FA Cup Replays to Be Scrapped from First Round Onwards in 2024-25

• Replays were initially used at every stage of the FA Cup, including the final, until 1998. The decision to move away from replays for drawn finals and semi-finals was made to avoid scheduling conflicts with the European Cup final. Quarter-final replays were scrapped in 2016-17, followed by fifth-round replays a couple of years later. Third and fourth rounds have been unaffected, but pressure to scrap them has persisted.

• Replays were temporarily removed during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons due to fixture congestion caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. They returned last season, but their future is uncertain.

• The decision to scrap replays from the first round onwards in the 2024-25 season is influenced by the need to accommodate a growing number of competitions and the introduction of new international windows. The Champions League’s revised group stage, additional midweek Premier League games, and the Club World Cup in 2025 are among the factors contributing to the squeeze on available slots for replays.

The English Football Association (FA) has announced a significant restructuring of the FA Cup for the 2024-25 season, scrapping replays from the first round onwards. This move is part of a six-year agreement with the Premier League aimed at strengthening the domestic competition and addressing fixture congestion. The decision to eliminate replays from the first round proper to the fourth-round stage is designed to ease fixture congestion, with replays from the fifth-round stage onwards already removed by the FA in 2018.

The 2025 FA Cup final will be played on the Saturday of the weekend of the Premier League’s matchday 37, which is the penultimate round of fixtures. This change ensures that league fixtures are not played on the Friday night or Saturday, providing exclusivity to the FA Cup final. The final will take place at Wembley Stadium, six days after the final round of matches in the Premier League season.

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The semi-final stage will occur over the weekend of April 20-21, with current holders Manchester City facing Chelsea on Saturday and Manchester United playing Championship side Coventry City on the following day, both matches at Wembley. This season’s final will be the first since 2013 to be staged following the conclusion of the Premier League season.

The removal of replays from the first round onwards is expected to have a significant impact on lower division clubs, which have traditionally benefited from replays. These matches provided financial incentives to clubs with smaller budgets, with third and fourth-round replays earning competing clubs £40,000 and £55,000 respectively, and gate receipts being shared equally between competing clubs.

The FA Cup matches, excluding replays in earlier rounds, will now be exclusively played at weekends. This change reverts the fifth round of the competition, which has been played in midweek since the 2020-21 campaign, back to a weekend slot.

The decision to scrap replays and restructure the FA Cup is part of a broader effort to enhance the scheduling of the competition and protect its status as a significant domestic event. The FA and the Premier League have worked together to deliver more exclusive weekends without compromising the excitement of knockout football. This restructuring also aligns with the removal of the mid-season break from the Premier League calendar to allow for a mid-August start date, providing a longer close-season break for players.

The FA Cup restructuring is part of a larger initiative to support grassroots football, with the Premier League announcing an increase in funding to the football pyramid, adding an additional £33 million for grassroots football on top of the £100 million it currently provides to good causes each season.