FA Cup could move to midweek to accommodate Premier League but replays unlikely to be scrapped

The Football Association has suggested the FA Cup could eventually move to a midweek competition to allow more Premier League games to take place on a Saturday, although that eventuality has not explicitly been discussed between the two parties as of yet.

It comes as the FA announced that Emirates, who currently hold the naming rights of the competition, had agreed to continue its sponsorship through to 2021, despite suggestions they were considering pulling out of the new deal.

Those fears were dismissed FA chief executive Martin Glenn as he announced the new deal at Wembley, who insisted that Emirates were delighted with the performance of the competition.

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The FA Cup has been suffering from lower attendances year on year than league matches but Glenn rejected the idea that there are plans to change the tournament.

He did, though, concede preliminary talks were ongoing about how the FA Cup and the Premier League can work together to minimise fixture congestion during the second half of the season, with moving the competition from its usual weekend slot to midweek a possibility.

“We didn’t talk about it previously and there are no plans to do it,” Glenn said at the announcement at Wembley. “But we are aware that there is value to the Premier League in getting more games from midweek to a Saturday - there’s value for fans in that as well.

“There’s obviously been discussions about if the Premier League was to get more Saturdays what would need to give. There’s ongoing talks.

“The Premier League wants more Saturdays and between us we’re trying to solve fixture congestion in the second half of the season which is major. There are discussions about how to do that in ways that are considerate of the value that the FA Cup has to the FA and all the good things that we use the money for.

“Two Saturdays would have to be found.”

However it is highly unlikely that, should the talks of moving the FA Cup occur, anything will happen before at least 2021.

If the competition was to change format at all, including the potential removal of replays, it is more likely to happen in 2022/23, during the heavy rescheduling of the season as a result of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.