Plymouth Argyle chairman Simon Hallett has revealed that last Saturday’s FA Cup showdown against Manchester City will bank the club up to £1 million.
The Pilgrims are currently battling for survival towards the foot of the Championship. It’s been a largely torrid campaign thus far, which saw them part company with manager Wayne Rooney on New Year’s Eve.
His successor Miron Muslic has performed a wonderful job since taking the role in January, helping close the gap on those above them. They now sit just three points off 21st-placed Hull City, who they face in a crucial fixture tomorrow night.
Aside from their league woes, the FA Cup has offered a bit of respite. They pulled off a huge upset by beating Premier League outfit Brentford in the third round before going one better by knocking out Liverpool in the fourth round.
This set up a mouth-watering clash with English champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, where they threatened another shock by taking a 38th minute lead. However, Pep Guardiola’s side hit back to eventually secure a 3-1 victory.
Hallett Expecting Windfall
Speaking to BBC Radio Devon after the game, chairman Hallett revealed how much he expects the club to make from their trip to Manchester:
“We’ve yet to work out the exact figures, but I am going to say it’s going to be somewhere between £600,000 and £1 million to Argyle.
“When we played Liverpool eight years ago Anfield had a capacity of just over 50,000 – we made about £700,000.
“So, I think we should do a little bit better this time. The Etihad I believe has a capacity of about 62,000, so we think it should be somewhere between £600,000 and £1 million.
“It won’t mean as much as it did when we played Liverpool, though.
“When we played Liverpool eight years ago that £700,000 represented about a third of our football budget, but today our football budget is many multiples of what it was then, so it won’t be as significant.
“Much more important than the money – and the money will be nice – is that it’s going to be a great day out for at least 15,000 of our fans.”
Writer’s View
Although Hallett says the income won’t mean as much as it did a few years ago, it will still have an impact on what they can do in the summer. It will be particularly helpful if they do succumb to relegation and will help them attract better players to aid their bid to get out of League One at the first time of asking. That aside, few will forget Plymouth’s fantastic FA Cup run this year.
