good, extra time and penalties I expect. Not many of todays coaches/teams or fans (except maybe the non league clubs) really want replays.
Inevitable really, fixture congestion in all four leagues is bonkers. Would have preferred League cup being scrapped though. However if a non league/lower league team make it to third round and draw a Man U or Liverpool at home I'd like them to have the option to switch to an away tie, those fixtures can save teams financially.
I get the fixture congestion etc needs addressing, but such a shame that another tradition and a way in which clubs (outside the top 2 tiers especially) can progress and dream for certain ties is being ended. Of course the hierarchy won’t give a dam
FA bows to the Premier League teams yet again. They don't want "fixture congestion" so they can go off and play friendlies in Dubai or Qatar or (insert lucrative overseas venue here).
I bet scrapping the paint-pot cup or whatever it’s called was never on the agenda to help ease fixtures for lower league clubs. Afterall, the Prem U 21s play in that
The issue with the fixture congestion argument is, it's completely bo11ocks. The top teams don't want to have to split gate receipts with the smaller clubs who rely on drawing a big side, just to keep them afloat. If there was genuinely an issue with "fixture congestion", Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal wouldn't have a mini tournament booked against each other in the US for pre-season. United are also travelling to Norway and Edinburgh for friendlies, in a summer where a major international tournament is due to be held. I like to watch A Bunch of Amateurs on YouTube, which follows Marc White around, the owner and manager of Dorking Wanderers who were relegated from the National League last week. His post match comments following Dorking's defeat to Horsham (the round before we played them) speaks volumes. He essentially said the future of his club relied on them getting a big tie in the first round proper, and that he doesn't know where the money will come from to fund another season. He's built the club from the ground up, simply from investing his wages from his Mon to Fri job. But yeah, fixture congestion is the issue.
Very sad news further devaluing the worlds oldest cup competition just so the prem sides don’t have to worry about playing lower opposition twice saving space to play lucrative friendlies abroad
The magic of the FA Cup. Ar reight. Football is fecked IMO and getting more and more fecked by the suits.
Well, for me it's just not fair. If you you can't beat a team on your own ground in 90 mins, the away side has earned a crack at at winning at their own ground. This smacks of 'its only the lower clubs and they don't matter, let's just get these games over with '
The ownership groups of pretty much all clubs below championship level would disagree I reckon - even league one and two clubs keep their heads above water from monies generated from cup ties and this move further limits that. It’s worlds of wrong that the premier league have made this decision with the fa but the efl and levels below had little to no consultation.
