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Non league managers slam broadcasters as additional FA Cup TV picks are revealed

Two non league managers come out and slam broadcasters as additional FA Cup TV picks for the Third Round are revealed earlier this week.

We, us football fans, were all rather appalled after seeing the TV selections announced, only to see that none of the four remaining non league sides left in the competition weren’t picked by either BBC or ITV.

Instead you had games such as Manchester United vs Aston Villa and West Ham vs Leeds which is either side of FA Cup weekend and no doubt televised in some way.

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We all love a giant-killing, right? Or at least we thought that was the case, especially when the BBC and ITV make a big thing of it in the rounds prior to Premier League and Championship teams entering.

But once those from the top two tiers come in, those in the lower leagues and non league instantly get shafted and forgotten about, even if they bag a superb draw against teams much higher than them.

Just weeks after the Tracey Crouch fan-led review concluded, we all know that more has to be done to protect football clubs further down the pyramid, non league and grassroots.

The money that clubs receive for FA Cup Third Round TV picks will play a helpful part to securing their future, pay bills, get some new players, do much needed work around the ground or even help in some way with a club and community relationship.

This season, National League leaders Chesterfield were drawn with European champions Chelsea, however it’s seemingly only because that the non league side are the away team that that is probably the only reason not to televise the game.

Non League Daily wrote in an article on this matter: “It isn’t the first time non-league sides have been shunted for coverage this season, with Bowers & Pitsea boss Rob Small left frustrated when his side’s trip to League One Lincoln City wasn’t picked to be on television.

“Managing a team in England’s seventh tier, Small told Non League Daily back in November that he was ‘deflated’ by the picks for the First Round, with the all-League One affair between Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle selected ahead of Bowers & Pitsea.

“Small argued that the £50,000 handed to the two third-tier sides for being selected would’ve had little impact on their finances, whereas that money could’ve instead secured the future of a non-league club like his.

“Fast forward one month and the same issue has resurfaced. Of the 12 clubs selected for television coverage in the Third Round, six of them are topflight sides, whilst four are involved in all-Premier League ties.

“All of them will receive £85,000 in broadcast fees, which for context, would just about cover the wages of United’s summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo for one day’s work. Money well spent.

“Of course, the singular reason behind the likes of West Ham United vs Leeds United being selected over Chesterfield’s trip to Stamford Bridge is television companies require viewers to stay ahead.

“Any football purist may crave seeing a non-league side lock horns with the reigning European champions, but the reality is most others won’t. With a finite number of opportunities for both the BBC and ITV to televise United each season, it no surprise they squabble to get their cameras in front of the 20-times Premier League winners.

“But, at the same time, it’s the narratives created by those non-league clubs when they pull off a giant-killing that the television companies are quick to salivate over. You can’t pedal the ‘magic of the FA Cup’ tagline, if you then proceed to ignore those same ties before they’ve even taken place.

“Chesterfield won’t win the FA Cup, nor will any other of the non-league sides left in the competition, but the Third Round has often been considered the promised land for clubs outside the top four tiers.

“That promised land may as well be nothing but a glorified car park if non-league sides are to be neglected television coverage by broadcasters for the matches that matter.”

Meanwhile, Chesterfield boss James Rowe had his say on calls that his side’s tie against Chelsea is what the FA Cup is all about: “It’s my view of the FA Cup. It’s grassroots to elite level, and I think when you have a team in non league playing the European champions, you think that it would have been chosen. It hasn’t.

“We were on the last round which we were fortunate and grateful for that, but yeah it’s not just us, it’s four non league teams isn’t it, in a bubble there that haven’t got live coverage which I am very surprised as a group because quite easily Boreham Wood, you could because they’re at home against AFC Wimbledon, Yeovil at home and Kidderminster.

“So they’re going to be disappointed as well. That’s what the FA Cup is for me, it’s the magic of the cup, and it’s also the chance for the Football Association to reward those lower teams that don’t perhaps have the chance to have TV coverage money.”

FA CUP THIRD ROUND TV SELECTIONS AND TIMES:

The full schedule and further live broadcast details for the third round of the Emirates FA Cup’s 150th anniversary season have been confirmed following selections by BBC Wales, S4C and international broadcasters. The updated fixture list can be seen below…

FRIDAY 7 JANUARY 2022
Swindon Town v Manchester City at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV Hub

SATURDAY 8 JANUARY 2022
Bristol City v Fulham at 12.30pm
Burnley v Huddersfield Town at 12.30pm
Coventry City v Derby County at 12.30pm
Hartlepool United v Blackpool at 12.30pm
Mansfield Town v Middlesbrough at 12.30pm
Millwall v Crystal Palace at 12.45pm on ITV1 and ITV Hub
Barnsley v Ipswich Town or Barrow at 3pm
Boreham Wood v AFC Wimbledon at 3pm
Kidderminster Harriers v Reading at 3pm
Leicester City v Watford at 3pm
Newcastle United v Cambridge United at 3pm
Peterborough United v Bristol Rovers at 3pm
Port Vale v Brentford at 3pm
Queens Park Rangers v Rotherham United at 3pm
West Bromwich Albion v Brighton & Hove Albion at 3pm
Wigan Athletic v Blackburn Rovers at 3pm
Birmingham City v Plymouth Argyle at 5.30pm
Chelsea v Chesterfield at 5.30pm
Hull City v Everton at 5.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
Swansea City v Southampton at 5.30pm on BBC Wales
Yeovil Town v AFC Bournemouth at 5.30pm

SUNDAY 9 JANUARY 2022
Luton Town v Harrogate Town at 12:30pm
Cardiff City v Preston North End at 2pm on S4C
Charlton Athletic v Norwich City at 2pm
Liverpool v Shrewsbury Town at 2pm (Subject to Police approval)
Stoke City v Leyton Orient at 2pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Morecambe at 2pm
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Sheffield United at 2pm
West Ham United v Leeds United at 2.15pm on ITV1 and ITV Hub
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal at 5.15pm on ITV1 and ITV Hub

MONDAY 10 JANUARY 2022
Manchester United v Aston Villa at 7.55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Clubs selected for live broadcast by either BBC Wales or S4C will receive a fee of £48,000 each and those involved in fixtures that have been moved away from 3pm on Saturday 8 January 2022 will receive £32,500 respectively unless they have been chosen for live broadcast by the BBC or ITV.

Winning clubs in the third round will also receive £82,000 from the competition’s prize fund.

Twitter users reacted after non league managers slam broadcasters as additional FA Cup TV picks are revealed…

@DarrenMarshall4: That’s outrageous. I’m a season ticket holder at RUFC and so have no vested interest but Chesterfield are having a stellar season and their game should have been on TV. Hull and Forest matches!!

@Sarahharding85: Rob, It seems like the FA are making sure, ex premier league teams aren’t forgotten. It’s sickly and stinks. Why would I, and any neutral want to watch Arsenal vs Forest and Everton vs Hull over Chelsea vs Chesterfield, especially after the Spirites run in the FA Cup. #rufc

@EverattNastyowl: Disgrace…this is why the magic of the cup isn’t there anymore. Who really wants to see All Prem ties that are on every bloody week anyway.

@MrMarkyTweets: We feel your frustration guys. The magic of the cup has been somewhat lost in translation to the BBC and ITV. All the best against Chelsea 🤝

@sonnyg2986: The fa cup is done, this tie is what it’s all about, half of them teams are on telly most weeks, shocking.

@TerrySw56720918: No doubt had it been Salford at Chelsea it would have been on telly

@SW18_67FC: Home or away… Chesterfield playing Chelsea should be on TV. Surely there is more interest than the other games. Magic of the cup is long gone & the game itself is currently going!

@scottcain1312: Shocking how this game isn’t on tele

@MattCJBaker: Absolute disgrace. I remember a team talk when we were told we couldn’t be paid if we didn’t win in the FA Cup. We did and got a TV game the next round that saved the club. Shocking from @EmiratesFACup

@HarryTaylr: Very diplomatic. The choices of televised games are ridiculous. West Ham and Leeds, a week before they play in the Premier League stands out.

@belly_eighty5: Its a disgrace. But chelsea are rather plastic and chesterfield is tiny, as much as chezzy deserve the money this wouldnt have pulled big numbers viewers wise. Saying that, how hull have been picked i will never know

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