Either Sheffield Wednesday or Cardiff City will earn a hefty financial windfall from today’s FA Cup clash at Hillsborough.
The Championship colleagues will meet at S6 for the second time in just two weeks after the Bluebirds took a smash-and-grab 2-1 win when the two sides did battle in the league on December 23. It adds up to what has been seen as a relatively unglamorous tie not quite in keeping with the drama of the Owls’ effort in the FA Cup third round last season, which saw them beat Premier League giants Newcastle United.
While the modern allure of the world’s oldest cup competition is always a hotly contested debate at this time of year with clubs often naming weakened sides in order to concentrate on league action, club accountants will no doubt be keeping an especially close eye on their side’s fortunes.
Winners of third round ties are awarded a whopping £105,000 each for qualification to the fourth round, a not inconsiderate boost to resources at the outset of the January transfer window. The Owls made their way through the first, second and third round last season before falling to Fleetwood Town and were awarded £213,000 in total in prize money for their efforts.
Wednesday manager Danny Röhl suggested some players may well be rested to guard against the risk of injury after a manic festive fixture schedule – although the central focus is to continue the momentum built by back-to-back league wins. Cardiff’s pre-match media engagements have indicated the same. Speaking ahead of the clash, Owls defender Pol Valentin made clear the match is an important one.
“It’s another important game, it doesn’t matter that it’s not in the league,” he said. “You need to be focusing on the league but if you can have a good FA Cup, it’s good for the fans and for the club. I guess it’s the same as in Spain that if you go through in the FA Cup the club take money. That is good for all. The players who are maybe not playing now or have less minutes for the others, maybe they can play and that’s good for all.”