By Graham Thomas

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza insists he is still in love with the magic of the FA Cup – only maybe not on a Thursday night.

The old tournament reaches its third round stage this week, a familiar landmark in the sporting calendar and one that has always been neatly squeezed between New Year hangovers and the start of rugby’s Six Nations.

For anyone of a certain age, the weekend of the third round of the FA Cup was always one of the highlights of the season – muddy pitches, foggy or icy conditions, and heroic acts of giant-killing, when someone called Alfie or Joey, who had spent the whole week working as a brickie on a building site, would suddenly grab all the headlines after scoring to dump out a high profile club.

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza says the FA Cup is a chance for squad rotation and youth opportunities, but is determined to give Sheffield United a tough game #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/TFQgqK8vs3

— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) January 8, 2025

The magic was authentic, familiar and cherished.

But the tournament has somehow slipped down the game’s list of priorities.

This year, replays have been scrapped and instead of starting everywhere on a Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock as tradition used to dictate, Cardiff begin their Cup journey on a Thursday evening away to Sheffield United.

Riza is 45-years-old, old enough to have memories of simpler days when Wimbledon beat Liverpool to win the FA Cup in 1988, or when his schoolboy team, Arsenal, won it in 1993 after a replay against Sheffield Wednesday – days when men were men and Cup finals were celebrated so hard that Arsenal’s Steve Morrow actually broke his arm in the post-match festivities.

Riza was actually at Arsenal as a youngster and was an 18-year-old making his way through the ranks when Arsenal beat Newcastle, 2-0 in the 1998 final to clinch the League and Cup Double.

“I was in and around the squad then and involved in training,” he recalls of those days.

“We won the U19 league, the Floodlit Cup and then lost to Leeds in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup at Highbury. We could have done the treble to go along with the senior side’s double.

“The history of the FA Cup is massive and I don’t think that will ever change. But with so many more games now, teams have to take a different stance on it – especially those teams struggling to survive and looking to put their best team out in the league.”

It’s an away trip to Bramall Lane for Cardiff City tomorrow night!⚽️⚔️@Graham_Thomas’ Bluebirds Blades preview https://t.co/4VGow5bh2z️#DragonBet #WelshFootball #Football #CardiffCity #Bluebirds #CityAsOne #CARSHU #SUFC #EmiratesFACup #FACup

— DragonBet (@DragonBetWales) January 8, 2025

There’s the rub, as they say – or used to say, back in the days when the FA Cup could invoke Shakespeare.

Now that the costs of relegation are so vast, and the riches of promotion so huge, teams have downgraded the FA Cup and the game’s authorities have been complicit in this undermining.

So, expect Cardiff to put out, at best, a hybrid-looking team of some regulars and some who are not, as Riza, understandably, gives priority to the club’s fight to avoid relegation from the Championship.

For the same inverse reasoning, expect Sheffield United to also rest a load of players, as they concentrate their focus on winning promotion back to the Premier League.

Cardiff’s commitment to the tournament is tested further by being asked to travel to South Yorkshire on a Thursday night, five days before they have a re-scheduled match at home to Watford, next Tuesday.

Four days after that, they have the South Wales derby against Swansea City, before three days later they go to Millwall, and then host Derby four days after that.

So, by slotting in the Watford re-arranged game, it means the Bluebirds have five matches in 17 days.

No wonder, Riza was unhappy with the positioning of the FA Cup tie and the Watford match so close together.

“We weren’t happy having a Thursday night fixture, not with the day of the week and then the way they stuck in the game against Watford on Tuesday night,” he says.

“The congestion of the fixtures and what the Football League deem right is what we have to deal with. The FA Cup is important, although I think it has become less important because of a number of factors.

“It’s difficult to know how to protect the status of the FA Cup. I don’t know if you could stipulate that teams have to put out their strongest teams. It is difficult because there are so many games.”

Omer Riza Seeks Foursome As Cardiff City Still Not Very Awesome

It was only three weeks ago, that Cardiff met the Blades at home in the league and although they were not embarrassed, they were outplayed and lost 2-0.

Wales striker Kieffer Moore scored both goals, but he may be one of those who Cardiff do not have to worry about on Thursday night.

Uncertainty over the strength of both teams, makes predictions difficult, but DragonBet make Cardiff big underdogs to cause an upset.

Sheffield United are favourites to win at 8/11, with the Bluebirds at 10/3 and the draw priced at 13/5.