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Paddy Mulligan outlines the changes he wants to see made to the FA Cup

Former Ireland full back Paddy Mulligan feels seeding the third round of the FA Cup is a developm...



Paddy Mulligan outlines the ch...
Soccer

Paddy Mulligan outlines the changes he wants to see made to the FA Cup

Former Ireland full back Paddy Mulligan feels seeding the third round of the FA Cup is a development he would like to see, as well as guaranteed home draws for the lowest division clubs when pitched against Premier League opposition.

The 146 year old competition includes no seedings which means any sides in the draw can come up against each other regardless of status or rank.

However, down through the last decade and a half, the competition's prestige has waned considerably with increased competition in the Premier League and the growth and lucrative rewards of the Champions League.

For example, Liverpool who faced an EFL Cup semi-final first leg against Southampton this week before resuming a busy domestic league, fielded their youngest ever side on Sunday as they were held to a 0-0 draw by League Two Plymouth Argyle at Anfield.

Paddy Mulligan

For clubs like Plymouth, the competition and opportunity to test themselves against bigger sides still holds both financial and historical value.

A Champions League spot seems to be unlikely to be introduced for the FA Cup winners in the future.

But for Paddy, who joined Chelsea in the season which saw them win their first FA Cup in 1969-70 season, he feels seeding the competition to guarantee smaller clubs a big game in the third round is the way to go. 

"What they should do is seed it so that with all due respects to the lesser teams, seed those teams so that they don't get one of their own teams," he told Newstalk.com.

"They get a big team in the draw which I think might be a little bit better than them. And give them a home draw.

"Say there are 20 teams. Those 20 are going to get home draws, good, bad or indifferent."   

In the full chat, Paddy also talked about his thoughts on Liverpool fielding a weakened team which he feels was "distasteful", what fixture congestion was like to deal with in his playing days and his memories of playing against this week's Team 33 interviewee Clyde Best, who starred for West Ham in the late 1960s and early 1970s:

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