Checkacrowd Trophy

[Sutekh]

Category 1: Adult £60, Concession £30, Junior £10

Category 2: Adult £48, Concession £24, Junior £10

Category 3: Adult £42, Concession £21, Junior £10

Category 4: Adult £36, Concession £18, Junior £10

Category 5: Adult £28, Concession £14, Junior £10

Category 6: Adult £20, Concession £10, Junior £10

Probably wouldn't bother at those prices.

Mad isn't it. I'd probably go cheap seats if it happened, on the logic that the next time the first team lose at Wembley I can take solace knowing that at least I've seen us lose at Wembley for "only" £20.

But it wouldn't be the first team it would be the U21s augmented with a couple of players maybe on the way back from injury etc.

£60 for an U21s game

[John Smith]

The joke is on the Oxford United and Coventry fans though - crowds boycotted the tournament throughout then when the final comes around 45k Cov fans pay through the nose to go and watch it. Unbelievable really.

[CountryRoyal]

Probably wouldn't bother at those prices.

Mad isn't it. I'd probably go cheap seats if it happened, on the logic that the next time the first team lose at Wembley I can take solace knowing that at least I've seen us lose at Wembley for "only" £20.

But it wouldn't be the first team it would be the U21s augmented with a couple of players maybe on the way back from injury etc.

£60 for an U21s game

No I know, maybe the wording of my post wasn't the best. After watching the u21/23 at Wembley (inevitably lose), £20 will seem a lot cheaper for Wembers next time the first time get there.

[Fox Talbot]

The joke is on the Oxford United and Coventry fans though - crowds boycotted the tournament throughout then when the final comes around 45k Cov fans pay through the nose to go and watch it. Unbelievable really.

Cov haven't been promoted or even in a promotion race since 1967!

They've had one good day out since (1987) so you can't blame them, especially as most are boycotting games at The Wasps Factory or whatever the ground they play at and used to own is called now. Poor sods.

[Snowflake Royal]

The joke is on the Oxford United and Coventry fans though - crowds boycotted the tournament throughout then when the final comes around 45k Cov fans pay through the nose to go and watch it. Unbelievable really.

Or shockingly predictable.

[Maneki Neko]

thought it worked well for us last year etc. got semi competitive football for our youngsters which is what it was all about

not really bothered about the crowds

If "not really bothered about the crowds" wasn't an option, can you provide me with your estimate of how many Reading fans would be at Wembley for a final with Reading playing in?

10-20,000?
dunno

[Green]

My question was hypothetical. Please provide a proper answer, thanks

Hypothetical, or rhetorical? Or is it all academic?

[Sutekh]

The draw for the group stages is as follows.

Northern:

Group A

1. Carlisle United
2. Fleetwood Town
3. Morecambe
4. Leicester City

Group B

1. Accrington Stanley
2. Blackpool
3. Wigan Athletic
4. Middlesbrough

Group C

1. Blackburn Rovers
2. Bury
3. Rochdale
4. Stoke City

Group D

1. Crewe Alexandra
2. Oldham Athletic
3. Port Vale
4. Newcastle United

Group E

1. Coventry City
2. Shrewsbury Town
3. Walsall
4. West Bromwich Albion

Group F

1. Bradford City
2. Chesterfield
3. Rotherham United
4. Manchester City

Group G

1. Lincoln City
2. Mansfield Town
3. Notts County
4. Everton

Group H

1. Doncaster Rovers
2. Grimsby Town
3. Scunthorpe United
4. Sunderland

Southern:

Group A

1. Charlton Athletic
2. Crawley Town
3. Portsmouth
4. Fulham

Group B

1. Colchester United
2. Gillingham
3. Southend United
4. Reading

Group C

1. Bristol Rovers
2. Swindon Town
3. Wycombe Wanderers
4. West Ham United

Group D

1. Exeter City
2. Plymouth Argyle
3. Yeovil Town
4. Chelsea

Group E

1. Cheltenham Town
2. Forest Green Rovers
3. Newport County
4. Swansea City

Group F

1. Wimbledon
2. Barnet
3. Luton Town
4. Tottenham Hotspur

Group G

1. MK Dons
2. Oxford United
3. Stevenage
4. Brighton & Hove Albion

Group H

1. Cambridge United
2. Northampton Town
3. Peterborough United
4. Southampton

[From Despair To Where?]

Not really kept up with what's so this may have already been covered but that draw looks completely fixed. With the possible exception of Wycombe, each group is basically 3 localish teams with a random U23 side thrown in. Are they trying to manufacture bigger gates by having local derbies?

There's absolutely no way that draw is random.

[genome]

[Nameless]

Possibly a mix of trying to up crowds and keep costs low.
All our games are away, not sure whether that is by agreement or the same for all the big clubs.

[RFCMod]

Not really kept up with what's so this may have already been covered but that draw looks completely fixed. With the possible exception of Wycombe, each group is basically 3 localish teams with a random U23 side thrown in. Are they trying to manufacture bigger gates by having local derbies?

There's absolutely no way that draw is random.

Looking at some of the other groups then it could be said the same elsewhere, except where the bigger club is in the group where they're obviously saying you entered our tinpot trophy now you big boys do the travelling:

Cheltenham Town
Forest Green Rovers
Newport County
Swansea City

Cambridge United
Northampton Town
Peterborough United
Southampton

Exeter City
Plymouth Argyle
Yeovil Town
Chelsea

[From Despair To Where?]

Not really kept up with what's so this may have already been covered but that draw looks completely fixed. With the possible exception of Wycombe, each group is basically 3 localish teams with a random U23 side thrown in. Are they trying to manufacture bigger gates by having local derbies?

There's absolutely no way that draw is random.

Looking at some of the other groups then it could be said the same elsewhere, except where the bigger club is in the group where they're obviously saying you entered our tinpot trophy now you big boys do the travelling:

I'm saying it for every group, North and South. It's like they did a best fit for every League 1 and League 2 team into groups of 3 then just drew the academy team at random. Makes it even more Mickey Mouse IMO, trying to stimulate interest through manufacturing the draw.

[Nameless]

Odd that there is the expectation the draw should be random.
Plenty of competitions have seeded draws, or are divided geographically. This one is clearly done in mini regions which makes sense when the size of crowds means finding money to pay for travel will be tight.

[AthleticoSpizz]

There's absolutely no way that draw is random.

Southampton ball removed from the regional draw until the Portsmouth group was completed......to avoid crowd trouble apparently....so yes, basically fixed any way they wanted it.

[LWJ]

The draw for the group stages is as follows.

Group B

1. Colchester United
2. Gillingham
3. Southend United
4. Reading

IN for 2 new grounds

[From Despair To Where?]

Odd that there is the expectation the draw should be random.
Plenty of competitions have seeded draws, or are divided geographically. This one is clearly done in mini regions which makes sense when the size of crowds means finding money to pay for travel will be tight.

My point is that, barring the North/South split, the draw was random last year so in response to massive criticisms of the competition, do they amend the format? No, they appear to fix the draw, thereby ignoring the elephant in the room. The draw is too precise to be random.

[John Smith]

Odd that there is the expectation the draw should be random.
Plenty of competitions have seeded draws, or are divided geographically. This one is clearly done in mini regions which makes sense when the size of crowds means finding money to pay for travel will be tight.

My point is that, barring the North/South split, the draw was completely random last year so in response to massive criticisms of the competition, do they tweak the format? No, they appear to fix the draw, thereby ignoring the elephant in the room.

I agree with you that the draw is fixed, but does it bother you at all? Last season I remember Bolton had to go to Cheltenham, for example - I mean literally what is the point in that game being played? If you have no intention of going to the games you shouldn't let it bother you

[Nameless]

The only format change that would have been accepted by the antis would have been to exclude the Academy sides, which the clubs voted not to do.
Given that two non Academy sides made it to the final the concerns about having Academy sides seemed to be not as big a deal as it might have been.
Tweeting to regionalise the groups seems fairly reasonable. The draw was not random last year (one Academy side per group) and whilst the draw is not random it's not 'rigged' in terms of giving certain teams easier games.

[From Despair To Where?]

I would expect the draw for cup competition to have an element of randomness.

I'm just uneasy at the idea of a governing body predetermining who will play who in a cup competitition.

And nowhere have I said I thought the draw was rigged to give teams easier games, only that the draw is fixed in an attempt to stimulate interest in the competition.