Non-league clubs deserve better than Premier League’s FA Cup grab

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the agreement - which would be in place for the 2024/25 season - would bring an end to replays, ensure the early rounds take place in midweek and allow Premier League fixtures to share the limelight with the FA Cup Final on the penultimate weekend of the season - all in return for an increased level of investment in the grassroots game.

Having worked extensively in the non-league game over the last decade, I can state that the assumption most clubs at that level simply rely on the income provided by a potentially lucrative tie against an EFL and Premier League side is simply misguided. Clubs that plan their budgets for a cup run that may never materialise are few and far-between and those that do are simply asking for trouble.

But what the FA Cup does for non-league clubs is provide hope, excitement and a belief that a day in the sun may be just around the corner. It gives them a reason to believe the hours of toil and sweat in keeping their clubs going against the odds will all pay off and, more than anything, it allows players, managers, coaches, supporters and volunteers a reason to dream.

Over the last three decades, since the introduction of the Premier League and the saturation of coverage at the top end of the game, dreams seem to be a long forgotten currency. Every now and then, there are some reminders, not least Luton Town’s meteoric rise from non-league to top tier over the last decade. But the elite world the Hatters will experience next season is a cynical one where it is the few that prosper, leaving the many trailing far, far, far behind.

The FA Cup is the one competition, our greatest domestic competition, that allows those worlds to collide. Fresh in the mind are memories of Jose Mourinho paroling the touchline at Marine as Tottenham Hotspur took on the Northern Premier League club and the joyous scenes that followed Sean Raggett’s last minute winner as then-National League club Lincoln City saw off Burnley to reach the last eight of the competition.

Going further back in time, the likes of Wrexham, Hereford United, Sutton United, Kidderminster Harriers, Altrincham and Yeovil Town have all enjoyed their moment in the sun by being the David that brought down a mighty Goliath. The memories created during these moments last a life time and give the English game a much-needed dose of romance and joy in an increasingly scornful and skeptical world.

From a personal point of view, I began my journalism career as a volunteer at Blyth Spartans, a club that has become synonymous with FA Cup giant-killings over the last century. This club, based in a small corner of Northumberland, have reached the first round proper on over 50 occasions, and famous made their way to the last 16 during a joyous run in 1977 before a controversial tie against Wrexham brought a sad end to their exploits.

Even during my time with the club, they produced some of the old magic, seeing off a higher-ranked non-league club in Altrincham and League Two side Hartlepool United in a tie shown live on Match of the Day to reach the third round and set up a home clash with Birmingham City.

Over 3,500 supporters crammed into Spartans’ famous Croft Park home and they witnessed something of a classic as club legend Robbie Dale put his side into an unlikely two-goal lead by the time the half-time whistle had been blown.

With national journalists furiously relaying the heroics to their editors and laying the pathway for back page splashes of an unexpected turn of events, reality hit and it hit hard as three goals in the space of 20 second-half minutes ended Spartans’ hopes of reaching the fourth round. But the joy, pride and expectancy that enveloped a proudly working class town has lived with me to this day and will do so until the day I take my last breath.

The reported changes to the FA Cup will not bring an end to the possibility of FA Cup upsets, nor will they prevent non-league clubs from embarking on runs that turn part-time players into recognised names.

But in abolishing replays and forcing ties in the early rounds into midweek fixtures, they will limit the opportunities and aspirations at non-league clubs and make life just that little more difficult in a world where getting by remains an ongoing challenge. No amount of an increased payment and investment into grassroots football that simply masquerades as a bribe will ever sooth the impact made by such a decision.

Selling the family silver(ware) to the Premier League and allowing the elite to further dictate the state of our national game and the competition its reputation was built upon during football’s formative years will be another blow to clubs that have come through so much and quite frankly deserve so much better.