Paul Buckle knows how important FA Cup prize money can be for any club and is aiming for a good run in the competition with Luton Town that can help boost their finances.
Saturday’s 2-0 win over Cambridge United in the fourth qualifying round netted the Hatters £12,500 as well as a place in the First Round Proper.
Their reward was a home tie against either Nuneaton Town or AFC Telford United on the weekend commencing November 3 – the winner of which will earn another £18,000.
“I’ve been involved in good cup runs before and I know exactly what prize money it can bring to the club,” said Luton boss Buckle.
“Whether you’ve got a lot of money or whether you’ve not got any money, the financial implications are important and I want to get that prize money for us.
“We had a good performance against Cambridge on Saturday to get through and we’re going to need another good one if we want to progress to the second round.”
Should Luton come through that and follow it up by making it through the third round then they would be due a further £27,000 from the competition prize fund.
But round three is also where the Premier League and Championship teams enter, and a plum tie against one of those – home or away – can be a financial godsend for lower league outfits.
The Hatters know that as well as anyone; four years ago, the replay of their third round tie against Liverpool earned them an estimated £500,000 alone while they were in the midst of their financial nadir.
Any cup run by a side further down the pyramid, particularly one in the Blue Square Bet Premier and of Luton’s stature, will inevitably attract the attention of either current television rights holders ITV or ESPN as well.
That means further income from the broadcast rights that the FA charge to screen the game, as well as a smaller amount for any live radio commentary.
Buckle, along with Luton’s directors, may well be keen to gain a much welcome boost to the club’s coffers, but for now the manager’s focus is elsewhere.
He was pleased to get the home draw, but will wait to for Nuneaton or Telford until after Saturday’s league game at promotion rivals Forest Green Rovers.
Buckle said: “You always want to be at home in any cup draw – that’s the first thing you look out for and that’s what we have got.
“We’ve played both teams already this season so we’ve got a good idea of what they are all about and whichever one we get we know it is going to be a tough game.
“But I’m not going to worry too much about it until we play them because before then we’ve got an important league game against Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.”
The league these days takes priority over the cups for pretty much every club – whatever level they play at, yet Buckle is clearly still keen to progress in the FA Cup.
After all, there are at least 18,000 reasons for his side to do so.
