As the world’s oldest knockout competition prepares to embark on another season of thrills and spills, Crawley Town boss, John Yems, has his own suggestion as to how the TV money from the ties during the 2020/21 campaign should be spent.
In this of all seasons, the lower league clubs are struggling to keep their heads above water, and any extra income could be vital in keeping them afloat.
Crawley will receive £75,000 from their clash against Leeds United on Sunday, due to be televised on the BBC.
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“We won’t get as much as we would normally, because there’s no crowd,” Yems was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
“This would be a full house. In the current climate it would be nice if some of the big clubs can donate a little bit back, like they used to.
“At Kingstonian, we played Brighton in the FA Cup in 1994 and they let us have their share of the gate money. There are no gate receipts now so it’s more about TV money and they split it 50-50.
“I don’t know if you can get money off a Yorkshireman but I think a lot of clubs want to help the lower clubs and don’t know how to. This would be a good gesture.
“For us, that money might be the difference between finishing the season well and not finishing the season.
“There are a lot of clubs with their backs to the wall. I’m not saying we have but it’s about survival and making sure we’ve still got a club at the end of it. That’s what’s important.”
With the authorities generally paying no more than lip service to those clubs in the lower leagues, whilst professing to be keen to see a more level playing field, Yems’ suggestion represents the perfect opportunity for Premier League clubs to give something else back.
There’s seemingly no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, and with a real threat of the season being curtailed again at some point, if the money can be filtered down now to prevent issues later, it should be.