FA chief wants to increase the prize money on offer for the FA Cup as lower league sides express their disappointment at television coverage
The magic of the FA Cup was not captured on TV this weekend as lower and non-league clubs were snubbed for big boy clashes
THE FA want to increase the prize money on offer for clubs participating in the FA Cup as they consider scrapping television appearance fees.
FA chief executive Martin Glenn is in favour of the idea of a new system so their is more fairness in the famous old tournament for the smaller clubs.
As reported by , under the current system clubs get paid more money if their match is on television, this weekend saw the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all play on TV.
Lower league and non-league clubs have expressed their concern that they are being overlooked for matches to be televised, when after all what makes the FA Cup great is a non-league club reaching the third round.
Of course the big teams will always attract a large audience, but there is a thought that if for example non-league Barrow's tie with Rochdale was televised then it would have attracted large television figures, because the neutral fan would have been cheering on non-league Barrow.
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Fans will always want to see the likes of Manchester United on TV, out of 32 FA Cup third round matches, nine were broadcast for live coverage, some feel that more could have been shown on the screen.
Glenn said: ''The FA Cup is a great way of redistributing money to the lower leagues. The prize money is £25m and we're looking to increase that in the coming years.''
''We've sold international rights for more money, and that's hopefully going to allow us to benefit smaller clubs. Right now it's a bit of a lottery.
''So one of the things we're thinking about , would be where you just make it a unity payment, so that everyone would get the same amount. It wouldn't be quite the lottery it is now. It would seem to be something we could consider.''
Some Premier League clubs have come under criticism for fielding weakened sides in the FA Cup, which can be understandable when a team is fighting to stay in the top-flight.
However some clubs were changing their whole starting line up when they have no real worries of relegation and showed a major lack of ambition of not trying to win the competition.
Glenn was happy to defend Eddie Howe's decision to make 11 changes to his Bournemouth team that was beaten 3-0 by League One Millwall.
''I think Bournemouth were an outlier. Eddie Howe can make his own reasons for it. It doesn't upset me. The Premier League teams really understand the value the FA Cup brings them.''
''People want to do well in the cup, but the positive side is that all of these bigger clubs have big squads, you want to give people game time and that's really important.''
Glenn added: ''Rotation is a good thing. Giving a chance for young players to get real game experience is not a bad thing.''