The best performance I can remember by an amateur team (and they may have been semi-professional at the time) was Blyth Spartans, who made it to the fifth round (the last sixteen) in the late seventies. Big news at athe time, which shows you how unlikely it is that an amateur team could get anywhere near winning the thing. More recently, Kidderminster Harriers of the Conference (England’s fifth tier) got to the fifth round, but as a strong Conference team they were probably at least semi-pro.
Just to expand on this slightly.
All the dates of each round are set by EUFA before the season starts. Normally the Champion’s League games are played on a Tuesday or Wednesday (usually the EUFA cup games are played on Thursday).
It’s all tied in with television schedules because that’s where the money is. Although the big clubs (in the Premiership anyway) grumble about playing too many games in a season and that their players are knackered, they would all love to be in the CL because it’s a big moneyspinner. If you expect to qualify for the CL and fail, then if you are a team like Leeds who spent big on expensive players on long contracts you could find yourself in severe financial trouble.
It means of course that Chelsea for example might play 3 games in 7/8 days, but as their players are probably getting anywhere between £20,000- £120,000 a week then I, for one, am totally unsympathetic.
How does it affect their play? Do the teams that go deeper in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup suffer for it late in their domestic seasons?
It can do. Recently in the EPL both Arsenal and Liverpool have made it to the CL final, and I think both times it harmed their domestic challenge, especially for Liverpool - who are the best English side by miles (in the European context - disregard anything that fans of other clubs say). Last season Rangers got through to the knockout stages of the Champions League (from the SPL) but it’s fairly obvious that a rich club by Scottish standards is out their depth at that level. The other big Scottish side, Celtic, got to the final of the UEFA cup three or four years ago, and beat some great sides to get there, but alas this is an exception. Scottish clubs did really well in 1967, providing teams at the latter stages out of all proportion, but these days it tends to favour the wealthiest (largest) demographic.
Obviously this is a work of fiction. Rangers don’t play in the FA Cup!
I thought it sounded strange for a Scottish team to play in the FA Cup, too.
No they don’t but in the story the Scottish FA decide to scrap their own cup competition and apply for entry to the English one.
It’s really quite a “Roy of the Rovers” style story, very enjoyable.
As an aside, When the FA cup competetion first began Scottish teams did enter and I think it was Celtic who made it to the semis but were unable to proceed further because of lack of funds. They went home after a goalless draw in the semi final and did not have enough money to stay for the replay.