All Hail the Cliche Cup

Dust off your cliches and break out the patronising soundbites, FA Cup third round weekend is here. Yes, a number of plucky underdogs will hoping to cause an upset and claim the scalp of a bunch of overpaid professionals. The Derbys and the Evertons of this world won't fancy it on the bobbly sloping pitches and tight little grounds of The New Lawn and Moss Rose. At the end of the day you can throw league form out the window because its a funny old game and the magic of the cup always brings a shock.

There, that's all that out the way. FA Cup third round day is one of my favourite dates in the football calendar and this year it looks set to be extra special. For one, this is because for only the third time in my life-time my team have made it this far. But more importantly, because of the record number of non-league teams which have made it to this stage of the competition. A record eight in all have progressed from the qualifying rounds of the competition and that would have been nine were it not for Droylesden's expulsion.

The increased number of non-league teams means two things in particular; firstly it greatly increases the chance of there being a non-league team in the fourth round and subsequently the chance of an upset, which means we can enjoy a weekend free of Premier League hyperbole in the press and see some more deserving teams in print. And secondly, because it means Mark Lawrenson and Lee Dixon are dragged from their top-flight comfort zone with even more regularity on the Football Focus sofa. "So Mark, what do you view as Blyth Spartans strengths?" "Hey, I tell you, never mind their strengths, how about that mustache on their manager Harry Dunn, hey?".

Chances are that in the papers in the past few days you have read a story claiming that the FA Cup is not what it once was, that it has been 'devalued'. Chances are the same article then appointed the blame for this at Manchester United's attendance at the 2000 World Club Cup in Brazil. If the Cup has been devalued by anyone then it is the media themselves. It is their constant harping on about the 'best league in the world' which has taken focus away from the FA Cup. In past years the first few days in January would be spent previewing the upcoming third round ties, instead now the focus is the transfer window and so instead we have rumours as to who wants to go where, and non-news about who wants to pay how much for who.

However, the FA Cup is still alive and kicking and holds a significant interest for the wider football fan. Only in this competition in this country could you have an all top flight clash like Hull City versus Newcastle United and at the same stage, on the same footing, have Kettering Town versus Eastwood Town, a fixture between teams ranked 102nd and 164th respectively in the football pyramid. The only other sporting competition which runs it close in respect of top level professionals mixing it with amateurs is Rugby League's Challenge Cup, but even a revamp there means that you can be treated to the frankly odd spectacle of a fixture such as Castleford Lock Lane versus Lokomotiv Moscow.

Swayed by money and television exposure and the hype fans of many a top flight team have forgotten their routes. Look at the papers, the Premier League and European competition are where its at. Why should they have to put up with these trivial encounters with Southend, Gillingham and Plymouth when they should be facing Roma, Ajax or Porto? Yes, football does have too many games now, but managers should be pointing the finger at their sixth Champions League group stage tie rather than than the FA Cup third round. This after all, unlike the European competitions is still a knock-out cup in the rawest sense. One game and one chance to get it right, lose and you're out. Unpredictability still has a chance in the domestic game and so I for one will take a greater interest in Final Score tomorrow than I have at any other point this year, whilst the pubs will be distinctly emptier.