FA Cup third-round replays: Examining the arguments for and against

Premier League clubs only entered the FA Cup last weekend and the topic of third round replays is proving controversial.

Another game has been added to the schedules of seven top-flight clubs after they played out draws in the third round. And it is all too predictable that the managers of some of those teams will not let us forget about it.

Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Nuno Espirito Santo of Nottingham Forest denounced the unthinkable prospect of playing an extra match after failing to win ties heavily stacked in their favour last weekend.

Fortunately, three of their Premier League peers — Sean Dyche, David Moyes and Gary O’Neil — had a more refreshing outlook, despite suffering the same disruption to the mini winter break.

If nothing else, it has recycled the same discussion that always crops up at this time of year.

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So, why are FA Cup replays still played?

Replays are used to settle ties in each qualifying stage and in the first four rounds of the competition proper. In the fifth round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, games that end in a draw are settled using a 30-minute extra-time period and a penalty shootout.

Replays have been scrapped from the fifth round onwards — when only 16 teams remain — to ease the fixture congestion for the top teams as, by that stage, it is unlikely any lower-league sides will be left in the draw.

It is those so-called ‘lesser’ teams that profit most from the inclusion of replays until the fourth round. The prospect of a non-League club drawing with a Championship or Premier League team is huge for their finances, especially if the ensuing replay is broadcast on TV.

Maidstone United are the lowest-ranked team in the fourth round of this season’s FA Cup as a member of the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. That run has netted them £231,375 in prize money alone which, when added to money made at the games themselves, will provide a huge financial boost.

Meanwhile, one of the rewards for the winner of the third-round replay between fifth-tier Eastleigh and fourth-tier Newport County is the chance to host Manchester United in the fourth round. That tie has been selected for television coverage which will bring another revenue boost for one of the competition’s lower ranked sides.

A draw in that game for Eastleigh or Newport would give them a replay at Old Trafford. That result would be of much less importance if that opportunity — and the money that comes with it — was taken away from them in favour of extra time and penalties after 90 minutes.

Have replays been scrapped before?

Initially, replays were used at every stage of the FA Cup, even the final. One of the early competition rules stated that each drawn tie would have to be decided by a replay.

And that is how it stayed for over 100 years until, in 1998, it was decided that drawn finals would go to extra time and penalties because of a potential clash between a replay and the European Cup final.

A year later, the same decision was made regarding semi-finals and the regression has continued since. Quarter-final replays were scrapped for the 2016-17 campaign and fifth-round replays followed suit a couple of years after.

So far, third and fourth rounds have been unaffected, although pressure continues to build on the FA to scrap them as well. They were temporarily removed during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns because of fixture congestion caused by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but returned last season.

What could be the alternative to replays?

That is the question often posed to managers who complain about replays. Finding an answer that suits everyone is not easy.

While it is the big clubs that usually lift the trophy, lower-league clubs make up the fabric of the competition and they must be consulted on major decisions. They would be highly unlikely to accept a move to scrap replays, unless they were going to be finanically compensated.

For ties where both teams would rather avoid a replay, there is one common suggestion that could work in the future.

That suggestion involves both teams agreeing, before the match, that the game will go to extra time and penalties in the event of a draw at full time. So, teams could avoid the prospect of an extra match, permitting supporters have been given sufficient awareness so as not to adversely affect their travel plans.

But that is purely hypothetical. The alternative to a replay is, of course, just winning the match in the first place.

FA Cup third-round replay schedule

Tuesday 16 January

• Wolves vs Brentford
• Bolton vs Luton Town
• Birmingham vs Hull City
• Eastleigh vs Newport County
• Bristol City vs West Ham United

Wednesday 17 January

• Blackpool vs Nottingham Forest
• Bristol Rovers vs Norwich City
• Everton vs Crystal Palace

(Top photo: Henry Browne/Getty Images)