Even at third-round tie between Birmingham and Blackburn few wanted to watch, it was still possible to find a little joyMost match days, you can barely squeeze into the bar of the Royal George Hotel at the north-eastern corner of St Andrew’s. An hour before Birmingham play Blackburn, however, there are still plenty of chairs and tables available. A short distance away, in front of the Tilton Road Stand, a lone steward stands solemn guard in front of a bank of silent turnstiles. The magic of the FA Cup is still very much in evidence, it seems – but these days it tends to be more of a vanishing act.
![St Andrew’s empty stands a sign of FA Cup’s fading, but not forgotten, magic | Jonathan Liew](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/637ee5f448be13a88c580305af12d9ad22db657f/121_0_4417_2651/master/4417.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdG8tZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ec26967b7d4196e576a6158f58b9d9cd)
It’s a similar story inside the stadium, where only one of the four stands – the Kop – is fully open, along with a sliver of away fans in the Gil Merrick. This despite Blackburn bringing a healthy away contingent and tickets being attractively priced at £12. Birmingham’s
Twitter account was still trying to flog them early on Saturday morning.