LONDON (AFP) – The English Football Association (FA) announced on April 18 that FA Cup replays will be abolished at all rounds from next season as part of an agreement with the Premier League.

FA Cup replays had already been scrapped from the fifth round onwards and the FA explained that the agreement to eliminate replays from the first round onwards had been reached “after taking into account changes to the calendar resulting from the expansion of UEFA’s competitions”.

The UEFA Champions League will add 64 matches from next season, putting an increased strain on domestic league schedules, while the FIFA Club World Cup will expand to 32 teams from 2025.

But the English Football League (EFL), which oversees the second, third and fourth divisions, said it would seek compensation, describing the abolition of replays – a vital source of revenue for lower-ranked clubs playing against top-flight sides – as “frustrating and disappointing”.

The FA said all rounds of the FA Cup will be played over weekends, meaning there will be no Premier League matches on the weekends during which the fourth and fifth rounds and quarter-finals are scheduled.

In the FA Cup, third and fourth division clubs will join from the first round, while Premier League and Championship League (second division) clubs will join from the third round.

The qualifying rounds for clubs in the fifth division and below will still involve replays.