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What is the meaning of the phrase ‘Romance of the Cup’ in football?
- Find out more about this phrase by reading the transcript below.
- You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.
Romance of the Cup
Why do we associate the phrase, ‘the Romance of the Cup‘ with the FA Cup?A The FA Cup in England is the oldest football competition in the world, starting in 1871. The only current Premier League side founded earlier than this is Stoke City, who first played in 1863. Therefore, the FA Cup is a very traditional part of English football, and generally, people look at old traditions with fondness, that is to say they love them. In addition, the format of the FA Cup is different to most competitions, as it allows amateur teams to join its earlier stages and there is no seeding after the third round. Theoretically, this means an amateur team could be the FA Cup champions! This idea, that small teams can play against big, rich, high profile teams, is an appealing one – it is romantic to think the minnows could beat the giants. These two reasons, the old tradition and the format, make the romance of the cup!
- Example: It’s FA Cup third round weekend and I think the FA Cup is very important, although the romance of the cup appears to be dying unfortunately. (Lancashire Newspaper)
