“It’s magic, you know…” FA Cup Third Round Reflections
Call me naïve or an “old soul,” but I’m a big fan of the FA Cup. I’ve always been attracted to the obvious historical significance of the oldest national football competition in the world, but in an age where the financial and competitive supremacy of the “superclubs” rapidly intensifies and rumors of various permutations for a “European Super League” abound, it is really the quaint meritocracy in how the competition engages the English pyramid below its top two tiers that makes the Cup potentially so refreshing. 736 clubs from the top 10 tiers in England have now featured in the…