FOLLOWING my concern (Sports Letters, January 12) that the FA Cup was losing its appeal and magic, one of the newspapers recently had an article on the very same subject.

The writer was worried that the FA Cup - probably the greatest knockout competition in the world - didn't have the same appeal as it did years ago.

Money and the greater attractions of the European Champions' League have more or less provided more appeal than the FA Cup can offer.

This year Manchester United won the final with two or three "reserves" in their starting line-up, with players like Dwight Yorke and Jaap Stam starting on the bench.

That's how "big" Manchester United's management team saw the event.

Newcastle were awful, but had they played against a lower opposition side, then they probably would have won it and no one would have cared.

The FA Cup is certainly not the "big carrot" for the big clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, who will all be in the Champions' League next season.

It's only a matter of time before the FA Cup final becomes like the Worthington Cup has already become - a competition for the smaller Premiership strugglers.

In years to come, teams like Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester will be reaching the FA Cup Final - and the rest of us won't be bothered one iota who wins it.

M HIBBERT, Ivan Street, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.