THE FA has announced that replays will return to the FA Cup up to the fourth round.
Replays were scrapped from the third round onwards in last season’s competition due to worries over fixture congestion.
Several matches were postponed around the new year period when the third round was scheduled to take place.
So to prevent fixture congestion the FA removed replays in both the third and fourth rounds.
Replays were also scrapped for the 2020-21 campaign to relieve similar fears after the start of the season was delayed due to the pandemic.
But now replays will be reintroduced to ties including qualifiers and all the way up to the fourth round.
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A statement read: “Replays will be mandatory in all rounds of the qualifying competition and the competition proper from the first round proper up to and including the fourth round proper.”
That will present some lower league clubs with the opportunity to visit big Premier League clubs, having missed that chance last year.
For example, Kidderminster Harriers would have visited the London Stadium last season after holding West Ham to a 1-1 draw in the fourth round last time – eventually losing in extra-time instead.
By contrast, Middlesbrough took advantage of the new rules by beating Manchester United on penalties – a replay at the Riverside may have produced a different outcome.
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Only 12 games ended as a draw in 90 minutes in the third and fourth rounds last season – and just one of those ties needed to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
But the return of replays does provide extra incentive for lower league clubs to progress through the opening rounds in the hope of landing a giant.
