FA Cup third round: a fine romance or outdated tradition?

This weekend sees the third round of the FA Cup - the most romantic day of the English football season and one that still holds a peculiar place in fans' hearts in an age largely dominated by greed.

"The FA Cup still matters," wrote Henry Winter in The Times earlier this week. "It's not solely about the distant glimmer of glory or the long shot of a day out at Wembley for those outside the elite; it's about reminding the world that football exists outside the Barclays Premier League. It's about the history of the game and its fabric - and they are worth fighting for."

He describes it as "a celebration of football life" which also "offers a timely debate on the issues affecting fans, the movement of kick-offs, the disparity in income between Premier League and the rest, and the chance for an unknown to make a name for themselves".

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For lower division teams such as Exeter, who face Liverpool in the opening tie on Friday, it offers a moment in the limelight, a sell-out crowd and a shot at glory. There will also be a full allocation of their opposition's fans, even if the TV scheduling means the last train back to Merseyside leaves before kick-off.

Premier League managers - and even a few in the Championship - might regard this weekend as an opportunity to give big-name players a rest. But for Eastleigh, who host Bolton, and Oxford United, home against Swansea, it will be the biggest day of the season, while 3,000 lucky Scunthorpe fans will get the chance to see their team play at Chelsea for only the fourth time in their history.

Lauding the "romance of the Cup" is a very English tradition. The Guardian's US edition explains that while the final is the nearest thing English football has to the Super Bowl, the third round "is a rather more quaint affair, predicated instead on the stereotypically English concepts of amateurism, failure and rank ineptitude". And as a result, it is "marvellous", it adds.

But the tradition is under threat. In recent years, pundits have been queuing round the block to lament the decline of a once-great institution and pinning the blame on the wealth of the Premier League.

"The old feeling, that magic and excitement of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, is not there any more," wrote former Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen in the Daily Telegraph two years ago. Most top-flight clubs are more concerned with European qualification or avoiding relegation, he wrote. "Now we have not just got the big teams fielding weakened teams, we have even got teams at mid-table or near the bottom playing people we have never heard of before."

Fans of big clubs are not interested in watching lower-league opposition and the cost of tickets to Premier League games leaves many unable to afford to watch the Cup.

Sunderland, second from bottom of the Premier League, face league leaders Arsenal in the third round this weekend, but the fans do not care to dream of glory. The ideal result would be a narrow defeat, writes blogger Colin Randall for ESPN. Sunderland's priority must be "to leave the Emirates without injuries or further suspensions and without having to face a replay".

He adds: "A cup run might be fun but seven points from challenging trips to Swansea City and Tottenham next Wednesday and Saturday, followed by Bournemouth at home, would feel a lot more valuable."

But that attitude does not deter the Times's Winter. "The Cup keeps being dented but it is worth fighting for," he concludes.