be more traditional than Third Round Thursday, that bastion of everything pure about English football. How the pulse deadens at the prospect. Breathe it in, that rank stench of indifference, as squads are rotated, reserve players get minutes in their legs, stadiums empty and, by and large, the big boys march on, untroubled by pesky replays.
Is this too harsh, too jaundiced? Perhaps. But what used to be one of the great set pieces of the sporting calendar is now spread as thinly as Marmite on toast, eking out what remains of the competition’s waning relevance. What used to be the tang of glory — that this year finally might be your year — now tastes like inconvenience, unless your club inhabits the murky world of desperation. In which case, welcome to the struggle!
Which brings us neatly to The Athletic’s FA Cup Import-o-meter, the mewling, pathetic sibling of the Hope-o-meter, our annual, season-opening record of how optimistic you, our dear subscribers, are feeling before the great juggernaut that is the Premier League rolls into town. The formula is very simple: you answer a straightforward question, get angry at how we interpret your utter delusion and then click the button marked ‘Meh’. Bosh.
Here goes, with a few observations from our wonderful club correspondents.
I love that Tottenham are top of this list and see no reason to make fun of it. It’s glory, glory, it’s Ossie and Ricky, it’s Gazza flying in knee-high, it’s winning their first FA Cup in 1901 and their last in 1991, when they had that lovely tradition of always winning it when there was a one at the end of the year. Until that lovely tradition went the way of all the other lovely FA Cup traditions, like giving a toss.
Given a fair and even playing field, providing that field is, indeed, fair, but also even — it’s really important it’s even but also fair — Ange Postecoglou’s team have a great chance this season, if everything is fair and even. Hehehe.
Here’s Jack Pitt-Brooke, our Spurs writer.
“To fans of a certain age, Tottenham might still be associated with the FA Cup but the reality is that they have made no impression on it at all in the modern era. In recent years they got to two semi-finals under Mauricio Pochettino (2017 and 2018) but lost both of them. Since then they have done nothing at all in the competition. Antonio Conte’s tenure never recovered from a fifth-round defeat to a much-changed Sheffield United team in March 2023.
“But maybe this year will be different. There is already more invested in Spurs’ FA Cup campaign than usual, and they have not kicked a ball yet. Firstly because their league campaign can already be written off. Secondly because of Postecoglou’s comments about how he always wins things in his second season at a club. Yes, they have the Carabao Cup and Europa League too but the FA Cup could still be the one that saves their season.”
Tottenham Hotspur celebrate their 1991 FA Cup victory (Ben Radford/Allsport/Getty Images)
Newcastle are second and that also brings me pleasure. If I could choose any trophy — STOP F****** LAUGHING — it would be this one, ahead of the league or the League Cup (except possibly this year). After their recent run, they are fifth in the Premier League and it would be eminently understandable if they were a bit preoccupied, but no. At a club which does not win, we’ll blindly lap up each futile opportunity to carry on not winning for eternity.
But, hey, at least we’re trying again.
West Ham are third. Like Spurs, like Newcastle, they are a club that strives to be big but can’t quite get there, certainly not in terms of silverware. Like Spurs, the league is a struggle at the moment. With their manager just gone, this falls squarely under the sub-heading of nice distraction, a cliche which will endure until tomorrow evening when they get smashed by Aston Villa and the cycle begins again.
I don’t know what the hell is going on at Southampton but then clearly neither do Southampton, who, on one hand, would really love to win the cup and, on the other, aren’t bothered about winning it at all. The striking thing here is how little middle ground there is between finding it very important and not important.
Then it’s Arsenal — hopefully the FA Cup balls will be nice and heavy this season, rather than those lightweight b******* they use in the Carabao — and Manchester City, occupying the same sixth place as they do in the Premier League. I wonder how different this table might have looked a few weeks ago when they gazed upon this territory as monarchs gazed benignly upon their kingdoms?
Here’s City writer, Sam Lee, who has gorged and feasted upon trophies galore, while the rest of us dine on scraps (or the Sela Cup, in my case).
“Hardly conclusive results from the City fans but it seems reasonable to suggest that winning any trophy this season would be a massive bonus considering the recent run of form, which has all but ended their title hopes and leaves them fighting to qualify for the next round of the Champions League,” he says. “However the next few months pan out, it would surely be nice to lift the FA Cup in the Wembley sunshine.”
Nice? Nice? If Newcastle won the FA Cup, you wouldn’t see me for a month, Sam. I’d wake up on a park bench with a full beard, clutching an empty five-litre bottle of cider with a tattoo of Jimmy Nail etched on my forehead. There wouldn’t be anything remotely nice about it. I could probably think of 115 words better than nice, but let’s move on.
West Ham last won the FA Cup in 1980 (Allsport/Getty Images)
Chelsea are next.
“Chelsea have yet to lift any silverware since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in 2022 from previous owner Roman Abramovich, who oversaw the most successful period in the club’s history,” writes Simon Johnson.
“Their limp exit from the League Cup to Newcastle in the fourth round this season did not go down well, especially with the large travelling contingent that went to St James’ Park to see the 2-0 defeat.
“Chelsea have also gone seven years without lifting one of the two domestic cups, which is some barren streak given Wembley was once considered a home from home away from Stamford Bridge. They also made history for the wrong reasons last year by becoming the first club to lose six consecutive major finals at the national stadium.
“A triumph in May, along with a top-four finish in the Premier League, will be seen as a genuine sign for supporters that Chelsea are on their way back to becoming a major force again.”
Fraternal greetings to Matt Woosman, whose Crystal Palace are ninth in our table.
“Palace fans don’t really hold out much hope of winning the FA Cup, but progressing in the competition is of significant importance. It is the most prestigious competition and if Palace are to win any silverware then this is the one they would want. The pain of two defeats by Manchester United in the final remains despite the time that has passed since 1990 and 2016.
“While Premier League survival is crucial, an FA Cup run would bring entertainment, enjoyment and a distraction from the relative grind of simply seeking to avoid relegation or finish higher than before in the league, as it did in their progress to the semi-final in 2021 during Patrick Vieira’s first season.”
I like this, Woosie. It’s downbeat enthusiasm. Or maybe it’s upbeat fatalism.
As we reach the lower mid-table of FA Cup importance, we enter that murky world of priority and pragmatism. Here come Everton, accompanied by the world-weary musings of Patrick Boyland.
“The sad reality for Everton right now is that the cup competitions come a distant second to Premier League survival. The prospect of starting next season — their first in their glitzy new stadium on Liverpool’s waterfront — in the Championship is pretty much unthinkable.
“So as important as Thursday’s tie against League One Peterborough United may be, it is dwarfed in significance by the follow-up matches against Aston Villa and Tottenham.
“That is a tough pill to swallow for supporters who crave an end to Everton’s near 30-year trophy drought — the Blues last tasted success in this competition in 1995. But it is also just a reminder of how far the club has fallen, and how much work new owners The Friedkin Group have to do to put things right.”
Everton defeated Manchester United to win the trophy in 1995 (Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)
But here, Paddy, look! Cheer up, man! In this table, Everton are way ahead of Liverpool. Only 10 per cent of their fans think the FA Cup is very important, which means they actually sit in a relegation position. Soak it up! Drink it in! And you really should, because it’s absolutely the only time Everton will finish above Liverpool in anything over the course of your lifetime!
Over to Liverpool writer Andy Jones.
“Liverpool sit top of both the Premier League and the Champions League group phase and ultimately their priorities lie with those competitions rather than the FA Cup.
“A chance to win any trophy will never be turned down however, and in their pursuit of the quadruple in 2021-22, they missed out on the two big prizes but won the FA and Carabao Cup. However, it is not surprising to see not important get the largest portion of the votes as an early exit would provide more rest and recovery to focus on the Premier League and Champions League.”
But wait, fellow Liverpool writer James Pearce is surprised! “It’s surprising that as many as 10 per cent of those supporters polled regard it as very important,” he says. “With Liverpool six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand, winning a 20th domestic title is what occupies the thoughts of most fans. Trying to maintain a challenge on all fronts led to Liverpool running out of gas when their campaign fizzled out last spring. Fans will be wary of history repeating itself.”
Just below Everton are Manchester United. Miles off it in the Premier League, they are not in the Champions League and, as things stand, look unlikely to qualify for it, yet 39 per cent of our respondents think winning the FA Cup is not important. And, of course, they are right; winning the cup, as Erik ten Hag did in May, spoiling everything just like they always do and depriving Newcastle of European football, doesn’t even touch the sides. It is simply not how they are judged or how they judge themselves.
GO DEEPER
How hopeful are the fans of all 20 Premier League clubs feeling about their 2024-25 chances?
For Spurs, for Newcastle, for Arsenal, for Chelsea, all clubs with elevated aspirations, the FA Cup would be a staging post en route to progress. It would mean release and relief and something to build upon. At Old Trafford, it is almost a signal of decline. All it does is prevent Gary Neville from calling them a pub team for a couple of days.
Nottingham Forest are a different case. They’re third in the league, flying high and dreaming of the Champions League, which has always struck me as a peculiar dream. Don’t get me wrong, the travel is great fun and the opponents are different, the kids love it and the money helps, but ultimately it’s just the right to play more games which, chances are, you’ll lose. The FA Cup is immortality. A statue. A temporary home on a park bench.
“It is the one major trophy that eluded even the great Brian Clough,” says Paul Taylor. “He came close in the 1991 final, when Tottenham’s Paul Gascoigne should have been red-carded before he was carried off in the 15th minute.
“But Forest have not won the competition since 1959, when Roy Dwight, the cousin of Elton John, scored the first goal in a 2-1 win over Luton Town.
“Simple timing will be the biggest factor this time around. Following the third-round clash with Luton Town on Saturday, Forest face Premier League leaders Liverpool at the City Ground on Tuesday, in a game that could have a huge influence on the title race.
“Nuno Espirito Santo is likely to make a host of changes, to ensure his team are fresh as they go looking for what would be a seventh consecutive league win.”
Forest last won the trophy in 1959 and it is not a priority this season (Dennis Oulds/PNA/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
One place above Liverpool are Wolverhampton Wanderers. And here follows a trigger warning, because just outside Molineux, FA Cup romance lies murdered in a pool of blood, surrounded by mouldy chocolates and flat Champagne.
“Wolves fans crave a major trophy and love a run in the FA Cup but their relationship with it has waxed and waned in recent years,” Steve Madeley says. “There were seasons like 2018-19, when they reached the semi-final, and last season, when failing to do so because of a stoppage-time implosion against Coventry in the last eight became one of the crushing low points of Gary O’Neil’s reign.
“But the common factor in both those campaigns was that relegation from the Premier League was never an issue, meaning that hopes and dreams could be invested fully in the cup without any nagging worries.
“This season, a return to the Championship is a real worry. And if that happened, myriad consequences would include a weakening of the team that, among other things, would make future cup runs considerably harder. That is why many Wolves fans would lose little sleep about losing at Bristol City on Saturday with a weakened team if it meant getting players fit for the all-important Premier League games.”
And now the night falls, dark and grim, which is possibly not the kindest introduction to Rob Tanner, who writes about Leicester City.
“It is no surprise that the vast majority of Leicester fans will not be placing a high priority on the FA Cup this season. That certainly wasn’t the case in 2021, when they lifted the famous old trophy for the first time in the club’s history at Wembley, with a 1-0 win over Chelsea.
“Leicester were challenging in the top four of the Premier League then, but have been in decline ever since and are desperately trying to hold onto their status after winning promotion back to the Premier League last season.
“The priority is simply survival this season under Ruud van Nistelrooy and the odds seem against them at this time, especially with continued profit and sustainability rule concerns that could bring a points deduction.”
Ah, yes. Back in the old days, it was FA. Now our game is reduced, diminished to PSR, FFP, VAR, PGMOL, FFS. Our battles are fought over different letters and glory is edged out.
In any case, glory looks different these days. Ipswich Town are bottom. Having fallen so low and then risen so fast, back in the top division for the first time in two decades, there is room for nothing else, with 85 per cent of their supporters, as represented here, saying the FA Cup is not important.
And, let’s face it, in 2025, what could be more traditional than that?
GO DEEPER
PSR. FFP. VAR. NFT. FFS. WTF. SOS. (Why being a fan became such a worry)
(Top photo: Manchester United lifting the FA Cup last year; by Mike Hewitt via Getty Images)
