Huge FA Cup Drama 

The CEO of my club, Bolton, found out about it when it was announced on BBC News. Yet they claim "all parties agreed"

new lightless dlc pack dropped

"The digger you deep." - Zealand

It feels like this problem could be solved mostly by the system that they use in the early rounds of the Swedish Cup. Home field is given to the lower division club and the bigger team has the ability to buy home field from their opponent. Gate revenues are shared 50/50 no matter which stadium the game is played at.

I too, enjoy a Digger Deep on various issues and stories.

"you'll be watching this on the 19th" me on the 20th in austria:

Got to think of the trickle down money for other business when a replay happens. Hotels, restaurants, public transport for smaller teams will get a boost when a large club comes to town.

So, I spoke to a friend of mine who works for a club (I won't say who for obvious reasons) and it was explained to me like this. Please bear in mind I haven't done my own research to validate this: The PGB is meant to keep the Rules of the Game consistent across the different levels of the game whilst working within the differing demands of different levels of the game. It has discussed things like how VAR should be implemented. The FA has seemingly tried to bypass the FA Cup Committee - who are meant to govern things like prize money and the competition calendar - by saying that the replay decision is a rules change and not a calendar change and putting it through the PGB. The PGB is more of an advisory group than a negotiation group like the FA Cup Committee so, if this is true, it's somewhat cynical from the FA as they knew they'd get a more favourable outcome this way.

Replays have brought some of the best footballing memories for plenty of lower league fans. It doesn't even have to be getting a replay against a PL team. My team Stockport County; when we were in the national league drew away at Bolton (League One). In the replay we were 2-0 down within 5 mins and 3-1 down at HT. We went on to win the game 5-3 in extra time and have created memories for life for thousands of County fans. Losing games like that would be losing some of the romance of the game!

the digger you deep, the holer the large will get.

Zealand: How about no lights at all? Internet: Thanks, I hate it.

this isn't the first that EFL didn't protect lower league club interest as it's happened before with Leicester drama and push the club fight against PL alone in court. (this PL argument really similar between those two scandals too even at least EFL need to defense their authority and interest of the club under them.)

As a German who loves the DFB Pokal I always found the replays incredibly stupid. If a lower League Team manages to draw at home against, say United, sure they get to play another Game at the Old Trafford but away at a Stadium like that it's also way harder to win. That just favors the big Clubs way to much imo. A run like the one we've seen from Saarbrücken or Kaiserslautern this year in the DFB Pokal may not have been possible (I don't have every result of theirs memorised, no idea if they ever went into Extra Time, but you catch my drift) if we had replays here.

Few things ontop is that the media exposure for these lower league clubs can't be understated. Look at Maidstone this year, how many people knew about them or what their badge looked like before this year? Potentially it could increase their supporter count for the next couple of seasons etc. Aswell as making memories. A lower league team holding a big boy team at home and then going away, those fans (particulary the kids), will never forget that experience of going to say Old Trafford, it inspires them. As a Coventry fan, I hate that they are tinkering with it. The fact that no club below the prem got any say in the matter is horrific. Plus most of the teams in the prem will use a second string to play the first few matches anyway until they get to the later rounds.

green lights or nothing!!!

Those 3rd and 4th round replay games were huge in eafc rebuilds. Squeaking out a cheeky tie so you could play that harder team in your stadium made the FA Cup special.

I'll be honest, I didn't know the Premier League wasn't fully a part of the pyramid. If there is anything that exemplifies some of the issues people have had with football, lately, it's that it's increasingly a money sport, rather than a people sport. And it's currently the money that is making the changes, not the people.

I prefer the blue one. Just make it Blue and Orange for that extra youtube influencer flavour.

Let the record state: Zealand, NOT a BBQC.

It's a really difficult thing because fixture congestion is a massive problem, but it shouldn't be the case that 20 teams make the decisions for everyone else. That said, if The FA says no to the Prem, and so Prem teams decide to break away (which is exactly how the Prem was born to begin with between the top division and the rest of the EFL) - then that would be absolutely financially disastrous for the rest of the pyramid because the vast majority of the funding for those teams will disappear.

Ze this will rumble on and on. Clubs are not having it and almost every single non-premier league team seems to be wholly against the changes. It's against the will of the fans and clubs, this one might get messy (a-la bundesliga protests about foreign investments).

I mean this is probably good for fixture congestion, especially in my FM save.

Fa cup replays always been part of the competition and yes the consulting is a big thing so are the replays don’t downplay the replays Fa cup replays are loved by so many and it dilutes the competition more

Wouldn't you rather only have to go through extra time + pens than have to through another 90 to get to the next round. I feel like you've got a better chance of going through and making money without replays. I can't think of any other competition with replays... probably for a reason.

0:24 “we’re moving in a couple of weeks” WE?

Make the Z light up green with nothing else

Always with replays don’t be shit and you don’t have to have a replay

I agree with you. If there wasn’t enough consulting, that is shady but generally I am in favor of scrapping replays, they always felt weird to me. But if the Premier League is so concerned about fixture congestion they should focus on other things too like the two legged semifinal of the league cup or the ever increasing match load of Fifa and Uefa matches due to their race to crank more money out of football

the ironic thing is that more lower league teams might make more upsets, because instead of draws that get replayed into a stomp for epl and championship teams, overtime and shootouts can create miracle runs

It’s always interesting to see things that aren’t a problem for other countries be a problem for England. Whether it be VAR, match congestion, etc

Coming from an Oldham Athletic supporter. In 2013/14, we had to play first and second round replays but our reward, a trip to Anfield. I will forever remember that day being able to see my team in one of the biggest stadiums in the world. But had this happened now, I would've potentially never been able to go and watch them at Anfield as we were so reliant on replays that year. Furthermore, the club (financially) was in a really sorry state so getting the ticket revenue from the Liverpool game literally helped us stay afloat for another year. Fans of the top 6 will *never* understand what it means.

Back when my club Burton Albion was non-league we got drawn at home Vs Fergie's Man U and the players put in the performance of a lifetime to draw them 0-0. They got absolutely hammered in the replay but the gate receipts from Old Trafford funded a push into the football league that ended in us getting to the championship for a couple of seasons before levelling out in league 1. The fact they're taking that opportunity away from smaller clubs so that prem clubs, who spend hundreds of millions on squad depth every season, don't have to potentially play a couple of extra games a season just shows how little they value clubs sub championship

That’s my chairman, Mcanthony also spoke about it on his podcast

What I will say, as a manager of an amateur team not part of the football pyramid, is that the FA is the most disorganised and horrific organisation to deal with. The FA managed to mess up my DBS (for non English people, essentially a criminal record check to show I am safe to work with children), storing it on a duplicate account so that their records showed that I did not have one, yet the system still allowed me to register under 18 players to my senior team. This caused big issues later down the line when I played said players in matches, and only when I went to record the match information AFTER THE GAME did the system complain. But it didn't say what the issue was, it just didn't allow me to add them to the teamsheet. The real problem is how many other managers have also registered under 18 players but did not have a valid criminal record check, but were still allowed to do so by the FA. And, by the way, this is not the 90s we're talking about when safeguarding wasn't as big of an issue as it should have been, this was the start of last season (2022/23). Other issues I've had with the FA: When trying to sign new players, the system telling me I have to approach a non-existent club for a transfer (team name is blank) Some players not being eligible for selection online for a week after their registration has been approved by the league Acknowledging sin bin offences is a nightmare (yellow and red cards are OK because when you pay the fine for them, it automatically acknowledges the offence for you without you having to do anything, but sin bins carry no fine so you can't do that). I genuinely print and hand sign sin bin acknowledgements and post them to the local FA because it's easier than using the FA system. It's only not easier when the post loses your letter and then you're fucked. When registering for the first time, there is nowhere to enter your gender, yet the system will not allow you to register a player without a gender assigned. Once you've created one, the place to edit it is in a dark corner of the website that takes ages to find. I can see that a player I'm trying to register has no assigned gender on the system, yet up until about a year ago, only the account owner could add their own gender on the system. Fortunately, about a year ago, they allowed the manager to be able to edit the gender of their players, so I no longer have to ask new players to find the most random corner of the website. Similar to above, when creating an account, I can't remember if it was the mobile number or email but at least one of them was listed as optional, yet you can't register a player without it (I think it might be the email but I'm not certain). Anyway, rant over, the FA are useless and the "board of representatives" was probably a bunch of 5 year olds and a paedophile.

Zealand. Why aren’t you running? WHY ARENT YOU RUNNING????

I remember when my local club dover athletic went through to the third round against Crystal Palace, we got absolutely battered but it was the longest run we ever had in the FA Cup

Why do the Prem teams get a say in Rounds 1 & 2? They don't get involved until Round 3! If the Prem actually cares about having fewer matches, it would reduce its *own* schedule. What they care about is money and they don't see the FA Cup as profitable until the later stages and they want to reduce chances of getting kicked out early...

I think i prefer the lightless to the blue however when you move that beautiful green needs to come back! after watching the video I have no idea which I prefer blue or lightless

Games should be seeded spanish style and played at whichever stadium would generate more revenue for the smaller club, providing both TV money and greater front office revenue.

'strengthen the FA Cup' 🤣🤣

How is this guy able to make such simple, good videos in such short time?

Thanks for fleshing this issue out. I feel like it's a shame ? I'd have been more amenable to a gradual - 4th round, 3rd round leave it at that. To give the 3rd round the hallowed position of being "the glory of the cup round" No VAR. No extra time. The dream of the replay - back at ours or the big away day at the likes of Old Trafford or Tottenham or the Bridge or Anfield... Or even like the Stadium of Light or something. Maybe the Championship / L1 teams - with all of their 20,000 plus attendance stadium owning teams.... They could be leading the charge for some kind of compromise for the non league teams you refer to here. But they're all out for themselves I fear.

Pep has not just ruined the game, he has completely destroyed the oldest and greatest cup competition

bro is the yap master

Ah yes, The digger you deep.

The choices as I see it is screw over the clubs or screw over the players, which in turn will screw over clubs

late commenter here, FNG made a very good video on this topic aswell that you should definitely check out and he goes into detail about why the fa cup replays are so good for non league teams and why this decision is kind of stupid.

I love a good ole fashioned 1773 joke Ze, keep it up.

So proud of my club Peterborough releasing a statement against this

Penguinz0 ahh title and thumbnail

The EFL is too conjested,Colchester united had 42 matches played (out of 46) My club,FGR had 44,and we are relegated now,which is a robbery,because Colchester had double the chances to survive,I also saw the same situation in national league,idk which team litterally had to play tuesday-thursday-saturday which is crazy

As if fans have a say in England 😂. FA see dollar signs walking around when they look at fans. They’ve marketed themselves so well internationally they don’t need English fan support, you think English fans can successfully protest about anything? They don’t own their clubs for god sake

The answer is for the Premier League clubs to leave the Carabao Cup

What’s the story on the plush frog?

Need green lights, helps me to differentiate which z I’m watching lol

Me watching this from Scotland with no clue what the fuck is going on

Don't ascribe to malice what you can also ascribe to ignorance. I think that the EPL just doesn't get the value of gate receipts for those lower league clubs because they have no idea about the value of money anymore. Also, I'd argue that depending on the distribution of that 33 million, lower league clubs might just get a better deal out of it anyway.

A Dortmund Shirt and blue lights?! That audacity :o

Learning that the FA cup participation is a significant Financial boost to every lower English Club actually makes it even more clear as to why the US Open Cup is unpopular. MLS teams (and other divisions) benefit SO little from the USOC, so they don't take it seriously, and fans get a piss-poor show on the field. Cycle of failure. Don't see why fans want MLS to compete in it if they don't show up anyway.

I think you are a bit off at the end. The writing does not seem to indicate incompetence on the part of the representatives, but that they were basically told to fuck off. The FA did not involve the proper bodies and when they involved EFL representatives, these were only there as a formality and could not actually change anything about the decision the FA was going to make.

damn i thought PGB stands for Per Game Berformance

they should do what the german cup does, while they dont do replays i beleive its up till the 4th round all the games are played at the lower leauge clubs stadium

To say "You dont want to become Premier league vs the rest of the English football pyramid" as an efl fan that's they way it has felt to a long time now

I'm fairly sure the EFL reps were largely made up of CEOs/directors from championship clubs. I'm led to believe Peter Ridsdale who is a director at my club Preston North End is part of that. He is famous for his part in the downfall of Leeds in the mid 00s so I've no doubt he'd be part of the select committee who are at clubs who'd be largely unaffected by this or comfortable with screwing over smaller clubs

I'm not really bothered that replays have gone. But I am bothered that decisions are being made without any say from the clubs that this decision will effect the most.

20 minute long video? Blessed

It's already at the stage where many fans are saying things like "I don't want us to get promoted" because the gap between the EFL and the Premier League is continuing to widen and you now have to bankrupt yourself to compete or have a season like Sheffield United and Burnley are having. No one wants to go up when the best you can hope for is a season like Luton's (who are only still in with half a shout due to everyone around them getting points deductions) Why would we want to get promoted? Why do we want a season in whcih we'll lose almost every game and come straight back down?

I like the lighting Edit: I like the blue lighting a little better

Why don't they just seed the third round? give the smaller clubs the best chance of getting a big payday and the chance of an upset. It would also reduce the chance of replays.

The Prem has all the money. Makes the rules in their favor. Anyone expecting anything else is fooling themselves. The corporate owners don't care about football or traditions.

I see no issues here. The replays are a nuisance. Now it’s a true knock out tournament.

Grey is legitimately depressing Please bring back the blue lights

It takes an American to help us brits understand a bit more about the situation. Can I nominate Zealand Shannon as an independent adjudicator for any and all decisions made for multiple clubs within the British game, not just English, but Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish games.

"he shed c sad"

Oh no Zealand wore a BvB shirt hes gonna jinx their next game GG :(

You had lights?

yeah that's crazy, anyway have you ran today Z?

I don’t think that the English football leagues need to fear anything like what the Bundesliga got slapped with, but still… it’s a giant insult to the fans of even the premier league clubs

green jerseys only until the green lights are back

Wasn’t even the 20 biggest clubs, there are bigger clubs in league 1 than some prem clubs

Having been a civil servant for a decade now, I can say that the word “advised” tends to be used as a softer substitute for instructed or informed, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the EFL representatives were given little to no say in the matter. That said, I wasn’t there, and it’s one organisations word against the other here. It’ll be very interesting to see what other information comes to light over the coming days and weeks.

Green lights please Zealand. Nice and easy to recognise which is mainstream Zealand and which is side quest Zealand

like for my guy: my Guy: "harry kane!"

The top 20 clubs want all the money to themselves

THE FA CUUUUUUUUUUUUUP 🎶🎵

Honestly, if you’re going to go lightless I don’t want it.

if they did this to lighten the schedule of PL team, then they are overdoing it IIRC PL team only start playing in the third round of the FA Cup no?

How often do replays happen?

Zealand missing the point + basic critical thinking skills on this one. “You’re not gonna catch me siding with the PL it’s a money grab”, then does so

ffs remove the league cup, if you wanna get rid of fixture congestion. no one except the british keeps the league cups around (with exception of some off season ones, where teams don't play enough). The main reason of the national cups is to be a FFA. And even if most countries don't do replays, they have 2 leg matches or home advantage to the lower team which spices things up like the DFB Pokal or Coupe de France which are the best cups out of the big 5. Just look at what Saarbrucken did the past couple of years.

Why aren't you running?

GREEN!!

Sorry but did you say the Premier League claims to be the most balanced competitive top league going? That says a lot about the state of modern football if that is correct! The establishment of the big 6 has made breaking ground in English football almost impossible (minus Leicester of course). Look at any English league table pre 1992 and the opportunity to break in was available to all, not the few

Lightless dlc is a win fr

Its 4/20! Have a good day people

I've always thought replays were stupid

Turns off blue light, wears blue shirt... AS IF YOU COULDN'T BE ANY MORE BLATANT ZEALAND 😡😡😡 thats why your views fell off #GreenBetter #ratio #bluemid

Why are we appeasing the fixture congestion of the top 7 teams?

They knew the backlash they just don’t care

Lightless