“It's what I grew up to love as a kid. Winning the league didn't mean anything. The FA Cup was the final game of every English season. It was a glamour game; it was eight hours of TV from nine o'clock in the morning and right through the day. The streets of England were just dead, there were no kids kicking footballs around or anything. We were just watching everything,” Parker tells Tribalfootball. It’s also fair to say though that his love of the cup has waned in recent years.
“I'm really, really disappointed. Things have got to change but they didn't have to dilute it as they've done. Maybe I'm being a little emotional but I was fortunate enough to play in the top division. From where I started my football it's allowed me to have that little bit of respect for grassroots football.
“The FA has allowed themselves to be dictated to by the Premier League which affects every lower division side within the FA Cup. The lower division sides thrive on everything the FA Cup gives them, but because these top teams are playing in Europe and they need their rest, they've taken away the opportunities to play replays.
“Not that the lower division teams don’t need their rest because they play just as many, or maybe even more games. Now they've made the FA Cup into this elongated weekends going from Friday to Tuesday where before it was always a Saturday. Then it was Saturday and Sunday which was still ok. But Doncaster Rovers want Crystal Palace on a Saturday at 3 o'clock so they could get people together and get a full house.
“The FA Cup is not being talked about in the way they think it is. People are looking at overpaid players who don't want to play a lot of games so they don't get tired. Football is a physical game. People go to work in factories and get tired. So, if you're doing a job and being well paid, you've got no more right to have more rest than anybody.
“The FA have let themselves down. The FA should have fought against it. It's their competition. It's a well-known competition, not just in this country, but everywhere. Yet it seems like we're trying to dilute it until it doesn't happen anymore so these Premier League sides can go and play in their club competitions like the FIFA Club World Cup or go on pre-season trips to America and Asia and then moan about being tired.”
- Paul Parker was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of Instant Casino