Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 26 October 2012

26 October 2012

Mardy Diary writes: Here we are then. It's the first chance to test how the 'concentrate on the league' theory is going to work out. The fail-safe, shit-or-bust approach to running a football club.

I refer, of course, to those fans who see cup competitions as an unnecessary distraction from the league. Their theory is that we must get out of this league at all costs and the cups only get in the way of that. It's a simple theory, and an odd one in that it places promotion as higher priority than the continued existence of the football club. And ultimately it's flawed. It's also borne of the attitude of the rich elite in the Premier League.

The main problem with this theory, for a club of our stature, is that it stakes all on promotion - and with only two places up for grabs that's a big gamble. If we remember, Fenty - when he obtained shares from the Supporters' Trust - told us we were in a financially precarious position and there was only enough money to see us go so far. Without a controlling interest he would not be prepared to prop up the club any further and we would have to sell players such as Liam Hearn to raise funds.

Assuming that's still the case, then - and I see no evidence to suggest otherwise - to dismiss the cup competitions and gamble on promotion from the league would be at best naive and at worst maliciously incompetent. It keeps us in the position of having to rely on Fenty to bail us out or let the club become insolvent. Not that I'm suggesting the club is actively taking this approach - far from it - but this appears to be the approach some fans would have us take.

Both cups have the potential for revenue, and it's revenue that the club is in such desperate need of. The FA Cup, while we're never going to win it, has the potential to pull in decent money in the first few rounds (say, Sheffield United away) and even more financial rewards should the club make it to the third round and beyond. And with the FA Trophy, as with the Football League Trophy when we qualified for that (sob!), there is little interest in the early rounds but an appearance in the final would generate a good sum of money that a club like ours definitely can't be sniffy about.

So as well as the fact that it's good for a team to keep winning and players want to play games when the team is doing well, the cups also provide a financial back-up. It's like laying against promotion - if we don't go up there's money there for another attempt the next season. Without that money players are sold and another stab at promotion becomes increasingly difficult.

As I mentioned before, this attitude has come from the Premier League, where 'a place in Europe' is considered more important than winning a domestic trophy. Now ignoring how morally repugnant that attitude is and how it devalues the entire sport, from a financial perspective it makes perfect sense. The money from qualifying for Europe is far, far greater than the money a club could gain from winning either the League or FA Cup. But this is a business decision rather than a footballing decision. And the same theory does not hold weight for those outside of the elite few - for footballing or financial reasons.

So, let's 'concentrate on the league' this weekend. And when it's time for the FA Trophy let's concentrate on that too. A win is a win and I'd rather we had the cash to put out a decent team next season, regardless of which league we find ourselves in.