FA Cup replays could be scrapped and the competition turned into a midweek tournament in a dramatic shake-up of the competition. Plans being discussed by the Premier League may also see the League Cup semi-finals played over one leg instead of two.
Representatives from the FA and Premier League have held talks in a bid to ease fixture congestion and are said to be broadly in agreement over the issue.
An insider told the Sun: “There’s consensus that nowadays, with the number of matches being played, FA Cup replays may become a thing of the past. And the same goes for the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi. It is about finding a balance while keeping every competition, instead of one competition becoming a thing of the past. We have to move with the times.”
Moving FA Cup ties to midweek after the third round could provide room in the cluttered calendar for a winter break, which the FA and England managers have long wanted the report claims.
Well, if the League Cup SFs are to be moved to a single leg, then they need to be played on a neutral ground in the same way as the Scottish League Cup SFs are. Doesn’t have to be Wembley, but it should be at the weekend.
I do worry though that playing the FA Cup rounds in midweek would again degrade the innate specialness of our cup competition, and instead turn it into the kind of devalued bauble that they play in Spain and Italy.
sounds like the Premier League wanting to eliminate distractions from the league and the guaranteed revenues they enjoy. Presumably the Premier League clubs would be able to take advantage of a winter break by jetting off to the Far East for lucrative friendlies, to ‘maintain fitness levels’…
Spot on, they bang on about a winter break but you know the minute they get it it will be seen as an chance to grab some more cash from overseas tours. they should only be allowed a winters break if they actually take a break from playing football and not used as a cash cow.
Isn’t part of the romance of the FA Cup that lower league/non teams can possibly snatch a draw & go on to play at Old Trafford, Anfield etc (love WHU as I do, if you ask any league 1 or lower club where would you love to play above any where else? The BG wouldn’t be top) The FA Cup is special & is known all over the world. Changing the format because the poor PL club play too many games is imho a crock of sh1t.. the only thing that needs changing is the semi finals shouldn’t be at wembley. I have always agreed with ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ Already the League Cup has been reduced to a irritation to the bigger clubs. For those of us who know that football wasn’t invented in 1992 by Sky TV, Division One teams played 42 league games plus FA Cup & League Cup games. On a great season with cup progress & maybe European comp aswell, teams could well have played 60..ish games & that was with a squad of maybe 20 players. 1980-81 season i think WHU played 61 games & by november there was hardly a blade of grass left & everyone were ankle deep in mud. Pitches today look as good in May as they did in August. PL clubs should get on with playing the amount of games they do & stop b1tching..
I agree with a winter break for the players, certainly make sure it coincides with the closing of the transfer window. I am also all for having no replays on the premise that if a lower league team is drawn at home to a team with a larger stadium they are given the option to switch the tie to the bigger one should they so wish to maximise their revenue. Here is a novel idea while we are changing the English set up, change all the European competitions back to what they were in the 80’s pure knockout, only league winners into European cup or if they insist top 4, Uefa cup 5 and 6 and a cup winners cup for cup winners all straight knockout !!!