The FA Cup. Probably the greatest knockout competition of all time. Sadly not any more.

Despite the BBC doing its best to try to revive a sinking ship, the FA Cup has unfortunately become a competition nobody wants to take part in.

The smaller clubs and lower league clubs like Blyth Spartans and Dover Athletic and the like treat it as it is their final because to them it is the ultimate goal.

The Premier League teams field second string teams and grounds are more or less empty because there are more important things to go for.

Staying in the Premier League is more vital than winning the FA Cup at Wembley.

The glory of winning the FA Cup at Wembley was once the pinnacle of a player’s career. Not any more.

Nowadays it’s just something you can win if you want it.

Sadly, the glory of FA Cup finals will never return and the real magic of the FA Cup finals will also never come back.

There are two main reasons. Firstly, the day Man Utd opted out, so they could play in a tournament the other side of the world, was one. The other was the introduction of live football on our screens.

Years ago, the FA Cup final was the only ‘live’ game you could watch on TV. Everybody watched it.

Nowadays there is football on all hours of the day, 24/7.

That is the reason the FA Cup, in my opinion, has died.

Sad in many ways, but true.

M Hibbert, Burnley