EFL accuses FA and Premier League of 'marginalising' clubs after FA Cup replay decision

In a significant move, the elimination of FA Cup replays has been pinpointed as another instance of EFL being 'marginalised', according to the league themselves. The Football Association broke the news on Thursday that they had achieved an agreement with the Premier League on the new format and funding for the competition, which would neglect all replays from the first round onwards.

Numerous EFL clubs have voiced their criticism of the changes and firmly stated that they were not consulted in the decision-making process. The FA responded in a statement saying it recognised these concerns, providing assurance that they'd disclose information on how any loss in replay revenue might be compensated.

However, the EFL argued that this situation is merely the most recent example of the league and its clubs being pushed aside, with Premier League clubs also deciding to put a stop to discussions over a new financial agreement with the EFL.

On Friday afternoon, the EFL made a statement: "This latest agreement between the Premier League and the FA, in the absence of financial reform, is just a further example of how the EFL and its clubs are being marginalised in favour of others further up the pyramid and that only serves to threaten the future of the English game,".

"The EFL today calls on both the Premier League and the FA, as the governing body, to re-evaluate their approach to their footballing partnership with the EFL and engage more collaboratively on issues directly affecting our clubs."

On Friday, the FA defended their decision to overhaul the FA Cup regulations which will see the replays scrapped after the First Round Proper. In a statement, they said: "We have listened to the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and would like to outline the approval process which was undertaken for the 2024-25 professional game football calendar.

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"We have been discussing the calendar for the 2024-25 season with the Premier League and EFL for well over a year. "Removing Emirates FA Cup replays was discussed in the early meetings and all parties accepted that they could not continue.

"The discussions then focused on how to make all of our competitions stronger, despite having fewer dates available and wanting to maintain player welfare. The changes to the Emirates FA Cup achieve this by returning it to a weekend competition on every round, and ensuring that we have exclusive broadcast slots in an increasingly congested calendar.

"To clarify, we have also increased the number of Emirates FA Cup matches that will be broadcast in the early rounds, which will lead to additional guaranteed broadcast revenue for EFL and National League teams. Additionally, we review the prize money annually for the competition, together with representatives from the EFL and PL and will do the same for the 2024-25 season.

"The calendar for next season was approved by the Professional Game Board, which consists of four EFL representatives and four Premier League representatives, last month, and then by the FA Board, which includes Premier League, EFL, National Game and grassroots representation. This is the process we undergo every year to approve the calendar.

"We understand the concerns expressed over the last 24 hours, and we will be sharing more details with clubs very shortly to explain the additional revenue opportunities in the early rounds. We will keep this under review as the new calendar begins to ensure that EFL and National League clubs do not lose out."