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.
mrproperty on
We’re probably fortunate not to be in a spot where replays are critical sources of income, but this whole thing is just so backwards.
Another kick in the stomach for proud, passionate fan bases and football clubs who don’t have the luxury of being bankrolled by billionaires
Gamerhcp on
In the meantime, plenty of clubs all over the country and the pyramid have released statements opposing the new format change.
Two Championship club managers/head coaches have publicly voiced their opinions on it – [Millwall’s Neil Harris is one them, he spoke to BBC saying it’s an absolutely ridiculous decision](https://twitter.com/BBCLondonSport/status/1780971348820365351)
So because some premier league teams don’t want them, nobody else gets a say. What a bullshit idea, kinda surprised they’ve doubled down on it
JHock93 on
Something I do find weird is that EFL clubs have more fixtures, smaller squads and smaller budgets than most PL clubs yet it’s a lot rarer to hear EFL managers complaining about fixture congestion compared to their PL counterparts.
Yes, I get that if you get to the final of the FA Cup, League Cup, and Champions League then you have a lot of fixtures, but isn’t that the challenge? The reason Liverpool going for the quadruple in 2022 and Man City trying in 2023 led to fixture congestion was because ***it’s supposed to be hard***. There is a reason it’s never been achieved before.
FIJIBOYFIJI on
Clubs should boycott
TurbulentBullfrog829 on
Not sure I trust the EFL to make the right decision for the right reasons either.
The opening paragraph basically says “they asked us last year and we said fine but it will cost you. Now they’ve gone ahead but not given us the pay off we wanted so we are against the plans now”
MattGeddon on
Maybe we can bring back replays but with the caveat that if the teams BOTH agree to decide it in 90 minutes then they do that instead. So if Wolves and Forest don’t want another fixture then they can scrap it, but Newport or Grimsby can still get their replay at Man City or Liverpool if they manage to get a draw against them at home.
cockaskedforamartini on
Replays are shit for so many clubs. Pointless matches that add to an already congested fixture list.
As I said in another thread, the answer to the problem lies in fair distribution of money and club-centred solutions, such as allowing teams to agree on replays prior to their matches. It does not lie in just keeping replays.
jrbill1991 on
It’s unacceptable, the FA are clearly saying out loud that they only care about the Premier League clubs and their interests, I get we always knew that, but doing this with the FA Cup is totally explicit.
I wish the EFL comes to the conclusion that they won’t participate and the non league teams as well, fuck the FA and fuck the Premier League, go ahead and change it to EPL Cup.
A bigger issue is that even with this horrific change, a lot of lower league teams will still need the FA Cup to help them financially, so boycott will likely not happen.
cecil_the-lion on
Can the top clubs just fuck off please, go to your super league.
BritShibe on
They should drop all teams in at round 1
Nosworthy on
On a personal level I’m not arsed about replays. But the FA and Prem making the decision on behalf of everyone, knowing what the reaction would be further down the pyramid, is so wrong.
The Prem keep telling us they don’t need a regulator. Things like this show it can’t come soon enough
VivaLaRory on
There has to be a collective agreement if you want to remove replays without massive backlash. I completely understand that certain teams are going to have increased European schedules but surely you have to give something back to EFL clubs who benefit massively from replays before scrapping them? A bit of short-term compensation like is being discussed is a disgrace.
We will see more smaller clubs cause more upsets thanks to this, so it’s not all bad, but it’s crazy that they have changed this without agreement from the clubs that will be worse off because of this,
tractorboyblue on
All EFL clubs should just refuse to play in the FA Cup untill they backtrack
SoggyMattress2 on
Right decision but for the wrong reasons.
Nobody likes FA cup replays, fucks up the prem schedule, and nobody wants to watch man city vs Macclesfield at 8pm on a fucking Wednesday.
What should be acknowledged is these lower league clubs can make a big chunk of income by a replay against a prem club. It’s much less than most people think (I think most people think a national league team can get 4 million from gate receipts or something) but it is still significant.
The Premier league should work out across 10 years, on average how many lower league vs prem games happened via replays, how much on average they made from it being on TV and gate receipts and then add that total payment spread between the clubs.
Wales1988 on
Fair play that’s a strong statement.
ow1108 on
Scraping replay is bs to be honest. This is nothing more than an anti-small teams things from the FA.
TheRealPatrick79 on
I think there’s a simple solution here. Sure, no replays, at the end of the game, if the scores are level the higher ranking team are knocked out.
kevinthegrass on
Why can’t these “elite” clubs with massive squads rotate, or play the kids? Bet the young players would love too represent!
JamesSunderland1973 on
The more you think about this the dodgier it gets, the idea that the PL clubs can decide League One and Two clubs don’t get replays in rounds 1 and 2 when the PL don’t even play those rounds is ludicrous. Surely this rounds 1 and 2 element at least must be overturned?
It’s difficult to understand why clubs like Brentford and Crystal Palace, who potentially, and quite often, only play 40 games a season are so opposed to replays. And if Arsenal and Liverpool in the 3rd round this season had gone to a replay isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t this why clubs build these super stadiums, to host games and maximise revenue?
This is exactly why the government is bringing in a football regulator too.
OkraEmergency361 on
Can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said, but I’m wondering if there’s something we (as in Cov) can do as a fan base or club on Sunday to make it clear this decision is shit.
Getting reeeeeeal sick of the rich fucks at the top of the Premiership trying to hoard all the goods to themselves and choking out the rest of the football pyramid. The Big 6 have big enough squads they can put their third team out for FA Cup games and not bother (and they frequently do). As JHock93 said further down the thread – winning the league, cup and whatever Euro competitions is *supposed* to be hard. That’s the whole fucking point. This just sounds like successful clubs wanting to make things easier for themselves and fuck everyone else in football.
23 Comments
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.
We’re probably fortunate not to be in a spot where replays are critical sources of income, but this whole thing is just so backwards.
Another kick in the stomach for proud, passionate fan bases and football clubs who don’t have the luxury of being bankrolled by billionaires
In the meantime, plenty of clubs all over the country and the pyramid have released statements opposing the new format change.
You can track it in [this spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/119dSeHfdaXguSElRMRA2xTmQm8M8aP0iMjxq7H4JQuU/edit#gid=0) I found on the bird app
Two Championship club managers/head coaches have publicly voiced their opinions on it – [Millwall’s Neil Harris is one them, he spoke to BBC saying it’s an absolutely ridiculous decision](https://twitter.com/BBCLondonSport/status/1780971348820365351)
[Hull City’s Liam Rosenior also spoke to BBC](https://twitter.com/HumbersideSport/status/1781056183295472058) and said that scrapping replays altogether is a bad idea if the PL doesn’t give *something* in return to lower league teams
We need to collectively boycott the FA cup.
So because some premier league teams don’t want them, nobody else gets a say. What a bullshit idea, kinda surprised they’ve doubled down on it
Something I do find weird is that EFL clubs have more fixtures, smaller squads and smaller budgets than most PL clubs yet it’s a lot rarer to hear EFL managers complaining about fixture congestion compared to their PL counterparts.
Yes, I get that if you get to the final of the FA Cup, League Cup, and Champions League then you have a lot of fixtures, but isn’t that the challenge? The reason Liverpool going for the quadruple in 2022 and Man City trying in 2023 led to fixture congestion was because ***it’s supposed to be hard***. There is a reason it’s never been achieved before.
Clubs should boycott
Not sure I trust the EFL to make the right decision for the right reasons either.
The opening paragraph basically says “they asked us last year and we said fine but it will cost you. Now they’ve gone ahead but not given us the pay off we wanted so we are against the plans now”
Maybe we can bring back replays but with the caveat that if the teams BOTH agree to decide it in 90 minutes then they do that instead. So if Wolves and Forest don’t want another fixture then they can scrap it, but Newport or Grimsby can still get their replay at Man City or Liverpool if they manage to get a draw against them at home.
Replays are shit for so many clubs. Pointless matches that add to an already congested fixture list.
As I said in another thread, the answer to the problem lies in fair distribution of money and club-centred solutions, such as allowing teams to agree on replays prior to their matches. It does not lie in just keeping replays.
It’s unacceptable, the FA are clearly saying out loud that they only care about the Premier League clubs and their interests, I get we always knew that, but doing this with the FA Cup is totally explicit.
I wish the EFL comes to the conclusion that they won’t participate and the non league teams as well, fuck the FA and fuck the Premier League, go ahead and change it to EPL Cup.
A bigger issue is that even with this horrific change, a lot of lower league teams will still need the FA Cup to help them financially, so boycott will likely not happen.
Can the top clubs just fuck off please, go to your super league.
They should drop all teams in at round 1
On a personal level I’m not arsed about replays. But the FA and Prem making the decision on behalf of everyone, knowing what the reaction would be further down the pyramid, is so wrong.
The Prem keep telling us they don’t need a regulator. Things like this show it can’t come soon enough
There has to be a collective agreement if you want to remove replays without massive backlash. I completely understand that certain teams are going to have increased European schedules but surely you have to give something back to EFL clubs who benefit massively from replays before scrapping them? A bit of short-term compensation like is being discussed is a disgrace.
We will see more smaller clubs cause more upsets thanks to this, so it’s not all bad, but it’s crazy that they have changed this without agreement from the clubs that will be worse off because of this,
All EFL clubs should just refuse to play in the FA Cup untill they backtrack
Right decision but for the wrong reasons.
Nobody likes FA cup replays, fucks up the prem schedule, and nobody wants to watch man city vs Macclesfield at 8pm on a fucking Wednesday.
What should be acknowledged is these lower league clubs can make a big chunk of income by a replay against a prem club. It’s much less than most people think (I think most people think a national league team can get 4 million from gate receipts or something) but it is still significant.
The Premier league should work out across 10 years, on average how many lower league vs prem games happened via replays, how much on average they made from it being on TV and gate receipts and then add that total payment spread between the clubs.
Fair play that’s a strong statement.
Scraping replay is bs to be honest. This is nothing more than an anti-small teams things from the FA.
I think there’s a simple solution here. Sure, no replays, at the end of the game, if the scores are level the higher ranking team are knocked out.
Why can’t these “elite” clubs with massive squads rotate, or play the kids? Bet the young players would love too represent!
The more you think about this the dodgier it gets, the idea that the PL clubs can decide League One and Two clubs don’t get replays in rounds 1 and 2 when the PL don’t even play those rounds is ludicrous. Surely this rounds 1 and 2 element at least must be overturned?
It’s difficult to understand why clubs like Brentford and Crystal Palace, who potentially, and quite often, only play 40 games a season are so opposed to replays. And if Arsenal and Liverpool in the 3rd round this season had gone to a replay isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t this why clubs build these super stadiums, to host games and maximise revenue?
This is exactly why the government is bringing in a football regulator too.
Can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said, but I’m wondering if there’s something we (as in Cov) can do as a fan base or club on Sunday to make it clear this decision is shit.
Getting reeeeeeal sick of the rich fucks at the top of the Premiership trying to hoard all the goods to themselves and choking out the rest of the football pyramid. The Big 6 have big enough squads they can put their third team out for FA Cup games and not bother (and they frequently do). As JHock93 said further down the thread – winning the league, cup and whatever Euro competitions is *supposed* to be hard. That’s the whole fucking point. This just sounds like successful clubs wanting to make things easier for themselves and fuck everyone else in football.