The Magic of the Cup?
Tamworth’s remarkable run in the FA Cup highlights the ability of modern football to thrill and appall.
Let’s juxtapose two moments.
It’s a cold Friday night at the Lamb Ground.
Three and a half thousand baying locals are packed into the creaking old stadium to watch their local team – Tamworth FC – take on Football League giants Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup 1st Round (proper).
There’s a financial, historic and cultural gulf between the two sides.
Huddersfield are promotion favourites in League One having been relegated from the Championship last season. Tamworth are punching above their weight in the National League, two divisions and 57 places below Huddersfield in the football pyramid.
As the game approaches half-time, Tamworth’s stocky, bald central midfielder – the brilliantly named Tom Tonks - trots over to the near touchline. It’s time for one of his patented long throws.
He launches the ball so high it seems to pierce the night sky, before it begins its arcing descent into a crowded, seething penalty area.
Amidst the chaos and carnage in the penalty area, the panicked Huddersfield goalkeeper senses the need for action. In his haste to quell the danger, he flaps at the ball and deflects it into his own net.
It’s 1-0 to non-league Tamworth. Cue pandemonium in the stands.
Tamworth’s goal against Huddersfield in Round One of the FA Cup.This clip is property of the BBC.
Fast-forward seven weeks.
Having beaten struggling Burton Albion in the 2nd Round, Tamworth’s manager stands excitedly in a BBC television studio waiting to find out who the Lambs are going to be playing.
Dion Dublin’s hand plunges into the bucket and pulls out ball number 40: Tottenham Hotspur.
It’s what dreams are made of for the non-league football supporter. Here are tiny Tamworth, set to have their moment on the iconic stage of the FA Cup third round. Premier League giants Tottenham were going to be subjected to the unique hospitality of the Lamb Ground in what could be an all-time classic FA Cup tie. This feels like the “magic of the cup” manifest.
However, there is a twist in the coming days.
As fans prepare to rush for the hottest ticket in the club’s history, news emerges that Tamworth have decided to gouge the prices for the big match.
The top ticket at the Lamb Ground will now cost a whopping £42 for the main stand, and £38 for a spot on the terrace – more than double what I paid to see Tamworth play Aldershot in a league game earlier in the season. Even more shamefully, the price of the cheapest under 10s ticket is £25, five times the amount the club were charging to watch the shock cup win against Huddersfield.
The result? An outpouring of outrage among supporters:
Imagine fleecing your 1500 loyal fans who have been to most of your games this season with these prices! £30 is plenty for the loyalists. £42 is fine for those who want a 1 off game. Look after your loyal fans, they kept attended even at Step 3. Football is nothing without them. – @MyCoachJourney on Twitter.
How short sighted are these prices. A chance to repay and respect the fans that go and support you every week, and instead you release this monstrosity. Shameful. - @PyramidPodcast_ on Twitter
I’m looking at £150 for a family of four. I’m all for making a bit of money, but that’s taking the mickey out of ordinary fans - @MattMerrick on Twitter
The story of Tamworth’s remarkable run through the FA Cup this season encapsulates the tensions that define English football more than any other news story I’ve seen.
On the one hand, the magical nights under the lights at the Lamb Ground have highlighted football’s continued ability to provide stunning moments of romance and magic.
The meaning of the English game – especially in the FA Cup – is rooted in the slow layering of historic moments through time. The unique mythos of the cup is a palimpsest, a rich tapestry of iconic goals, moments, upsets and victories which give football supporters a deep sense of nostalgia, continuity and rootedness. For the traditionalist football supporter such as myself, seeing a part-time team cause genuine upsets shows me that the cliched “magic of the cup” remains alive and well.
On the other, the club’s decision to price gouge ahead of the Spurs game feels like an uncomfortable reminder of the forces which threaten the very magic that makes the game so beautiful.
In many ways Tamworth’s decision is understandable. The Spurs game with be a 5,000 sell out regardless of prices. This huge gate in combination with 3rd round TV and prize money will probably cover the club’s costs for the remainder of the season – whilst the FA’s disgraceful decision to scrap replays gives the club a higher incentive to cash in on their big moment.
But as ever, the victims of this cold, calculating economic logic are loyal match-going supporters. Rather than bask in the bliss and excitement of seeing their everyday heroes pitched against one of the world’s elite clubs, Tamworth supporters have instead had to grapple with the affordability of seeing their clubs’ greatest ever moment.
What’s worse is that the club have knowingly exploited the fans’ desperation to see the fixture, in the full knowledge that most Tamworth regulars will pay anything to be in the Lamb Ground on that special day.
So, as I settle on the sofa this Sunday lunchtime to watch the Lambs take on the mighty Spurs, I’m sure the experience will be bittersweet.
I’ll try and put my moral outrage aside and bask in the warm glow of nostalgia. I’ll try and enjoy the romance of seeing frightened international defenders on £100,000 a week try to defend an Exocet missile long throw from Tommy Tonks.
But the knowledge that Tamworth have tried to exploit their fans at the clubs’ most glorious moment will leave a sour taste. And more so than ever, I’ll struggle to get excited for the prospect of a cupset.
Good piece, Josh. It does look like a very cynical move by the club to exploit the loyalty of its fans. There is very little magic left in the Cup, with most teams in the top two divisions putting out scratch sides to protect their better players for the league programme, and then the scrapping of replays to protect the richest clubs so they can screw more money out of fans on their European adventures. It’s all very sad. Let’s hope the game gives something back to Tamworth fans today.