Joey Barton believes the FA Cup can be preserved if the winners were awarded Champions League football instead of the fourth-placed finisher in the Premier League.
Although Barton believes the magic of the competition is alive and well for clubs beneath the top flight, the Bristol Rovers manager says big clubs treat it with 'disdain' and it means the grand old competition is not what it once was.
Barton says the FA Cup has been on the slide since 2000 when Manchester United, the then reigning treble holders, chose to play in the Club World Cup in Brazil, forfeiting their place in the cup, and he thinks drastic measures are required to entice big clubs to take it more seriously – with the final once the highlight of the football calendar – but he admits he has no confidence the authorities would make such a move.
