Sutton United’s Paul Doswell urges BBC to ‘get it right’ for FA Cup replay

The Sutton United manager, Paul Doswell, has questioned the BBC’s decision not to broadcast their FA Cup third-round tie against nearby AFC Wimbledon on Saturday and urged television companies to “get it right this time”.

An entertaining 0-0 draw ensured Sutton will travel to Kingsmeadow for a replay on Tuesday week full of confidence, having enjoyed the best chances against their League One opponents.

It was the first time Gander Green Lane had hosted a third-round tie since their famous 2-1 victory over 1987 Cup winners Coventry two seasons later but the BBC opted against live coverage, instead choosing Manchester City’s trip to West Ham on Friday while Manchester United v Reading was selected as Saturday’s early game by BT Sport – the 55th consecutive FA Cup tie featuring United to be televised.

Doswell admitted he had been left “devastated” by that decision and made his point afterwards in a live television interview with the BBC.

“Because it was live, I was able to say it without them editing it,” Doswell said. “Jonathan Pearce asked a question and I sort of turned it around and said: ‘I just hope that they choose us for the replay game.’ Of course we should have been on the TV – the BBC in particular because they are a taxpayer-funded organisation so they shouldn’t be after viewing figures.

“Where’s the romance of the FA Cup? It was not a shock to me to see that Man United were 2-0 up after eight minutes, City beat West Ham 5-0 – we see it every week. I’m not going to lie, we were devastated because that would have half-built the changing room for the kids, which is what we would have done with the money.”

Doswell, who guided the still part-time Sutton into the National League after a remarkable 25-match unbeaten run last season, is not paid for his role and has invested more than £1m of his own money in the club. He admitted to not getting much sleep the night before his side boasting several players with Football League experience came close to causing one of the biggest upsets of the third round. Their opponents struggled to adapt to their artificial 3G pitch at the venue where they had played their first ever match in July 2002.

Neal Ardley, the Wimbledon manager, was disappointed his side were denied a penalty in the dying moments and admitted the playing surface had caused his side problems. He fancies their chances of making it through to the fourth round back on more familiar ground, however.

The BBC presented its live radio coverage from Gander Green Lane on Saturday and will be back there for the fourth-round draw. Doswell is hoping it does not make the same mistake again.

“If the TV companies get it right this time and we are the live TV game then that could be worth £75,000 to us,” he said. “That’s 25% of my whole budget for the whole season, plus we’ll get another £30,000-40,000 in gate receipts so that’s £115,000 if they put us on the telly. That makes this club and takes the pressure off the chairman.

“We haven’t got a rich benefactor here putting 10 grand a week on a player. That’s not us. It’s huge. I just hope the TV companies look at our game and think that we can pull off a shock because we believe we can.”