Chairman's Statement: Emirates FA Cup

Disappointingly we only found out about the FA Cup rule changes via the press release on Thursday. 

 

Maidenhead United Football Club is one of the original entrants to this grand competition taking place originally in 1871 and to this day the FA Cup fixtures remain our most anticipated and important fixtures of the season. The drama and excitement, alongside the opportunity to compete against EFL and Premier League teams whilst putting vital money in the club’s coffers are unparalleled. We are not dinosaurs or adverse to change and welcome innovation in making football and its competitions attractive, fresh, and modern, but always with a nod to the past. 

 

As a competition that attracts 700-plus entrants every year, how can it be right that these changes have been implemented without consultation other than with a small cohort of 20 clubs? 20 clubs that have so little in common with the rest of the football pyramid and no longer appear to value the most famous and celebrated cup competition in the world. 20 clubs that do not even feature in the early rounds of the competition which are affected by this upheaval so much. 

 

The strength and value of the football pyramid sadly seem to be continuously eroded and undermined by those who govern football, who clearly do not recognise or understand the value of consultation. This decision is simply designed to accommodate the new format UEFA competitions meaning more games and more money for the few, whilst reducing the opportunity for non-league clubs to play in dream away fixtures against higher-level teams and the benefits that come with that. Nothing compares to Maidenhead United’s first-ever televised match, an FA Cup replay against Port Vale, with commemorative scarves and mugs and a whole new generation of lifelong Maidenhead fans in the sold-out crowd.