Matt Maher: Pursuit of revenue over trophies is a major football problem
Once upon a time, Villa’s FA Cup defeat to Newcastle would have been the cause of considerable discord.
A strong chance to reach the last-16 of a competition the club has not won for nearly 70 years was rather fumbled away on a chaotic evening at Villa Park.
And yet manager Unai Emery, speaking after the final whistle, claimed to be only “a little disappointed” by the defeat. More significantly, it wasn’t hard to find many supporters who shared the sentiment.
That in part can be explained by the fact Villa still remain alive in two competitions, not yet completely out of the Premier League title race and favourites to win the Europa League.
But perhaps a bigger factor in the prevailing, not-too-devastated mood, was the fact of the three competitions in which Villa were still fighting prior to the weekend, the FA Cup offered by far the least financial reward.
For a club enduring its longest wait for silverware this side of the Second World War, with an entire generation of fans who have grown up without seeing their team lift a major trophy, the prize money really should not matter.
The fact it does highlights a problem in a sport where for many clubs the pursuit of revenue has become a greater need than the desire for trophies.
Villa fall right bang in the middle of the issue. Stronger on the pitch than they have been for more than 40 years thanks to Emery’s coaching, off it they still lag behind richer Premier League rivals, not helped by restrictive financial fair play rules.
