Shreeves did well to survive post Keys and Gray
Shreeves was told to take a significant pay cut or leave.
They have to be haemorrhaging a huge amount of money. A lot of pubs can’t or won’t pay the exorbitant monthly subscription any more. Coupled with the dodgy box generation they must be in deep trouble.
If you’ve a Sky subscription and ring them threatening to leave they’ll always offer you a deal to tempt you to stay. Works every time.
Rights fees biting and also wanting to get younger.
EPL tv rights peaked, that’s why the EPL threatened to go it alone. It’s a fairly hollow threat as they wouldn’t make nearly the same money with a direct to consumer model. The EPL are hoovering up the majority of the subs fees. In 1995 when rugby league’s Super League was formed the EPL got 5x-6x as much as Super League. Now it is closer to 70x.
I really miss that Sunday Supplement Show on a Sunday Morning as a few hacks sat around a few bowls of fruit and shot the breeze about the stories of the week.
Think Shreevesy presented it for a little while.
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Your man that presented it is at man United now.
I remember Miguel Delaney getting right pissy over not being on the show for a long time.
An odious prick.
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This cunt is dragging poor Merse into his CBD and conspiracy bullshit now.
That died with Brian Woolnough
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Rossa loves his tennis
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LOI bog standard league games getting bigger crowds than massive double headers in archbishop park
some stark comments here about the state if spud hockey & how its dying in Oireland
61 teams 
BBC and ITV lose everything except the FA cup final from the season after next, all earlier rounds will be on TNT only. A pitiful situation, the next generation will consume football mainly through the Xbox.
No more MOTD?
No that stays going but no live games except FA cup final. Equivalent of every GAA championship game on GAAGo except AI final.
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Competitions are destroyed in a piecemeal fashion.
The FA Cup is dead as a meaningful competition.
The 1990 semi-finals were the pinnacle of the FA Cup as a competition. The first ever live television double header and two all time classic matches at classic semi-final venues.
Then, the killing.
The first decision that devalued the FA Cup was the decision to hold the 1991 semi-final at Wembley.
Decision number 2 was the introduction of penalty competitions for the 1992 edition.
1992/93 saw the introduction of the Premier League and the creation of a monster. From 1993 on one of the semi-finals went to Sky Sports.
In 1995 the FA Cup was sponsored by Littlewoods.
In 1996 the classic draw featuring Graham Kelly introducing Sir Bert Millichip and Sir Ted Croker drawing balls from a velvet bag in a room in Lancaster Gate was abolished in favour of a “TV friendly” presentation featuring David Davies as presenter and two ex-footballers drawing balls from some sort of a drum. Chummy, matey banter was introduced to the draw, eschewing the classic patrician, intimidatory formality.
In 1997 the team that finished second in the Premier League was admitted to the Champions League. This now became more important than winning the FA Cup.
For 1998 BBC were ditched in favour of ITV.
In 1999, three teams got into the Champions League. The FA Cup was further diminished.
The Third Round Proper of the 2000 competition was pushed forward into December 1999.
In 2000 Manchester United were allowed to pull out of the competition in an effort to grovel before the feet of FIFA’s irredeemably corrupt executive committee. England never stood a chance of winning the World Cup bid and soiled the greatest domestic cup competition in the world forever.
For 2000, semi-final replays, some of the greatest football nights ever to take place, were abolished.
In 2000 semi-finals were moved back to Wembley and held on two successive Sundays.
After 2000, the iconic Wembley with its ICONIC dog track was no more.
In 2001, the FA Cup final was sandwiched in before the end of the Premier League.
In 2002 four teams got into the Champions League.
In 2006 the Sixth Round proper was held in midweek.
In 2007 the new Wembley opened and it was shit, there was no ICONIC walk onto the pitch, there was no dog track, there were no towers. It did however have a corporate section very visible to television cameras which always remained largely empty for 15-20 minutes after half time.
By this stage the competition had been on life support for a long time, but the terminally ill patient has continued to have what remaining life was in it relentlessly kicked out of it.
5pm kickoffs for the final. Too early. 5:30pm. Abolition of replays after the Fourth Round Proper. Lots of other stuff I can’t even think of off the top of my head because I’ve long lost interest.
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Wonder which Sunday columnist will plagiarise that post in the coming months.
It’s barely above the old League/Milk/Littlewoods/Rumbelows cup in terms of prestige nowadays, pointless
It was the decision of Man United to pull out of the competition that was the death knell