NEIL COTTON recalls a time when clubs were eager to play in a variety of cup competitions – rather than cold-shoulder them

THESE days, cup football appears to have lost its lustre with clubs appearing to fall over themselves for the earliest possible exit even in the FA Cup, while in the case of the Europa League – formerly the UEFA Cup – the race seems to be to avoid qualification entirely.
All this seems a long way from the 1970s, a decade when cup football was arguably at its peak. Not only were Wembley finals still the biggest occasions in a club’s history a...