EFL make FA Cup plea statement as Daniel Farke acknowledges replay benefits

The decision to scrap FA Cup replays is more evidence that the EFL and its clubs are being "marginalised", the league has said. The Football Association (FA) announced that it had reached an agreement with the Premier League on the future format and funding of the competition, which would see all replays from the first round abolished.

A number of EFL clubs have criticised the changes and have said they were not consulted. The FA released a statement on Friday saying that it understood these concerns and would share details about how any shortfall in lost replay revenue would be made up.

However, the EFL insisted that this was just the most recent example of how the league and its clubs are being sidelined. The Premier League clubs have also decided to stop discussions about a new financial settlement with the EFL.

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"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 said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

"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."

Leeds United managed Daniel Farke was reluctant to be drawn on the issue, although admitted he has seen the benefits of replays first-hand.

"I try to concentrate on what I can influence and do not comment too much on decisions," he said. "Leave it to the authorities. As a manager, you can be concerned about too many games, but it depends on the situation. Normally, I would rather play games than train. I am far away from punishing replays.

"In my first position here in England, for Norwich, there was big pressure to bring in money in to survive. We had good cup runs, with a big tie against Chelsea, got a replay and needed the money from that. It really helped the club keep going forward. It's beneficial for smaller clubs to present bigger clubs in home games to their supporters."