FA Cup Replays SCRAPPED

[Kashmire Hawker]

Replays are binned from next season, as part of a 6 year agreement between the FA and the Premier League, which will supposedly help filter more money down the ladder.

Premier League and The FA agree to increase support for grassroots game and strengthen FA Cup format

Premier League will provide up to an additional £33m for grassroots football on top of £100m it currently gives to good causes each season

www.premierleague.com

 

[Perton Wolf]

Well, it's fair to say that the Premier League really does run the English game. Can't see how any EFL or non-league clubs would've wanted this.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

I totally disagree with this. Imagine all those times that a lower league club have drawn against a top team and rewarded with a trip to somewhere like Old Trafford. It is probably the only chance those players will have of playing at such a world famous venue. This is yet another kick in the teeth for traditional football.

 

[Perton Wolf]

Scraping them from the first round also makes little sense if it's PL clubs whining as per as they don't even enter till the third round.

What was wrong with the current system of them being scraped from the 5th round?

 

[Watfordfc]

Predictable but strange to scrap Round one and two replays when the PL clubs don’t enter those rounds ?

 

[RosehillWolf]

Another nail to football’s coffin

 

[Oliwolf44]

Compromise after compromise for nothing in return. EFL cup to go next. Slow knife etc.

Dont even see this as most egregious changes that will be coming.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Shame for the smaller clubs. Not sure how this helps money filter down?

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Scraping them from the first round also makes little sense if it's PL clubs whining as per as they don't even enter till the third round.

What was wrong with the current system of them being scraped from the 5th round?

Replays should not have been scrapped at all. The once most prestigious cup competition in world football is getting downgraded bit by bit. It is such a terrible shame.

 

[Jefe]

Another stunning success for elitist profit margins over the long-held traditions of the game.

If it isn't clear by now, the Football authorities despise you. They understand Football has become a global behemoth, too big to suffer any sort of noticeable economic setback (let alone fail) and so feverishly implement change after unpopular change, without consultation with the supporters. First they moved the FA Cup semi-Finals to Wembley, then they came for fifth round replays, now they've come for replays all together. And they'll think, "Who cares? We know you'll still line up like the clapping seals you are to watch anyway." Just a matter of time before Premier League U-23s / B teams are allowed into the competition, or the Football league.

 

[Oliwolf44]

FA cup being exclusive on weekends for later rounds is a good step. It will be obviously because prem will just be midweek instead but still.
No wonder why big clubs agreed, can now play midweek and their b teams in the cup on the weekend. win win really.

 

[JR WAS KING]

I used to love the FA Cup, but now I couldn't give a ****. Some of my best memories are cup replays, Ipswich a few times, Middlesbrough and Shrewsbury in the 6th round to name but a few. I can understand no replay in the semis as it's a neutral ground and is best finished on the day.

Coventry was really annoying at the time, but am I missing an overpriced trip to Wembley this Sunday? Not at all.
For me it died when they moved the semi-finals to Wembley.

 

[kidder_wolf_II]

FA Cup has been dying a slow death for years. It’s no longer the competition it was before but unlike the League there’s still time to save it.

The question is do you do something radical and change the lay out of the tournament add a group stage round at Round 3 meaning any lower league side who can get that far guarantees at least 3 games.

Or keep it as a traditional knockout event but pour 100s of millions into the prize pot and give the winners a CL place? Simply winning the cup doesn’t mean as such to certain fans or players as it did a few years ago.

 

[Minimalist]

I’m not really bothered about losing replays.
Yes very occasionally a lower league team gets drawn at home to a Big team and gets a draw then a lucrative replay…. But it’s rather rare. Besides, I always think if the small club got a draw at home and then it goes to penalties, that is actually their best chance of actually winning the game and progressing in the competition.

 

[Jefe]

I totally disagree with this. Imagine all those times that a lower league club have drawn against a top team and rewarded with a trip to somewhere like Old Trafford. It is probably the only chance those players will have of playing at such a world famous venue. This is yet another kick in the teeth for traditional football.

That's okay, Frank. Instead of the chance of taking United to a replay at Old Trafford, where the minnow would receive £2m in gate receipts to cover the club's running costs for several years, they instead get a tiny fraction of "up to" an extra £33m quid divvied out among the grassroots. Fair trade, no?

 

[Sammy Chungs Tracksuit]

The chances of a small club grinding out a draw against a big club and a lucrative replay are part of FA Cup folk law.Removing these from the 3rd and 4th rounds is another nail in the coffin of this once great competition.

 

[Stratman Wolves]

Scraping them from the first round also makes little sense if it's PL clubs whining as per as they don't even enter till the third round.

What was wrong with the current system of them being scraped from the 5th round?

Nothing, the worldwide trend of all sport changing for the sake of change seems unstoppable.

 

[Saltyjim]

I think it’s funny they are doing away with replays the season after Klopp leaves. We could have a winter break as well now that he’s gone.

 

[Jefe]

I’m not really bothered about losing replays. Yes very occasionally a lower league team gets drawn at home to a Big team and gets a draw then a lucrative replay…. But it’s rather rare. Besides, I always think if the small club got a draw at home and then it goes to penalties, that is actually their best chance of actually winning the game and progressing in the competition.

I can't think of the last time a lower league side beat a Premier League side in a shootout. So, I'd say that outcome is far less likely than the small club taking the Premier League side to a replay at their place, which is more the point (economical) than them actually winning that game. The Premier League side could probably start a weakened side and win with their home advantage, so I don't buy the "too many fixtures" argument either.

Taking away their chance seems like a demoralising and shamelessly elitist message to send out. An erosion of our oldest traditions, when pointless non-competitive international fixtures survive to bring the calendar grinding to a halt for a fortnight. There are any number of preferable solutions to this, like both sides agreeing ahead of time to go to penalties instead of a replay. That would alleviate fixture congestion, while still allowing the minnow to dream of a glorious day out.

 

[Very Proud (AKA Still Proud)]

With every decision like this a little piece of me dies.

How about they allow the lower league club the opportunity to swap venues as a result?

Also why don’t they exclude those teams playing in Europe from the Football League Cup and still retain the European spot? Would be hard to get them to agree but would make it a better competition and in terms of votes there’s surely a majority who would favour it.

 

[WolvesAndCows]

The EFL weren't consulted over this?

 

[Contrarian]

Nothing, the worldwide trend of all sport changing for the sake of change seems unstoppable.

Mostly about money and keeping the important clubs happy. Can guarantee the Premier League aren't being generous out of altruism. Presumably pressures from the big 6 to reduce matches for them, so they can get more rest for the matches that matter. Which is the Champions League, not the FA Cup.

I do wonder if having a Champions League place for the winner would suddenly elevate the Cups importance. The winner is generally one of the Big 6 anyway (13 out of the last 15) so it would be insurance for them. And if they qualified in the league, allow the runner up in.

That and stop having the semi-finals at Wembley. That has never seemed right to me. It lessens the value of the final. We have plenty of top class grounds all round the country, holding the semi-finals somewhere between the clubs involved makes more sense than making everyone travel down to London.

Or go the other extreme and say that clubs in the Champions League can't be in the FA Cup! Would they be sadly missed or would it make for a more open, entertaining contest?

 

[Timberwolf]

And it’s pure bull**** to move the final to the weekend before the Premier League ends. They use the excuse of giving players at least three weeks off to re-energise but then fail to mention the world-wide tours and friendlies these tired players have to play in.
The FA Cup should ALWAYS be the last game of the season.

 

[thommo1984]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1780930295358714290

 

[lets all have a disco]

I think it's time we ditched a cup competition personally....Keep the fa cup and replays but get a 3/4th rounds out the way before Christmas...1 cup competition and a proper winter break in line with the other leagues....

 

[Kebab Warrior]

Personally I’d scrap the league cup. Or make it champ and below only. We don’t need two cups.
As a pay off, give the fa cup winners the champions league place.

It’ll never happen.

 

[The Wolf In The North]

I've yet to see an explanation for why the Final has been moved to the penultimate weekend of the season. It should be the final game, after the leagues are done and dusted.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

I actually think it benefits a club like us.

Whoever wins the FA Cup is highly likely going to need to beat at least one or two top six clubs along the way, and our chances increase significantly if it's decided on the day. For example, if we drew at home to Man City and nobody would even care about the next round as we know we're out. So, it might cause a few more shocks in that sense when clubs don't have the comfort of a replay.

On the whole, it's not on. Why are we letting these clubs call the shots?

This is the FA Cup, these are the rules. If Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal don't like it, play your U18 side. You'll go out and you'll have your own fans to deal with to explain yourself. Or forfeit the match.

It's absolutely nothing to do with player welfare. It's all about money. They will continue to play more games than ever because stupid competitions like this FIFA Club World Cup which get expanded are now coming in. The Champions League is getting bigger. So, please don't fall for the nonsense that they want to protect players. They want the money that comes from those other competitions.

Quite why the FA bow down to them, I don't know.

This is how it works in this country. If you don't want to be in the League Cup or the FA Cup, play the kids. Go out. But they won't because the fans would go mad.

I bet beating Man United at Wembley last year was one of the best days ever for Man City fans. Now their club will be pushing for this so they can go and play Salzburg in Qatar or something. Just **** off.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Still trying to get my head round how this can be a deal between the FA and the PL, why aren't the 'other 72' who will make up most of the 2nd and 3rd rounds represented in this discussion separately to the FA, who seem to just do whatever the PL want?

 

[Axle]

With every decision like this a little piece of me dies.

How about they allow the lower league club the opportunity to swap venues as a result?

Also why don’t they exclude those teams playing in Europe from the Football League Cup and still retain the European spot? Would be hard to get them to agree but would make it a better competition and in terms of votes there’s surely a majority who would favour it.

Yeah so the lower ranked team gets to choose where they could play? If they were outside of the league?

So when you get a team doing really well from the lower leagues, they can say whether or not they want to play home or away? That would be a good idea.

So won't happen.

 

[brianm]

I think the people who run the premier league might actually be evil.

 

[MrwulfAndrew]

The game of football has being dismantled in the last 5 years and the bull**** will accelarate more and more.

 

[Oliwolf44]

I think the people who run the premier league might actually be evil.

they are just capitalists behaving as such. there is worse to come.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Personally I’d scrap the league cup. Or make it champ and below only. We don’t need two cups.
As a pay off, give the fa cup winners the champions league place.

It’ll never happen.

Exactly this. Just get rid of the league cup as no one is interested. You can tell it’s a nothing cup when even championship sides now will put out a weakened team.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Exactly this. Just get rid of the league cup as no one is interested. You can tell it’s a nothing cup when even championship sides now will put out a weakened team.

Why would you want to get rid of the League Cup as a Wolves fan?

What does that benefit us? If we won the League Cup next year it would be the best day out/moment for a generation of fans. It would be remembered forever and give us European football.

You want to scrap that potential so Man City and Man United can play Porto and Salzburg in the Club World Cup? Or play each other in an extra Champions League group game?

 

[brianm]

The more I think about it, the more I think the European Super League would be good. Get the big clubs more or less out of England. Let their fans waffle on about **** the rest of the country doesn't care about, and give them more boohoo moments because their teams lose more. The international fans would get the good TV. It would cripple the premier league in terms of money, which is basically killing the game. Then you can have a perfectly fun league tailored for domestic fans.

Not sure how serious I am....but what's going on right now ain't it.

 

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

Not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand scrapping replays instinctively feels wrong. We've had some fabulous nights in FA Cup replays. The replay with Sheff Wed in 1995 is a particular highlight.

On the other hand part of the deal is that FA Cup games will all be weekend games in the future and no Premier League games will be scheduled to clash with the FA Cup. The final will also be a standalone event again and not on a Premier League weekend. Those are both positives.

If they can cobble together a deal that sees the lower league teams receive more of the gate receipts then no more replays might be a price worth paying. I'd like to see it put in place that if the lower league team plays a Premier League team away they get 75-80% of the gate receipts instead of the 50% they get now.

 

[Norwegian Wolf]

The changes to the FA Cup are just a distraction. The real aim here is to lengthen the close season so the 'global brands' can be developed on money making jaunts to Malaysia, Korea and the US. I think some clubs will see more 'value' (namely tv income, sponsorship, shirt sales etc) from winning the 'New York Invitational Cup' or the 'KL Champions Cup' in July than they will from a cup game replay in February.

 

[Norwegian Wolf]

Not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand scrapping replays instinctively feels wrong. We've had some fabulous nights in FA Cup replays. The replay with Sheff Wed in 1995 is a particular highlight.

On the other hand part of the deal is that FA Cup games will all be weekend games in the future and no Premier League games will be scheduled to clash with the FA Cup. The final will also be a standalone event again and not on a Premier League weekend. Those are both positives.

If they can cobble together a deal that sees the lower league teams receive more of the gate receipts then no more replays might be a price worth paying. I'd like to see it put in place that if the lower league team plays a Premier League team away they get 75-80% of the gate receipts instead of the 50% they get now.

Apart from the 4th round, where the 'extended window' means that 16 games are played over 6 days and you might get drawn away on a Monday night..

 

[Minimalist]

Personally I’d scrap the league cup. Or make it champ and below only. We don’t need two cups.
As a pay off, give the fa cup winners the champions league place.

It’ll never happen.

I’ve often thought this.
Or make it just for everyone not in any sort of European cup. So all prem teams are in 2 cups, but non in 3. Could be played same midweeks as European games which would help the fixture schedule.