Romance of FA Cup, and the reality

Soccer fans in England like to talk about the magic of the FA Cup, a single-elimination tournament that allows virtually every team in the land, from veritable pub teams to oligarch-owned monoliths, the chance to rise and fall in the same brackets. Some label it charming. Others call it romantic.

At times it is both those things - David (or Derby) and Goliath, and all that. But digging beneath the worn narrative reveals a slightly more complex appraisal, particularly for the smaller clubs, which are ostensibly the ones providing the magic and the charm and the romance.

For the largest clubs - like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool - the Cup is simple: It is a chance to test some younger players or strategies while giving a rest to key contributors who will figure into the chase for the more important league title or the Champions League. Would those juggernauts like to win the FA Cup? Of course. Is it a priority? Generally, it is not.

For the minnows, though, the calculus is a bit trickier. On Saturday, for example, Brighton, a second-division team from England's south coast, traveled here to face Port Vale, a club playing in the third division. On its face, it was a draw that both teams ought to have been happy with: Brighton did not have to go on the road to play a team like Chelsea, a game that it almost surely would lose, while Port Vale got a home game against a team it certainly had a chance to beat instead of walking out as a sacrificial lamb against one of the big boys.

Whatever happened, one of these teams would advance to the fifth round of the tournament, keeping the dream of glory alive.

And yet neither side seemed particularly pleased. Norman Smurthwaite, Port Vale's chief executive, said that there was always a bit of a double-edged feeling for smaller clubs when it came to the FA Cup, because what is good for the soul may not be as good for the wallet.

Port Vale, like many clubs, has had financial struggles. If the Valiants, as they are known, had drawn one of England's marquee sides as an opponent, their game might have been on television, a circumstance that sweetens each team's payoff considerably. As an example, Smurthwaite pointed to Coventry, the team he followed as a child. Coventry played Arsenal - and was routed - on Friday night. "That was a good situation for them, being on TV," Smurthwaite said.

For Port Vale, the best it could hope for was a good showing at the gate - the hailstorm and frigid temperatures here did not help that cause - and, ultimately, a victory that would give them the prize money that comes with advancing another round. Smurthwaite declined to say how much a television appearance would be worth (the sums vary depending on the specific circumstances of the game), but needless to say, he acknowledged that from a chairman's financial perspective, it was always preferable.

To put it another way: There was a part of him that would have preferred a nationally televised slaughter to a more intimate fair fight.
"My head wanted a TV game and a big club," he said. "My heart wanted a team we had a chance against."

Brighton's situation was not all that different. Matthew Davis and his son Frank are Brighton season-ticket holders, and they watched the fourth-round draw together earlier this month, having already decided that they would go to the game, wherever it was.

One might assume they were rooting for Brighton to draw a lesser opponent - like, say, Port Vale - but Davis said he had actually found himself hoping for the opposite.

"Every time someone like Chelsea came up, it was like, Oh, that'd be a good one," he said. "There's the TV, of course, but also a chance to go and play against the best. You get a sniff of the big time. You get a chance to be one of those giant killers."

When the Davises saw that Brighton had drawn Port Vale, they hesitated, but stuck to their plan, reluctantly making the 220-mile journey on the train early Saturday morning. "Look around - it's grotty as hell here, isn't it?" Davis said outside an admittedly dank Vale Park. "I mean, wouldn't it be more interesting to be somewhere more impressive?"

That was the exact question that Frank, 15, was wrestling with. He does not have the FA Cup memories that his father does - Matthew grew up a West Ham fan and will forever remember the club's trophy from 1980 - so his inclination was to hope for Brighton to draw a team it could beat. "I want to see us go as far as possible," he said.

But one of Frank's friends is a Watford fan, he said, and Watford drew Manchester City in the fourth round. That meant a trip to the regal Etihad Stadium and a chance at a memorable shocker.

As it turned out, Watford almost pulled it off. While the Davises stood in the cold at Vale Park, Watford took a 2-0 lead into the second half against Manchester City before wilting late and losing, 4-2.

Brighton, meanwhile, slogged through a soaking afternoon and beat Port Vale, 3-1, meaning that Frank went home with a victory while his friend returned with a thrilling memory of what might have been.

Who had the better afternoon? That it is even a question may be the true magic of the FA Cup.

© 2014 New York Times News Service