As Sir Alex Ferguson once famously exclaimed ‘Football…Bloody Hell’. Perhaps it would have been appropriate for him to say ‘FA Cup…There’s No Logic’ after Blue Square League minnows Crawley Town went to Old Trafford and came agonisingly close to taking Manchester United to an FA Cup fifth round replay which Ferguson desperately wanted to avoid. United had even took the lead in less than half an hour which should have opened the floodgates instead, the complete underdogs finished well on top of the Premier League leaders!
How do you explain it? Why should an ancient silver pot produce such heroics? The questions just keep coming. A bunch of barely known lads, reported to be on a bonus of £150 a man to win what should have never logically been winnable against the United millionaires, were not all that far from realising their impossible dream.
What’s even more notable is that the little non league club from Sussex showed far more resolve to avoid defeat than another bunch of super wealthy mercenaries from Manchester City managed to do at the same Old Trafford just seven days earlier. It simply does not make any sense.
Does the FA Cup REALLY possess a magic spell? Sheer logic tells you otherwise but it has been repeatedly shown over the years that against all the odds, it just might.
Is the Cup in need of a revamp for it’s magic to be retained?
