Bernardo Silva (foto: Getty Images)
The FA Cup remains football’s oldest competition, but the Premier League has transformed it into a secondary prize for England’s biggest clubs.
Manchester City lifted another FA Cup trophy at Wembley, but the final also highlighted a growing reality in English football.
The world’s oldest football competition no longer sits at the center of the English game.
For generations, the FA Cup represented the peak of the domestic season. Winning it often meant more than becoming league champions.
Now the competition increasingly feels like a secondary objective behind the enormous financial and sporting power of the Premier League.
The FA Cup began during the 1871-72 season, making it the oldest football tournament in the world.
The first final was played in 1872 when Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1-0 at the Kennington Oval cricket ground.
For decades, the FA Cup final was one of the biggest sporting events in Britain.
The 1970 final between Chelsea and Leeds United attracted around 28 million television viewers, still one of the largest audiences in British television history.
Even the famous 1923 Wembley final between Bolton and West Ham drew more than 126,000 spectators, a record attendance that still stands.
Today the situation is completely different.
The Premier League has become the most profitable and globally watched football league in the world, overshadowing every domestic competition in England.
The biggest football discussions now revolve around title races, Champions League qualification, relegation battles, managerial sackings, and transfer spending.
Even a final between global giants like Manchester City and Chelsea struggled to fully capture national attention.
For both clubs, the FA Cup increasingly feels like a consolation prize rather than the ultimate target.
City is chasing another Premier League title, while Chelsea viewed the cup as a small positive during a disappointing campaign.
The atmosphere around Wembley also reflected the changing status.
Although Wembley holds 90,000 supporters for football matches, the final attracted just over 83,000 spectators.
On the pitch, there was another symbol of modern football’s imbalance.
On one side stood Pep Guardiola, widely considered one of the greatest coaches in football history.
On the other sat interim Chelsea coach Calum McFarlane, who previously worked mainly in youth and lower-level football.
Chelsea competed well early in the match, but City’s superior quality eventually decided the final through Antoine Semenyo’s clever winning goal.
Yet even before the celebrations fully ended, attention across English football quickly returned to the Premier League title race, Champions League spots, and questions surrounding managers like Arne Slot and Michael Carrick.
That is now the reality facing the FA Cup.
The oldest competition in football history still carries prestige and tradition, the Premier League has changed the hierarchy of English football forever.