Safeguards the romance of the Cup, or damages the competition’s stature? What does staging a major tie with restricted attendance of about 350 actually do?
That’s the scene on Saturday for the Irish Cup 2nd Round tie between Queen’s University Belfast and Irish League leaders Glentoran at The Dub.
It wouldn’t be a question of course in earlier rounds, but when one of the biggest clubs in the country is involved it becomes an issue.
Of course the same thing happened two years ago in successive rounds, when Queen’s came out of the hat at home, firstly beating Linfield then losing to the Glens.