EXCLUSIVE
‘Honestly disgusting’ – EFL clubs told to stage FA Cup boycott if replay stance doesn’t change
Non-Premier League clubs have been told to boycott the FA Cup following the decision to scrap replays from the first round.
That is the opinion of talkSPORT host Andy Goldstein, who has labelled the major change as 'disgusting'.
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The FA caused national outrage earlier this week after announcing FA Cup replays would be removed from the competition from the first round proper onwards as of next season.
The decision will see sides miss out on the chance to claim both much-needed money and memories of a lifetime, with the highly anticipated achievement of taking a 'bigger' club to a replay to now become a thing of the past.
The FA responded to the backlash by highlighting 'player welfare' and a 'congested calendar' were partly behind the reason for their decisions.
But Goldstein doesn't believe this justifies stripping away the tradition of the oldest national football competition in the world.
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"I don't really care what the FA and the Premier League's reason for scrapping replays is," Goldstein said on talkSPORT Drive on Friday.
"I'm guessing they're trying to make space in the calendar right," co-host Darren Bent interjected.
Goldstein continued: "I think it's to do with that. I think it's to guarantee all the games up to round five can be played on weekends.
"I don't really care about that, right, because by scrapping replays, it's really simple, you just take away the opportunity for small clubs to make some money and lots of it.
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"We know how hard it is to keep the clubs afloat in the Championship and in League One and Two. It's practically impossible right, to make any kind of profit.
"I just think you're giving clubs a lifeline by giving them the opportunity to have a replay at a massive club in an FA Cup third round and you're taking that away from them.
Simon Jordan and Martin Keown clash over the FA Cup scrapping replays from next season in the competition
"I don't see the benefits. I understand the benefit for the bigger clubs. If you're Man United, you're Chelsea or Liverpool and you play any kind of European football at your doorstep, the last thing you want is a replay.
"I totally get it. But it's the big clubs getting bigger and the smaller clubs getting smaller."
One criticism of the scrapping of replays comes from the EFL allegedly not being involved in the decision making process.
The FA responded to this by stating they had been 'discussing the calendar for the 2024-25 season with the Premier League and EFL for well over a year.
The EFL rubbished this claim though, releasing their own statement and claiming the replays decision was made 'solely by the FA and the Premier League'.
"Now, if that's true, which of course, I've got no reason to doubt it, that is honestly disgusting," Goldstein said. "I honestly think all of the EFL clubs should boycott next year's FA Cup."
When Bent wasn't sure a boycott was the answer, Goldstein continued: "No but I'll tell you why. Because they will boycott it, then of course, the FA are in a world of trouble because it devalues their brand.
"Then they have to reassess this decision. Then, what they should do is bring in the EFL to vote for it."
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Many fans have also floated the idea of a boycott on social media.
Numerous clubs below the Premier League in the English football pyramid have already condemned the decision, releasing their own statements to publicly express that.
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League One Peterborough's chairman and talkSPORT regular Darragh MacAnthony told the EFL to 'show some minerals' in the face of the decision, too.
Meanwhile Accrington Stanley and Tranmere Rovers have released statements condemning the major change.
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