Cancellation of the historical tradition may occur as early as the 2025/26 season
Pressure on domestic English calendar could lead to historic reform FA Cup. The oldest football tournament in the world may lose its traditional replays — it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to find reserve dates.
So far we are talking about the abolition of replays in the third and fourth rounds of the Cup, which corresponds to the stages of 1/32 and 1/16 finals. It is from the third round that the strongest – representatives of the Championship and the English Premier League – join the tournament.
According to the current regulations, in the event of a draw, a replay is scheduled on the opponent’s field. This introduces a factor of unpredictability and organizational confusion, especially if the parties involved include European Cup participants.
Additional complexity will appear next season, when the Champions League and Europa League will expand to 36 clubs. The European Cup group stage will feature eight rounds instead of the previous six. That is, UEFA tournaments will “close” two previously free midweek windows in February.
An indirect hint at upcoming changes in the Cup regulations is the calendar that the Premier League is offering to bidders for a new TV contract, which will be valid from the 2025/26 season. It includes 5 mid-week tours, instead of the current four.
Taking into account the European Cups and international breaks, clubs will only have 12 mid-week windows throughout the season for domestic competitions. We cross out five – and the Premier League clubs have only 7 breaks left for both Cups. There’s not much you can do with replays, unless, of course, your plans include getting to any decent stage.
Other proposed changes to the Cup schedule include, firstly, moving the fifth round matches (1/8 finals) to the weekend, and secondly, reducing the semi-finals from two matches (home/away) to one, as has been practiced a couple of times previously.
This is not the first “resection” of replays in a historical competition. Previously, the Football Association (FA) abolished this option for the fifth round – this was in the 2017/18 season.
There were six replays in the third and fourth rounds of the 2022/23 FA Cup. Manchester City won the tournament for the seventh time in history. The record holder for the number of victories in the Cup is Arsenal (14).
The FA has yet to comment on the proposed changes to the format of football’s oldest competition.
Currently, the 2023/24 FA Cup draw has played qualifying stages for clubs from levels 5-10 of the English football pyramid. The first round games, which will include the pros, will take place on November 4th. For representatives of the Premier League, this tournament will begin next year.
Source: Sportarena
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