There has been a lot of talk over the past few years about the FA Cup losing its magic and becoming a competition fewer people care about.

In this season's third round, it might seem as though this argument is becoming more and more real. Premier League teams are putting out weaker XI’s and whilst managers like to rotate after a busy Christmas, the FA Cup used to be one of the main priorities for clubs but that seems to have changed. Even Championship clubs are following this pattern with the likes of Birmingham making 10 changes for their tie with non-league Blyth Spartans, and it very nearly cost them after going 2-0 down before three quick-fire goals secure their place in the fourth round. This is all hurting the FA Cup's prestige that has been in place for well over a century.

The first two rounds of this year’s competition suggested why the FA Cup is still great for lower league and non-league clubs. The opportunity to progress to the third round and face a Premier League heavyweight like Man United or Chelsea is what all these clubs dream of. The very first match of this year’s FA Cup proper saw eighth tier Warrington Town upset League Two Exeter. This sparked wild celebrations for the non-league side in their very first match at this stage of the FA Cup. This is exactly what the FA Cup is all about, so maybe there is a point to be made that the Premier League and even Championship teams are to blame for the decline of the cup.

When managers such as Aston Villa's Paul Lambert insist the FA Cup is not his priority as he did last season, the question of how seriously Premier League managers take the FA Cup has to be asked. While the likes of Man United, Liverpool and Manchester City put out strong teams and intend to win the cup, mid-table teams seem happy to rest most players when they could have a real chance at winning a major domestic trophy, as well as secure themselves European football for the following season. Leicester and Newcastle both made seven changes to their teams for their tie on Saturday, something that wouldn’t have happened a decade or so ago. Newcastle haven’t won a major trophy since 1955 and, with nothing to play for in the league this season, you would think a good cup run would be at the top of their agenda.

An even bigger worry is the drop in attendances for FA Cup games. Burnley's meeting with Tottenham at Turf Moor drew a crowd of just 9,348, which is around half of what Burnley normally get for a league fixture. Sunderland, Villa and QPR were also down tens of thousands from normal attendances, even suggesting fans are starting to care less about what used to be the greatest domestic competition the work. Even Everton - a club with great FA Cup tradition- were down around 17,000 from their last home Premier League fixture, which really is a sad indictment of where the cup is heading.

There wasn’t an old fashion cup shock of note this week, the closest being Sheffield United beating QPR 3-0. A trend in this year’s FA Cup has been the way matches have been divided up on both Saturday and Sunday. Usually just a few matches would take place on Sunday before the fourth round draw, but this year the third round had fixtures spread over five whole days.

Ten ties were played on Sunday, only three of which were televised. There is simply no need to do this other than the BBC trying to make as money as possible from their televised fixtures. The FA Cup belongs on a Saturday, with the odd game on Sunday acceptable, but you have to say that this practice is another element that is slowly killing the FA Cup.

What once was the greatest cup competition on the planet is heading to irrelevance until something is done about it.

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