FA Cup Replays to be scrapped

[aaronaldo]

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68844583

FA Cup replays will be scrapped from the first round onwards in the 2024-25 competition.

All rounds of the Emirates FA Cup will also be played on weekends, including the fifth round which has been played in midweek for the last five seasons.

The changes come as part of a new six-year agreement between the Football Association (FA) and the Premier League.

Both say that it will "strengthen" the FA Cup format.

In its current format, the FA Cup has no replays from the fifth round onwards, but the FA says the move to eliminate them from an earlier stage has been made "in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded UEFA competitions".

The first round of the FA Cup sees professional teams from League One and League Two enter, with Championship and Premier League teams joining from the third round.

Other changes will see the fourth and fifth rounds, and the quarter-finals, played without clashing with any Premier League fixtures for the first time.

The fourth round will be played in an extended window from Friday to Wednesday.

More to follow.

The telling part of this article to me is in bold. What about the other leagues and teams that this actually affects?

[Mundell]

Not surprising I guess. The positive is that it increases the chances of shock results. 

[watameires]

Crap decision which further dilutes the fa cup in my option and impacts commercials of lower level teams

[weststandfruitloop]

Easy way to compensate for this change, whilst also making for more giant killing and fun in general:

For the First Round (when the 48 L1 & L2 teams join) the 32 non-league qualifiers are all at home.

For the Third Round (when the 44 PL & Champ teams join) the 20 L1/L2/non-league teams are all at home.

Logistically a piece of piss to do: The lower teams are in a separate bowl that home teams are drawn from until it runs out.

All other rounds would be drawn as normal (with ensuing randomness). Only R1 and R3 are ‘rigged’ to give a decent home game and payday to tinpot sides like Charlton.

There’s already a precedent with league position giving home advantage in play-offs. This is just a reversal/twist on that.

Please write to your MP if you agree.

[leedsaddick]

A very short sighted decision again by football authorities who are incredibly remote from fans and the game…. In addition to financial loss for the minnows in the pyramid, it’s the memories and excitement that’s created that lost…. People still reminis of Charltons Cup game against Arsenal back in the 60’s….. I lived in Hereford for 4 years and the town still talk about the Newcastle game…. I was lucky to meet Roger Griffiths and Dudley Tyler who were in the team that day

[redplanet]

Shows the mindset of those running football..
Only the Premier league matters.
A replay for a lower league club at a 'Big' ground is a boost to their finances and a fantastic day out for the fans.

[petetongthereturn]

When Charlie boy said something in the recent past about the premier league especially the London clubs voting for not giving EFL clubs extra money he was criticised by both insiders and outsiders. Good for him I say.

[wellingaddick]

www.thefa.com/news/2024/apr/19/statement-emirates-fa-cup-format-update-20241904

We have listened to the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and would like to outline the approval process which was undertaken for the 2024-25 professional game football calendar.

We have been discussing the calendar for the 2024-25 season with the Premier League and EFL for well over a year.

Removing Emirates FA Cup replays was discussed in the early meetings and all parties accepted that they could not continue. The discussions then focused on how to make all of our competitions stronger, despite having fewer dates available and wanting to maintain player welfare.

The changes to the Emirates FA Cup achieve this by returning it to a weekend competition on every round, and ensuring that we have exclusive broadcast slots in an increasingly congested calendar.

To clarify, we have also increased the number of Emirates FA Cup matches that will be broadcast in the early rounds, which will lead to additional guaranteed broadcast revenue for EFL and National League teams. Additionally, we review the prize money annually for the competition, together with representatives from the EFL and PL and will do the same for the 2024-25 season.

The calendar for next season was approved by the Professional Game Board, which consists of four EFL representatives and four Premier League representatives, last month, and then by the FA Board, which includes Premier League, EFL, National Game and grassroots representation. This is the process we undergo every year to approve the calendar.

We understand the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and we will be sharing more details with clubs very shortly to explain the additional revenue opportunities in the early rounds.

We will keep this under review as the new calendar begins to ensure that EFL and National League clubs do not lose out.



So the FA is now saying that the EFL was consulted!

[kings hill addick]

Apr 18, 2024 11:46:27 GMT weststandfruitloop said:

Easy way to compensate for this change, whilst also making for more giant killing and fun in general:

For the First Round (when the 48 L1 & L2 teams join) the 32 non-league qualifiers are all at home.

For the Third Round (when the 44 PL & Champ teams join) the 20 L1/L2/non-league teams are all at home.

Logistically a piece of piss to do: The lower teams are in a separate bowl that home teams are drawn from until it runs out.

All other rounds would be drawn as normal (with ensuing randomness). Only R1 and R3 are ‘rigged’ to give a decent home game and payday to tinpot sides like Charlton.

There’s already a precedent with league position giving home advantage in play-offs. This is just a reversal/twist on that.

Please write to your MP if you agree.

Really?

So a non league club gets drawn away to Man Utd and their reward is not £400k, that could fund the club for a decade, but a home tie that earn them virtually nothing?

I think we need to recognise that the FA Cup has never been an aspiration to win it for teams outside of the top two divisions (the top six clubs, realistically) but it is a chance to earn money. The further down the pyramid you go the bigger the proportion of the annual income comes from the FA cup - assuming a bit of a run in it.

If you've ever seen players listening to or watching the draw they all want an away tie at a top Premier League club. Why take that away??

[aaronaldo]

Apr 19, 2024 10:22:24 GMT wellingaddick said:

www.thefa.com/news/2024/apr/19/statement-emirates-fa-cup-format-update-20241904

We have listened to the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and would like to outline the approval process which was undertaken for the 2024-25 professional game football calendar.

We have been discussing the calendar for the 2024-25 season with the Premier League and EFL for well over a year.

Removing Emirates FA Cup replays was discussed in the early meetings and all parties accepted that they could not continue. The discussions then focused on how to make all of our competitions stronger, despite having fewer dates available and wanting to maintain player welfare.

The changes to the Emirates FA Cup achieve this by returning it to a weekend competition on every round, and ensuring that we have exclusive broadcast slots in an increasingly congested calendar.

To clarify, we have also increased the number of Emirates FA Cup matches that will be broadcast in the early rounds, which will lead to additional guaranteed broadcast revenue for EFL and National League teams. Additionally, we review the prize money annually for the competition, together with representatives from the EFL and PL and will do the same for the 2024-25 season.

The calendar for next season was approved by the Professional Game Board, which consists of four EFL representatives and four Premier League representatives, last month, and then by the FA Board, which includes Premier League, EFL, National Game and grassroots representation. This is the process we undergo every year to approve the calendar.

We understand the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and we will be sharing more details with clubs very shortly to explain the additional revenue opportunities in the early rounds.

We will keep this under review as the new calendar begins to ensure that EFL and National League clubs do not lose out.



So the FA is now saying that the EFL was consulted!

It's mad that they didn't mention the EFL being consulted in the first comms. They still appear to have missed the point somewhat. It's not always about money! It's about the experience of a cup replay at a big club. One you maybe have never been to before because your team is many divisions below. You grind out a draw at home with a chance to play at a great stadium, whilst also helping your club create revenue. That is taken away now.

You could argue they have a chance to go through more? Penalties on the night rather than another game where the bigger club is likely to field a stronger team to ensure the mistake isn't made twice.

[manikin]

Apr 19, 2024 10:59:18 GMT aaronaldo said:

Apr 19, 2024 10:22:24 GMT wellingaddick said:

www.thefa.com/news/2024/apr/19/statement-emirates-fa-cup-format-update-20241904

We have listened to the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and would like to outline the approval process which was undertaken for the 2024-25 professional game football calendar.

We have been discussing the calendar for the 2024-25 season with the Premier League and EFL for well over a year.

Removing Emirates FA Cup replays was discussed in the early meetings and all parties accepted that they could not continue. The discussions then focused on how to make all of our competitions stronger, despite having fewer dates available and wanting to maintain player welfare.

The changes to the Emirates FA Cup achieve this by returning it to a weekend competition on every round, and ensuring that we have exclusive broadcast slots in an increasingly congested calendar.

To clarify, we have also increased the number of Emirates FA Cup matches that will be broadcast in the early rounds, which will lead to additional guaranteed broadcast revenue for EFL and National League teams. Additionally, we review the prize money annually for the competition, together with representatives from the EFL and PL and will do the same for the 2024-25 season.

The calendar for next season was approved by the Professional Game Board, which consists of four EFL representatives and four Premier League representatives, last month, and then by the FA Board, which includes Premier League, EFL, National Game and grassroots representation. This is the process we undergo every year to approve the calendar.

We understand the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and we will be sharing more details with clubs very shortly to explain the additional revenue opportunities in the early rounds.

We will keep this under review as the new calendar begins to ensure that EFL and National League clubs do not lose out.



So the FA is now saying that the EFL was consulted!

It's mad that they didn't mention the EFL being consulted in the first comms. They still appear to have missed the point somewhat. It's not always about money! It's about the experience of a cup replay at a big club. One you maybe have never been to before because your team is many divisions below. You grind out a draw at home with a chance to play at a great stadium, whilst also helping your club create revenue. That is taken away now.

You could argue they have a chance to go through more? Penalties on the night rather than another game where the bigger club is likely to field a stronger team to ensure the mistake isn't made twice.

Your right, they're taking away the glamour of the cup and potentially ruining the chance of lower league clubs and players big day at a quality stadium.

[kings hill addick]

Apr 19, 2024 11:12:20 GMT manikin said:

Apr 19, 2024 10:59:18 GMT aaronaldo said:

It's mad that they didn't mention the EFL being consulted in the first comms. They still appear to have missed the point somewhat. It's not always about money! It's about the experience of a cup replay at a big club. One you maybe have never been to before because your team is many divisions below. You grind out a draw at home with a chance to play at a great stadium, whilst also helping your club create revenue. That is taken away now.

You could argue they have a chance to go through more? Penalties on the night rather than another game where the bigger club is likely to field a stronger team to ensure the mistake isn't made twice.

Your right, they're taking away the glamour of the cup and potentially ruining the chance of lower league clubs and players big day at a quality stadium.

They can still be drawn away. Also I'm sure that clubs have given up home advantage in the past, so that could still happen.

[manikin]

Apr 19, 2024 11:35:43 GMT kings hill addick said:

Apr 19, 2024 11:12:20 GMT manikin said:

Your right, they're taking away the glamour of the cup and potentially ruining the chance of lower league clubs and players big day at a quality stadium.

They can still be drawn away. Also I'm sure that clubs have given up home advantage in the past, so that could still happen.

At the moment home advantage can't be given up, it would take a rule change.

[aaronaldo]

www.efl.com/news/2024/april/19/efl-statement--fa-cup-replays/

The EFL wishes to clarify further its position in respect of yesterday’s Premier League and Football Association bi-lateral announcement over the removal of FA Cup replays and the role of the League’s representatives on the Professional Game Board (PGB).

The agreement which now sees the abolition of replays from the competition format was agreed solely between the Premier League and FA. Ahead of the deal being announced there was no agreement with the EFL nor was there any formal consultation with EFL Clubs as members of the FA and participants in the competition.

In September 2023, the EFL did initially discuss with Clubs potential changes to the FA Cup format but only as part of a wider and more fundamental change to financial distributions. As is now clear, there has been no movement in this area since September.

This latest agreement between the Premier League and the FA, in the absence of financial reform, is just a further example of how the EFL and its Clubs are being marginalised in favour of others further up the pyramid and that only serves to threaten the future of the English game.

The EFL today calls on both the Premier League and the FA, as the Governing body, to re-evaluate their approach to their footballing partnership with the EFL and engage more collaboratively on issues directly affecting our Clubs.

A separate issue is the role of the EFL representatives on the Professional Game Board (PGB) in agreeing to the 2024/25 overall fixture calendar. PGB is there to make technical decisions across the game as opposed to key policy decisions such as competition changes or formats.

Any decisions taken on the calendar involving EFL representatives are in no way an endorsement of the joint deal agreed between the FA and Premier League that imposes changes to the FA Cup competition format in isolation.

As part of the discussions the EFL representatives did challenge the position and were told that Clubs would be comfortable with no replays. They were effectively advised that, as a result, of it being an FA competition, the fixture list needed to be agreed as presented. It is also important to note that this matter was not discussed by the FA Cup committee, a separate group that oversees the competition across the professional and national game.

Oh dear! This is getting fun now. Popcorn at the ready.

EFL weren't part of the agreement then!

[kings hill addick]

Apr 19, 2024 12:04:15 GMT manikin said:

Apr 19, 2024 11:35:43 GMT kings hill addick said:

They can still be drawn away. Also I'm sure that clubs have given up home advantage in the past, so that could still happen.

At the moment home advantage can't be given up, it would take a rule change.

I'm sorry, I did not know that.

[Mundell]

Apr 19, 2024 13:21:28 GMT aaronaldo said:

www.efl.com/news/2024/april/19/efl-statement--fa-cup-replays/

The EFL wishes to clarify further its position in respect of yesterday’s Premier League and Football Association bi-lateral announcement over the removal of FA Cup replays and the role of the League’s representatives on the Professional Game Board (PGB).

The agreement which now sees the abolition of replays from the competition format was agreed solely between the Premier League and FA. Ahead of the deal being announced there was no agreement with the EFL nor was there any formal consultation with EFL Clubs as members of the FA and participants in the competition.

In September 2023, the EFL did initially discuss with Clubs potential changes to the FA Cup format but only as part of a wider and more fundamental change to financial distributions. As is now clear, there has been no movement in this area since September.

This latest agreement between the Premier League and the FA, in the absence of financial reform, is just a further example of how the EFL and its Clubs are being marginalised in favour of others further up the pyramid and that only serves to threaten the future of the English game.

The EFL today calls on both the Premier League and the FA, as the Governing body, to re-evaluate their approach to their footballing partnership with the EFL and engage more collaboratively on issues directly affecting our Clubs.

A separate issue is the role of the EFL representatives on the Professional Game Board (PGB) in agreeing to the 2024/25 overall fixture calendar. PGB is there to make technical decisions across the game as opposed to key policy decisions such as competition changes or formats.

Any decisions taken on the calendar involving EFL representatives are in no way an endorsement of the joint deal agreed between the FA and Premier League that imposes changes to the FA Cup competition format in isolation.

As part of the discussions the EFL representatives did challenge the position and were told that Clubs would be comfortable with no replays. They were effectively advised that, as a result, of it being an FA competition, the fixture list needed to be agreed as presented. It is also important to note that this matter was not discussed by the FA Cup committee, a separate group that oversees the competition across the professional and national game.

Oh dear! This is getting fun now. Popcorn at the ready.

EFL weren't part of the agreement then!

The lack of consultation and/or discussion is completely unacceptable obviously, but is typical of the way in which the Premier League bullies clubs in the EFL and rides roughshod over their legitimate interests. This imbalance of power and it’s potential impact on competition rules, financial regulations et al is probably the one thing that a Regulator might address which would be positive for the game, but as far as I can tell, beyond “last resort” powers to “force a fairer distribution of media revenues”, there is no intention within the Bill to enable this.

As for the decision itself, it seems to be a classic case of a lack of evidence based decision making and resultant complaint. Has anyone actually looked at the likely loss of net revenues which might result from this decision? I doubt it. My own intuition is that it’s probably no big deal. I always try to attend FA Cup ties, but as far as I can tell most fans can’t be bothered (though I accept that’s in part chicken and egg), while even at our level FA Cup replays are often seen as an unwanted additional fixture. How long is it since we had an FA Cup replay that anybody actually wanted? 

[newyorkaddick]

The FA (not the Premier League) killed off the FA Cup as we knew and loved it when they allowed the holders Man Utd to skip the competition in 1999/2000, and more recently with their ridiculous decision to host the semi finals at Wembley.

From Charlton's standpoint we progressed to R3 a couple of seasons ago and drew a Premier League side at home 'attracting' an attendance of less than 14k, significantly less than showed up for a league game against Wycombe a few days earlier.