The FA Cup.
The English pride themselves on having the oldest and “greatest” knock out cup competition in the world. Since 1871 the FA Cup has been there. The prestigious knock out trophy. Don’t mess with the FA Cup. A part of the footballing fabric and culture.
It is arguable that English football has been built on knock out football. After all the Football League did not exist until 1888. Just moving the kick off time causes outrage. When Manchester United withdrew in 2000 the outrage was ferocious. Don’t mess with the FA Cup. Knock out football is the sacred cow.
It has followed that everyone plays in cups and aspires to play in cups. It is sacrilege not to. The result is the mini mirror competitions that permeate youth football. The dreams and aspirations of adults to lift that trophy. Let’s give our children that chance. The chance to live out or dreams.
Does knock out football help players develop?
The truth of cup football is that teams are only guaranteed one game. In order to play more matches teams HAVE to win. If your philosophy is to place development of the individual first (as the FA suggests) you are likely to play fewer cup games than those who place winning first.
In an era where victory is of lesser importance is cup football for kids outdated?
Games are undoubtedly a vital part of development. Research indicates that children who play only matches develop faster than those who only take part in drills. Knock out cup competitions create an opportunity for elitism. The best getting the opportunity to get better while those who are struggling have limited opportunities because they have been knocked out. At school, if you are struggling you get more chances, more work, not less. Schools don’t tell you that if you are struggling that is it, it is over. Finished until next year.
People make arguments that this is reality. It prepares them for the real world. Where mistakes are punished. Where there are no second chances. Toughen up for the real world. Except that these are kids. Learning. Improving. Developing. Even late teens and those entering their 20s are still learning.
Isn’t meaning the key to learning? If your thousands of hours are meaningless, where is the value in the learning? So the ultimate learning must come when everything is on the line? Except this learning is limited. For some the limitation is one game. If you are a little luckier, two games and so forth. There is another flaw in the meaning argument. Meaningful for who? Does a game need to be knock out for it to mean something for children? I have seen many kids in tears because they have lost training matches, never mind organised matches. The meaning is there, cup or not.
At present kids cup competitions reinforce old values. Victory first. Elitism allowing the best to get better and casting others by the wayside. Of course clubs who have been knocked out can arrange their own friendlies in place of cup games but the schedules put in place by league and county competition get in the way of this. Many are limited in their ability to organise as they have a relatively small contact list. Particularly when compared to leagues and county FAs.
These organisations should see themselves as facilitators of games, not crowners of champions. Ensuring that children and young people are able to play a sufficient number of games. At present many leagues will launch mini cup competitions when teams run out of league fixtures, yet this would not be needed if the cups were structured differently. Those who run the leagues may not be well educated when it comes to player development. What about the local FA? The county cup competitions they run are no different to those run by the league but there are people at county FAs who are charged with looking after player development.
Leagues are designed to ensure that kids are playing competitive matches. Not being outclassed or out powered. To try to match things up as evenly as possible. Leagues still manage to get this wrong on occasion but an open cup draw is just inviting mismatches. This season I have been on both ends of the mismatch. Playing a club from a division below and winning with ease. Then in the next round traveling miles to face a team with power, speed and skill from another place. A team who romped their way through the cup competition. Was the uneven game of any benefit to either team? No. There are coaches who seek to protect their players (and themselves) from such experiences by pulling out of ties against opponents in leagues above them.
Has no one considered a better option?
There are leagues who devise a bonus cup competition for teams who are running out of games. Teams are organised in small groups, guaranteeing the teams three games before reaching a knock out phase. Three games. Better than one. Increase the pool size, increase the number of games. However, this solution requires knowing when to stop, there is little point in creating a second league.
Alternative formats for cup competitions lead to increasingly complex and fixture heavy scenarios. Though the organisers have a duty to provide the best possible environment for development this also needs to plausible and operable. How many games is enough? Over what period? The can of worms is a large one.
Why have cups at all?
Players love tournaments. They come in all shapes and sizes, five or six matches against a variety of opponents. Changing scenarios and changing challenges. Small sided games are golden for learning. Small sided games against unfamiliar opponents are diamond studded. Players should play in more tournaments.
It is common practice for tournaments to occur at the start of the summer. When leagues and cups are out of the way. In the last three seasons I can say without doubt that my players have learned more from tournaments than they have from cups. I would gladly trade in every cup weekend for tournaments on those days. Six tournament extra tournaments. That could be an extra 30 games between 10 and 20 minutes in length. Those playing 5v5 in their leagues could play 5v5 in tournaments. Those playing 7v7 could play 7v7 and so on all the way up to 11v11. There is no need to put a minimum on this. Would a 2v2 tournament be beneficial to players playing 11v11? Would a 1v1 tournament help 11v11 players develop?
If the facilitators of fixtures still feel the need to hand out a trophy that need can be satisfied. Give one out at the end of each tournament. Use the tournaments as a qualifier for an overall trophy if that remains important to them. As long as the games and opportunities to play are available to all.
Other people will be able to imagine yet more alternatives. Alternatives that provide more chances for players to improve. Children are not mini adults. We hear this line regularly. At present they have a mini FA Cup to play in. Give them something that lets them play and play and play some more.