FA Cup final cannot be a support act

AS landmark moments go, the demise of Football Focus is not that big a deal.

- BY ANDY DUNN

Sure, it has been broadcast by the BBC for a very long time, over half a century, in fact.

But its audience has shrunk for all manner of reasons. The younger audience coveted by the BBC simply does not sit at home watching telly at Saturday lunchtime, for example.

And one of the less significant contributing factors to Football Focus's increasing irrelevance is that the time when there was one tranche of matches for it to 'focus' on has long gone. Now, fixtures are scattered across the weekend.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing - and having Premier League matches on the same day as an FA Cup semifinal is acceptable. But to have a big Premier League game broadcast live at the same time as a semifinal just feels wrong.