Football's powers that be run the risk of ruining the purity of FA Cup

A wave of nostalgia hit me on Sunday afternoon as I tuned into the draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup on the BBC.

For large parts of my life, the FA Cup has slowly but surely moved down the pecking order of importance. Pick up any newspaper around this time of year or tune into a press conference or two, and all you will hear is we need to change this or that with the oldest national football competition in the world.

However, at 31, I remember fondly sitting around the TV, waiting to hear those balls rattle as I waited to find out who my team had drawn.

That feeling came back on Sunday when Mark Chapman introduced Karen Bardsley and Emile Heskey, and I waited patiently for the numbers that mattered the most.

There were a few shouts in the office when it was confirmed that Manchester City or Chelsea, who were due to play later that night, would play the winner of Oxford United or Arsenal.

Now we know the two best teams in England will collide in the fourth round, and the romantic in me immediately thought - that's at least one big side out of the way.

That is the magic of the FA Cup; it allows us all to dream of that trip to Wembley, and yet, as a Leeds fan, there's no real reason to get excited. I have never witnessed my team lift the famous trophy, and seeing as they last did so in the 1970s, I should enjoy the cup run for as long as possible.

But if the doubters needed a reminder of how special the competition can be, there were three shocks in the third round that proves we need to preserve the FA Cup.

Newcastle United had hoped to end their long wait for a trophy in the FA Cup, only to lose 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday of League One. The Magpies have improved dramatically since their takeover, but they still could not overcome a team from the third tier despite all their recent spending.

National League side Wrexham showcased their potential after overcoming Championship side Coventry in a 4-3 thriller. The club's owners, American film stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are fully invested in the project, and Saturday's result will have only fuelled their hunger to succeed.

The biggest shock came at Villa Park, though, as 10-man Aston Villa threw away a one-nil lead to lose 2-1 to League Two Stevenage.

Fifty-nine places in the Football League separated the two teams, and with time running out, Stevenage managed to snatch the victory. Their reward is now a trip to Stoke, where they will hope to upset the odds again.

Stevenage's story is what the FA Cup is all about; it allows the smaller clubs to dream of their day on the big stage, and it is one of the only occasions where fans of those teams can watch some of the best players in the world up close.

The Boro have gone from nearly dropping out of the Football League to beating Aston Villa on the road, and the FA needs to do everything in its power to keep the competition as close to its current format.

I say that just days after senior figures from the Premier League, FA and EFL met to discuss plans for the future of the game.

The fixture calendar is at the heart of those talks, and changes are set to be made ahead of the Champions League expansion in 2024. FA Cup replays may soon be shelved to meet Premier League clubs' demands, which will be a hammer blow to those further down the pyramid.

The Premier League clubs will likely need to stump up the cash to cover the loss in revenue that replays bring, but the FA must get this right to ensure the FA Cup still has huge importance in the English game.

Staying with the theme of big decisions in the FA Cup, last weekend also proved how poor of a decision it was to allow VAR to be used in the competition.

Only nine of the 32 FA Cup third-round fixtures used the technology. Matches at Premier League grounds will use VAR, but even stadiums in the Championship that can follow suit will not do so.

The whole thing makes a mockery of the idea, even though the FA is aware of a potential imbalance in sporting standards. The costs to operate VAR is the sticking point, but it makes no sense to allow some clubs to benefit from VAR and for others to not.

Even then, VAR has proven to be inconsistent; just ask Wolves' boss Julen Lopetegui following his side's controversial 2-2 draw at Liverpool.

It's clear the powers that be want to make changes in the coming months and years to try and fine-tune the English game. There will be alterations that the Premier League clubs will praise, which will no doubt frustrate those lower down the pyramid; after all, you cannot please everybody.

But I do wonder if removing the use of VAR in the FA Cup will have any objections, especially when the system is not available for all, and even when it is, it can provide the occasional clanger.

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport