I'm not going to Beethoven 6&7 tonight. Physically achey but bloggily gushing. And there's the small matter of the Romance of the Cup on telly tonight.
There was a report on News 24 about the Romance of the Cup. I didn't know that a couple of years back Farnborough got into trouble for switching their home tie with Arsenal to Highbury. The FA are up in arms about Yeading switching their tie with Newcastle to Loftus Road.
After the Farnborough-Arsenal match, the FA tightened up the rules to say that teams must not enter the Cup unless the police can guarantee safety in their ground. Yeading wriggled it by employing an independent safety expert who overruled the police. According to the FA this is contrary to the Romance of the Cup.
Utter bollocksy crap, I say. The Exeter story is Utterly Romantic. Yes, of course, as a Manchestr United fan I am slightly miffed at the egg-on-face at only geting a draw. But I am a Romantic. Exeter writing off their debts is Real Romance. Not because I'm an accountant, but because it sustains the existence of a club owned by the fans in an area largely bereft of football teams (please don't show this to my Plymouth Argyle supporting friend...).
Exeter were lucky to get Old Trafford, rather than a home tie. I suppose their ground is better than many non-League grounds, because they are ex-Football League.
It is wrong for the FA to expect every minnow and sprat to be capable of hosting Manchester United or Arsenal. For most teams, a good run through the preliminary rounds, with their dream a First Round tie against a big liitle club is all they hope. This year's Third Round is highly unusual in pairing two non-Leaguers against Premiership clubs with mass following. I suspect that Exeter's ground isn't big enough to hold even the Exeter branch of the Manchester United Supporters Club. But they've had their revenue raising trip to OT. Tonight's live television fee is an added bonus.
I think Farnborough were right to have switched to Highbury. Giving up one's home advantage is hardly cheating. And Yeading were right to switch to Loftus Road.
What is the FA's agenda? I suspect it is, ultimately, bar the minnows and sprats from entering, leaving it just for the Big 90. I suspect they would really just want it to be the Big Twenty. And that's not right.
United had better win this evening, or I will be one seriously unhappy bunny.
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