FA Cup replays to become a relic of the past

admin admin | 04-19 00:16

FA Cup replays have been scrapped from next season, the Football Association has announced.

The move to abolish all replays from the first round proper onwards is part of a new agreement between the FA and the Premier League which will see up to an extra £33m going to grassroots football in Englans from the top flight each season.

The FA had already scrapped replays from the fifth round onwards and said the move to ditch them altogether had been agreed "in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded UEFA competitions".

The FA said all rounds would now be played at the weekend, with the fifth phase having moved to midweek for the last five seasons.

The FA said the final will now be played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, on a Saturday with no top-flight matches taking place on the same day.

From next season the Champions League will feature an extra 64 games, creating increased pressure on the domestic calendar.

The FA said that under the new format, the fourth round, fifth round and quarter-finals would all be exclusive of Premier League fixtures for the first time, while the fourth round will be played across an "extended window" from Friday to the following Wednesday.

The FA said the deal will provide up to £133m per season in funding to the football pyramid from 2025-26.

The first year of the format forms part of the overall calendar which has been given the approval of the Professional Game Board, which features representatives from the FA, the Premier League and the EFL.

The mid-season break has been removed from the calendar to allow a mid-August start date for the Premier League for 2024-25, with the longer break affording top-flight clubs a better chance of giving players a consecutive three-week break.

The FA said that move took into account expert medical advice around the benefits of a longer period of complete rest versus a shorter break in the winter.

The EFL will seek compensation for its clubs over the "frustrating and disappointing" decision.

League sources say it was sidelined from the decision, which was announced by the Football Association on Thursday.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: "Whilst the league had previously been involved in discussions over the future of the calendar, these were predicated on the agreement of a new financial deal with the Premier League for EFL clubs which has not progressed.

"This is frustrating and disappointing given the calendar is a shared asset across football, and as we have consistently said a whole game approach is required to find solutions to complex fixture scheduling challenges.

"Our domestic calendar has been put under extreme pressure by the expansion of UEFA competitions and ultimately this represents another lost traditional revenue stream for EFL clubs at a time when the financial gap between the biggest clubs and those further down the pyramid is growing bigger than ever.

"We will now be discussing the implications for EFL clubs and seeking appropriate compensation arrangements."

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