Kickbacks are an FA Cup tradition. A knockout game ending in a draw after 90 minutes? After that, the away team only won the right to hold the rematch at a later date.
COVID-19 is delaying that tradition, at least for a few rounds between 2021-2022.
With the COVID-19 omicron variant causing fixture chaos across England, forcing clubs to postpone and allow clubs to play more games in a shorter amount of time, the Football Association England, which hosts the FA Cup, has decided to remove the replays from Round 3 and Round 4 in order not to further stress the schedule.
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What if FA Cup matches end in a draw?
The English Football Federation (FA) announced At the end of December 2021, the replays of Round 3 and Round 4 will be dropped for this year’s competition, to avoid further straining the English schedule.
Instead, extra time and penalty shootouts (if necessary) will be used to determine the winner of those matches, giving the club a decisive advantage in the draw to host the knockout match.
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There have been 14 replays in Round 1 and Round 2 of the competition involving lower tier clubs. But with the FA’s decision, there will be no rematch for the remainder of the tournament with the quarter-finals (Round 5, March 19-20), semi-finals (April 23-24) and final (14 May) has been replayed for free for the last few years.
Replays for the semi-finals were made beginning in 1999-2000, and since the 2007-2008 season they have been played on consecutive weekends at London’s Wembley Stadium. In the quarterfinals of 2016-2017, replays were also deleted.
The FA announcement makes it clear that replays will return for the 3rd and 4th rounds of the 2022-2023 competition, although any lingering effects of COVID-19 could clearly prompt your consideration. a similar move.
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“This particular decision was approved by the FA Council on Friday 17 December and has been taken in the broader interest of English football to ease the possibility of fixture congestion following numerous postponements. in recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to COVID-19,” the FA statement read.
total 17 Premier League matches have been postponed, while many others in English football’s top four divisions have been pushed. The EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) was also affected, with the Liverpool-Arsenal series being rescheduled. Each match was set aside for COVID-19 issues leaving another needed to fit the later schedule, raising concerns about the number of games being put together in a short period of time. .
What is an FA Cup replay?
Unique in the FA Cup is the replay concept.
In most knockout tournaments around the world, every match needs to have a winner, as one team must be eliminated and one team must advance. Extra time and, if necessary, penalty kicks are often used to break ties after 90 minutes. However, some leagues around the world switched to penalty kicks.
In the FA Cup, historically, things have played out a little differently. In the event of a tie after 90 minutes in Round 1 to Round 4, the match will be over and the match is scheduled to be replayed at the away team’s home ground at a later date, when the two teams will play. another 90 minutes. If that match also ends in a draw, only then will extra time and penalties be awarded.
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This concept, which has existed since the competition began in 1871, was initially valid for all rounds, including the final. As recently as the 1990s, there were no penalty shootouts in the competition, meaning teams would play as many turns as needed to find a winner. The final match was last played in 1993.
After excluding replays for the 1999-2000 semi-finals, the competition organizers then also made it for the quarter-finals starting 2016-17, citing schedule congestion. That leaves replays only in the event of a Round 1 to Round 4 relationship. These replays have the potential to benefit lower tier clubs that could benefit financially from the replay. hosting a rival in the Premier League.
Premier League clubs enter the competition in the third round, so there are normally only two rounds where Premier League clubs could theoretically be forced to replay although that won’t happen in 2021. -22 at the discretion of the FA.
