The Football Association Cup (FA Cup) is the most prestigious domestic tournament in European football. Comprised of teams throughout the tiers of the English football pyramid—from local semi-pro players who participate for fun to the biggest powerhouses of Europe—squads compete in a single-elimination tournament to determine which is the best team in the United Kingdom. Some of the greatest moments in the competition’s history come from David vs. Goliath stories, where the great teams of the country are upended by teams far below them in skill level and ranking. The most famous example is Wigan’s improbable triumph against Manchester City in the 2013 final.
Wigan’s incredible journey would not be possible without replays, which occur when a game in the tournament ends in a tie. The teams then play another game against one another to decide who advances. Controversially, this past summer, the FA made the decision to do away with cup replays, replacing them with traditional extra time and penalties.
January nearly saw another historic upset, when Vanarama National League (fifth-tier) side Tamworth F.C. played host to perennial Premier League title contenders Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham were the favourites in the third-round match-up but soon realized that breaking down Tamworth was easier said than done. The home side went into the game with the confidence of a team that has nothing to lose, and defended their goal bravely, with the game tied 0-0 after 90 minutes of play.
This is where the controversy comes into the fold. The decision to get rid of replays was made in conversation with Premier League teams and stemmed from their desire to lessen the load of an increasingly burdensome schedule. Top teams can play upwards of 60 games depending on how far they progress in certain competitions. Disturbingly, the lower-tier teams, who receive the most benefits from replays, were not able to give input on the decision to do away with them.
That would have meant tiny Tamworth would have had a chance to play in front of more than 60,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Besides the incredible experience for both players and fans, the game would have a massive economic benefit for the club: Since home and away sides both take 45 per cent of revenue from ticket sales, Tamworth would be in line to make over £800,000 (more than $1.4 million CAD) following the away game. Considering the fact that Tamworth’s 2024 revenue was £1.6 million, this would have been a crucial economic boost to the club. With an increased emphasis on economic power in the modern game, Tamworth would have been poised to put the funds towards improving their squad.
The decision to do away with cup replays does not just have an economic impact on smaller teams, but it places them at a disadvantage over the course of a game that goes into extra time. Bigger clubs have more squad depth, with more talented bench players than the lower league teams. According to Transfermarkt, the six substitutes that Tottenham brought on over the course of the game had a combined transfer value of around $335 million CAD, which is hundreds of times larger than the value of Tamworth’s entire team. This sort of disparity is exacerbated after 90 gruelling minutes.
In an increasingly polarized footballing world, where top teams are able to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and lower league squads are left out to dry, the FA has embraced the changing tides and aligned themselves fully with the interests of the largest clubs in England. It is disheartening for the players, supporters, and owners of clubs like Tamworth who are left to fend for themselves in a climate that is rigged against them from the start, and this decision will send shockwaves throughout the English football pyramid by stunting the economic growth of small clubs even further.
