FA Cup replays to become a relic of the past

FA Cup replays have been scrapped from next season, the Football Association has announced.

The move to abolish all replays from the first round proper onwards is part of a new agreement between the FA and the Premier League which will see up to an extra £33m going to grassroots football in Englans from the top flight each season.

The FA had already scrapped replays from the fifth round onwards and said the move to ditch them altogether had been agreed "in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded UEFA competitions".

The FA said all rounds would now be played at the weekend, with the fifth phase having moved to midweek for the last five seasons.

The FA said the final will now be played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, on a Saturday with no top-flight matches taking place on the same day.

From next season the Champions League will feature an extra 64 games, creating increased pressure on the domestic calendar.

The FA said that under the new format, the fourth round, fifth round and quarter-finals would all be exclusive of Premier League fixtures for the first time, while the fourth round will be played across an "extended window" from Friday to the following Wednesday.

The FA said the deal will provide up to £133m per season in funding to the football pyramid from 2025-26.

The first year of the format forms part of the overall calendar which has been given the approval of the Professional Game Board, which features representatives from the FA, the Premier League and the EFL.

The mid-season break has been removed from the calendar to allow a mid-August start date for the Premier League for 2024-25, with the longer break affording top-flight clubs a better chance of giving players a consecutive