It looks like the FA Cup will have less fixtures next season.
The FA Cup are set to scrap replays from the third round onwards starting from next season, as per the Daily Mail.
Something in the football calendar needed to change with the amount of football matches being played each season. I worry about professionals like Bruno Fernandes, who play 60+ odd matches per year for club and country, with fear of them burning out.
The fixture schedule is already perceived as hectic, but the traditionalists out there won’t be happy.
We have all heard the debates put forward about getting rid of the League Cup, but instead, we are likely to see changes to the FA Cup as they continue to water down football’s oldest competition.
Many will argue it hasn’t been the same since they started hosting semi-finals at Wembley rather than grounds like Villa Park. However, the FA Cup has not staged replays from the fifth round onwards since the 2018/19 campaign.
The earlier rounds of the competition have continued to offer replays if ties end in a draw. It is something that has benefited EFL and non-league clubs to rake in gate receipts and TV revenue from the tie – particularly against the big teams.
It is the smaller clubs down the football pyramid who will see this as a negative blow.
United are in FA Cup action this weekend when they take on Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-finals. The other semi-final will see Chelsea take on Man City.
Let us know in the comments section your thoughts on these potential changes to the FA Cup.
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Just read about this in the Grauniad; mixed feelings and not sure it’s been fully thought through .
The report states the Final will now be held before the penultimate league fixtures, with no league matches on that day, but a full round on the Sunday. That’s not going to work when – as usually happens – the finalists are both Premier sides. So the matches they were due to play will need to be rescheduled before the last day of the Season.And if one of the finalists is also chasing the Title, or European qualification, their having to play an additional match hands an advantage to their resting competitors.
Also, it’s a shame lower division sides will no longer have the chance to bring illustrious opponents back home in the event of gaining an away draw. I know more money has been promised to the lower divisions, but ‘romance of the cup’ and all that.