The hard-hearted interpretation is that football is only losing four games of a grossly bloated schedule. Who at the summit will possibly mourn the mothballing of first-round replays? Well, Cray Valley Paper Mills certainly will. Last November, the Eltham side secured a south-east London derby for the ages against Charlton Athletic of League One. And by forcing a replay that was broadcast live on BBC, they guaranteed a funding lifeline to last them years.

What truly sticks in the craw is that football takes priceless memories away from the little people while accommodating hollow pre-season friendlies for the big boys. How does Manchester City versus Chelsea in Columbus, Ohio grab you this summer? Or Arsenal against Liverpool in Philadelphia? Why are these glorified shirt-selling exercises held as sacrosanct while the essence of the FA Cup is stripped away piece by piece?

And as for the insistence by Mark Bullingham, the Football Association’s chief executive, that the Cup’s magic will be “protected and enhanced” by the changes? It is a risible claim. On the contrary, they have sabotaged the very spectacles of which many fans would spend their lives dreaming. The argument is that the FA’s hands were tied by Uefa’s implacable commitment to Champions League expansion. But what a sad indictment this is of where the sport’s priorities truly lie.

Under the revised structure, the FA Cup final will lose its lustre as the traditional English curtain-call. Instead it will be rebranded as the amuse-bouche for the final round of Premier League fixtures next May. There is a creeping sense that the entire architecture of the English game is being warped, with the needs of the many negated in an effort to satisfy the interests of the few. At times like this, it is tempting to consider whether the eruption of idealistic outrage at a European Super League achieved anything. For when you look at how cravenly football is sullying its crown jewels to make way for a super-sized Champions League, you realise that a version of that dreaded reality is already here.