Use this thread for general daily football discussion.
This thread can also be used to discuss Transfer rumours and to post Tier 4 sources.
Use this thread for general daily football discussion.
This thread can also be used to discuss Transfer rumours and to post Tier 4 sources.
How is this even going to work?
they’re genuinely just ruining the oldest fucking competition in the world. if we had any spine we’d stand against it, but the board won’t because it benefits us.
NB: this reply really wasn’t meant to be this long. It’s predicated on some pretty bold assumptions, but boils down to - if the changes are only being made so the FA can make more money then I completely agree with you.
Removing first round replays eliminates so much fixture congestion for so many teams. Not just the teams that have to play the replay, but also their opponents in any league matches which are rescheduled.
If I’m reading correctly, it seems that getting rid of midweek fixtures will only increase the profile and viewership of the competition, which is great from a preservation standpoint and makes sense economically.
Moving the final to prior to the last day also means the teams in the final don’t lose a week from their offseason. The winner, then getting to play in the community shield, is effectively losing 2+ weeks of rest for players who are being asked to play more games than ever across all competitions.
I don’t think change should be made to such a historic competition for it’s own sake, but if the above is how they’ve landed on this decision I think it’s only positive. Put simply, I don’t think the FA can continue to allow the situation where any club in the top ten of the premier league is playing 3 games a week for 3 months of the season. The solutions that can be controlled from within England are pretty limited.
I think the lower league clubs lose out on some revenue and though in the proposal there’s more funds allocated for “development” of the sport, it’s not a guarantee for them. On one hand less congestion is good but on the other hand there needs to be more transparency on and actually having funds trickle down the pyramid. EPL actually should not even participate in the EFL cup anymore to be honest, allow lower league teams to win it.
Interesting point that EPL clubs shouldn’t be in the EFL cup. On one hand I agree, because it’s the EFL cup. But I think the EFL trophy is already serving that purpose. The EFL cup is more opportunities for the same revenue you and @Astrealix have called out as a benefit of the FA cup current format. Maybe the answer is reducing the unplanned impact (I all of a sudden have to play a replay) but making the lower rounds more robust, doing something to ensure that there are no EPL vs EPL matchups up to round X of both the EFL and FA Cup. I don’t know if that’s feasible or desirable, and the flipside is it probably entrenches the “better” teams because it eliminates the possibility of a smaller team getting to the QF or SF with a lucky draw.
The real solution is to dismantle the corporate system that demands unlimited growth of all of these entities so that UEFA doesn’t need to keep adding to the comp to make more money.
Given they didn’t even ask the EFL clubs, I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt tbh. Personally I think you just do what France did and scrap the EFL cup. I think replays are such a historically English thing that’s so rare anywhere else (if it even exists tbh idk) that getting rid of them is a massive shame, and replays have gotten so much good stuff for clubs who earn them. The gate receipts from playing a club with a massive stadium can massively benefit a club, and has saved clubs from bankruptcy before.
Yeah I pretty much agree with you on principle. The FA can’t force the EFL to scrap the cup though. At the end of the day, an action needs to be taken. Agree with the other reply to my comment that it’d all be a moot point if there was transparency over where the “development money” goes.
Surely the FA could soft pressure the EFL into getting rid of the cup and giving a bunch of money down the leagues instead which would be much better for everyone involved.
I’d argue taking all of the EFL money away, rather than just taking replays out of the FA cup, is a much more drastic measures seeing as it impacts all eligible teams rather than just those unlucky enough to get a draw in certain rounfs
emphasis on that second part. You don’t need to use the EFL Cup to give them the money which already exists in the PL. PL wants less matches, so they can pay for it.
Like, if you’re getting rid of them, then you better give a lot more money to the lower leagues, at minimum. Especially considering the mess that is the Championship thanks to PL money.