The FA has written to Crystal Palace and Macclesfield to stop the Premier League side from handing their share of FA Cup gate receipts to the non-League club.
Macclesfield produced one of the greatest upsets in FA Cup history when they beat Crystal Palace, 117 places above them in the pyramid at kick-off, in the third round.
Before the match, Palace, who won the competition last season, offered to let the National League North side keep their share of the gate receipts, typically split 50-50 between the two clubs, but the FA has stepped in to ensure there is no breach of competition rules.
The Times revealed this week that the governing body had taken a dim view of Exeter City requesting Manchester City give them a greater share of the gate receipts for their FA Cup tie. The FA emailed the League One side warning them it was a breach of the competition’s rules.
Rule 233 states: “A club must not enter, or attempt to enter, into any agreement with another club under which their obligations under these competition rules regarding the sharing of net gate receipts may be varied or amended.”
Smaller clubs’ returns from previously lucrative FA Cup matches are dwindling. Exeter are struggling financially and had hoped the match, played in a near sold-out Etihad Stadium, would provide vital income. But they earned only £180,000 from the fixture, mainly due to low ticket prices.
Scrapping FA Cup replays has also reduced potential earnings that can be significant for sides outside the Premier League. The FA did increase prize money in an attempt to mitigate some of the losses.
Exeter had asked Manchester City if they could take a greater share than 50 per cent of the gate receipts from their tie at the Etihad
ALAMY
The Macclesfield owner, Robert Smethurst, explained after the match that Palace’s gesture was “huge” and that it could help set the club up for years.
“It’s an amazing thing for Macclesfield,” Smethurst told talkSPORT. “We do spend quite a lot because we have huge gate receipts. Within football, unfortunately, the better you do and the higher you move up the leagues, the worse it actually gets financially as an owner.”
The club has won several promotions since Smethurst, a local businessman, bought the assets of Macclesfield Town after it went out of business in 2020.
“Success brings other challenges because obviously your fan base want you to keep on moving up the leagues, but sometimes it’s not affordable,” Smethurst said.
“This will make the club for the next couple of years, especially with the next draw, if we’re lucky enough to potentially get an away game, especially if it’s a Premier League club — you can be drawing nearly up to a million pounds in funds.”
Macclesfield are yet to receive all of the funds, including sponsorship and television money, from the FA Cup match against Palace.
They will expect to make another windfall after drawing Brentford at home in the fourth round. The match will be broadcast by TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+.
Clubs offering their share of gate receipts has not always been forbidden by the FA. In 2004, Exeter drew Manchester United in the third round and the top-flight side donated all of the ticket sales money from the goalless draw at Old Trafford and replay to their opponents. Exeter made about £1million, which kept the club from going out of business.
The FA declined to comment. A source insisted the equal gates receipt rule is in place to protect the integrity of the competition.