Of the 736 teams that entered this year’s FA Cup, eight still have the chance to get their club’s name on the trophy. The competition has certainly not disappointed this season; the likes of Warrington Town, Blyth Spartans and Bradford City have written new chapters into the history of their clubs. In a recent survey, more than three-quarters of respondents said they wanted to see events of national importance like the FA Cup on the BBC. We are doing our best to live up to those high expectations.
Already more than half the viewing population, approaching 32 million people, have watched our FA Cup programming with millions more accessing our website and listening to coverage on BBC Radio 5 live. That’s 50% more viewers than the same time last season.
One of the reasons the Football Association trusted us with the rights to the FA Cup, was a promise we made to give it the full BBC treatment. It’s been hard to miss the wholehearted commitment and passion shown for the FA Cup on the BBC. The One Show, Question of Sport, Pointless, Songs of Praise, Blue Peter, BBC Breakfast, Saturday Kitchen, BBC Learning, BBC Online and BBC Radio have all enhanced the competition in new and creative ways. BBC Get Inspired has also teamed up with the Football Association to launch the FA People's Cup, a free knockout competition giving members of the public the chance to play in their version of the FA Cup. More than 30,000 people took part in the opening round.
This weekend’s FA Cup fixtures promise yet more drama, entertainment and suspense. All of the matches will be live on BBC TV and/or BBC Radio 5 live, culminating in the mouth-watering clash between Manchester United and Arsenal on Monday night. No teams have won the Cup more times than these two, and both know just how much is at stake.
Barbara Slater is Director BBC Sport
