Who cares about the FA Cup?

The third round of the FA Cup, underway this weekend, is one of the highlights of the football calendar – or so we are meant to think. Premier League and Championship clubs finally enter the fray, prompting breathless talk of part-time bricklayers and plumbers getting to test their skills against elite footballers paid millions. The tantalising prospect is held up of an elite manager – think  Pep Guardiola of Manchester City – patrolling the touchline at some tiny lower league ground. This is all part and parcel of the endless  hyperbole and romanticism surrounding this oldest of cup competitions, often accompanied by seemingly endless drooling over previous acts of ‘giant-killing’ in the competition. Much of this – if not quite all – is somewhat deluded football propaganda of a North Korean vintage. The usual suspects, the broadcasters paying to cover the games, the TV presenters and pundits, continue to insist on the ‘glory’ and ‘specialness’ of the cup.