Cod Almighty | Diary

Here's to the Watney's Cup revival

31 August 2022

Unless you are from Charlie Cross's generation, you probably remember the Football League Trophy. It gave us our first ever Wembley appearance in 1998 and we were the moral victors again in 2008 when no legitimate club turned out to play against us.

It was, in truth, always broken, even before it was turned into a glorified kickabout for kids stuck on the slush pile of top-flight conglomerates with more money than sense, and more sense than conscience. It is a competition which only picks up momentum when the final is in sight. The addition of group matches dilutes its already homeopathically-thin glamour.

In Cod Almighty Towers, we once kicked around what we'd do with the Trophy. One suggestion was abolish it. Wicklow Diary's was replace it with a lottery, from which two lucky clubs are chosen to compete in the final.

It is tricky. It needs to be direct - a minimum of games before the final. It ideally should fall after third- and fourth-flight interest in the League and FA Cups has ended, but before the league season reaches its climax, and without acting as too much of a distraction from the league.

This is Middle-Aged Diary's best shot. At the end of January, take the eight sides who have scored most goals since the season started and invite them to play a simple knock-out cup, so that they start just 180 minutes from Wembley. The whole thing could be done and dusted by mid-March. If there is still a worry it would be a distraction for teams competing for promotion we could give them the option of declining the invitation.

Any thoughts?