No More FA Cup Replays

[Philip A]

From the 1st Round onwards, there will be no more replays in any of the FA Cup matches.

Thoughts on this?

[Graeme Cole]

I'm surprised replays have survived this long since penalty shootouts were invented in the 1970s. Surely there are enough headaches involved in organising the FA Cup without giving every match a second "maybe" match, which nobody knows whether it will be played or not until after the first one?

Countdown is decades ahead of its time, having scrapped replays over 30 years ago.

[Gavin Chipper]

As someone who doesn't really follow football, Graeme's post seems pretty logical and basically what I was thinking, although I understand some football fans are unhappy about it.

[Mark Deeks]

I'm surprised replays have survived this long since penalty shootouts were invented in the 1970s. Surely there are enough headaches involved in organising the FA Cup without giving every match a second "maybe" match, which nobody knows whether it will be played or not until after the first one?

Countdown is decades ahead of its time, having scrapped replays over 30 years ago.

As a general rule, yes, but the FA Cup differs slightly in the imbalances that are possible between teams, where replays can be a financial boon. If Compton Pauncefoot Rovers were drawn against Arsenal, for example, and somehow held them to a draw, the return leg would be a massive financial windfall for the Paunce. And this isn't just a hypothetical - see also, Stevenage vs Newcastle in the mid 90s.

[Gavin Chipper]

Could the same not happen anyway in the non-replay? How do they decide where to have the first match? Couldn't that be at Compton Pauncefoot Rovers' home stadium?

Also the "You are the ref" thread would have a field day at any suggestion that the format might financially encourage a team to go for a draw rather than a win.

[Marc Meakin]

Could the same not happen anyway in the non-replay? How do they decide where to have the first match? Couldn't that be at Compton Pauncefoot Rovers' home stadium?

Also the "You are the ref" thread would have a field day at any suggestion that the format might financially encourage a team to go for a draw rather than a win.

I believe there have been some clubs that have forfeited their home advantage over cash payout

[Marc Meakin]

With reference to my post on unpopular opinions thread I think doing away with extra time should also be used and go straight to pens that will still make giant killing a possibility

[Graeme Cole]

I'm surprised replays have survived this long since penalty shootouts were invented in the 1970s. Surely there are enough headaches involved in organising the FA Cup without giving every match a second "maybe" match, which nobody knows whether it will be played or not until after the first one?

Countdown is decades ahead of its time, having scrapped replays over 30 years ago.

As a general rule, yes, but the FA Cup differs slightly in the imbalances that are possible between teams, where replays can be a financial boon. If Compton Pauncefoot Rovers were drawn against Arsenal, for example, and somehow held them to a draw, the return leg would be a massive financial windfall for the Paunce. And this isn't just a hypothetical - see also, Stevenage vs Newcastle in the mid 90s.

Why not play all the games in the early rounds over two legs, then? Resolves the uncertainty issue over whether a game will be played at all, and ensures that when a small team gets drawn against one of the big clubs, they get both a home and away game and half of all the ticket revenue that comes with that.

[Graeme Cole]

Could the same not happen anyway in the non-replay? How do they decide where to have the first match? Couldn't that be at Compton Pauncefoot Rovers' home stadium?

Is it the home fixture or the away fixture that most benefits the smaller team? In the FA Cup, for most of the early rounds, the ticket revenue is split equally between both teams. To my mind, this implies that Compton Pauncefoot Rovers would get far more money from their away match at the massive stadium than the home game at the tiny one.

[David Williams]

Could the same not happen anyway in the non-replay? How do they decide where to have the first match? Couldn't that be at Compton Pauncefoot Rovers' home stadium?

Is it the home fixture or the away fixture that most benefits the smaller team? In the FA Cup, for most of the early rounds, the ticket revenue is split equally between both teams. To my mind, this implies that Compton Pauncefoot Rovers would get far more money from their away match at the massive stadium than the home game at the tiny one.

I think the revenuse is split three ways, one third going to a pool which is shared by all the clubs. Switching venues has been banned for ages, because it enables the biggest clubs to avoid difficult away games. Not just for Compton Pauncefoot Rovers. If the likes of Luton or Bournemouth were worrying about Financial Fair Play a windfall away game at Manchester United might be a godsend.

[Mark James]

In the League of Ireland, sometimes the lower teams don't have a suitable pitch for a so called glamour tie and they will play the game in the bigger team's ground but will still be designated as the home team.

[Gavin Chipper]

Anyway I think this conversation has gone very differently here than most other places. Quite a lot of football fans are up in arms about it from what I've seen.

[Ian Volante]

I'm still pissed off that they got rid of multiple replays. Trying and failing to remember whether a second replay was played at a neutral venue or not. I know it was in the Rugby League Cup.

[Paul Worsley]

I'm still pissed off that they got rid of multiple replays. Trying and failing to remember whether a second replay was played at a neutral venue or not. I know it was in the Rugby League Cup.

Second replays were always at a neutral venue.

Settling the tie on the day is actually advantageous to the lower placed teams, as the penalty shoot out is always a lottery. Under the new system I would suggest that it will be more likely that a League 2 or non-league side will progress to Round 3, when the Premiership clubs come in.

I'm not saying I prefer the new proposals. It's just something to consider.

[Fiona T]

I'm still pissed off that they got rid of multiple replays. Trying and failing to remember whether a second replay was played at a neutral venue or not. I know it was in the Rugby League Cup.

Second replays were always at a neutral venue.

Settling the tie on the day is actually advantageous to the lower placed teams, as the penalty shoot out is always a lottery. Under the new system I would suggest that it will be more likely that a League 2 or non-league side will progress to Round 3, when the Premiership clubs come in.

I'm not saying I prefer the new proposals. It's just something to consider.

The crucial conundrum of football

[Marc Meakin]

I'm still pissed off that they got rid of multiple replays. Trying and failing to remember whether a second replay was played at a neutral venue or not. I know it was in the Rugby League Cup.

I think the record number of FA Cup replays was 6 in the early 70s
I vaguely remember Oxford City was one of the teams

[Marc Meakin]

I'm still pissed off that they got rid of multiple replays. Trying and failing to remember whether a second replay was played at a neutral venue or not. I know it was in the Rugby League Cup.

Second replays were always at a neutral venue.

Settling the tie on the day is actually advantageous to the lower placed teams, as the penalty shoot out is always a lottery. Under the new system I would suggest that it will be more likely that a League 2 or non-league side will progress to Round 3, when the Premiership clubs come in.

I'm not saying I prefer the new proposals. It's just something to consider.
I think what is wrong is that smaller clubs suffer as
only elite clubs ie those in European competitions will benefit

[David Williams]

Second replays were always at a neutral venue.

I remember well that there was a time when either club could elect that the venue was decided by a coin toss.

Liverpool were drawn away at Luton at the time they had their infamous plastic pitch and total ban on away fans. The game was a draw. Liverpool were already pissed off by none of their fans being allowed at the first game, and Luton then insisting on their full allocation at Anfield. Luton then failed to turn up because their plane was snowed in at Heathrow, despite most of their fans making it to a balmy Liverpool by driving up the snow-free M1 and M6. When the game was eventually played it was another draw. Despite Liverpool offering to play the second replay at Watford, close to Luton but available to both sets of fans, Luton insisted on a coin toss, which they won. Which paid off handsomely with a 3-0 win.

[Gavin Chipper]

How does the tournament proceed with multiple replays for a single game going on?

"Sorry guys. Next round has been postponed by a month while we wait for several teams to play their fourth replays. Don't worry though - we've scheduled the final for the same date as next year's final to save on travel. But next year's final is unlikely to ultimately happen next year obviously."

[David Williams]

In those days there was nothing like as much mid-week football as there is now. Fewer European games, fewer internationals. Replays were the middle of the week following the first game, and if necessary they could even play three games in a week. What really killed multiple replays was the police insisting on a full week's notice of any game, so there was only time for one replay if you were to have a round of the Cup every three weeks.