No FA Cup replays from Rnd 1

[tonythescout]

Brown was noticably cool in his interview, and given Lane does not seem your usual football man - I can't see us doing similar.

Add Wimbledon to that list, by the way.

Disappointingly the Football Supporters Federation's statement was very very lukewarm.

Just because he isn’t vocal doesn’t mean he may not do anything. He will know better than anyone how good a replay against West Ham would have been for us

[Phil]

Spot the footballer in this lot. Most are from the financial sector and have no football history.


https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/who-we-are/structure

[garthrockett]

Jobi McAnuff?
You'd like to think Jack Pearce, as a former manager of Bognor Regis, might have objected to the change?

A quick trawl around the FA website makes depressing reading for anyone worried about the future of football.

[Edgar T Peaceful]

Non-league clubs should threaten to boycott the competition unless this decision is reversed.

You know what? I wish the ‘big six’ would just piss off to their sterile super league and give us our game back.

Same here. It would be better without them.

[Phil]

https://fanbanter.co.uk/premier-league-managers-give-their-verdict-on-controversial-fa-cup-changes/

Valid response from Gary O'Neill (Wolves):

‘I think it’s a shame we have had to go that way. I think it could work both ways for the lower league teams as well where if you’re drawing at home to a big club you’d rather play extra-time and penalties as you have more chance of winning that at home than you would if you’re drawing 1-1 with Man City.

‘You’d rather carry on for 30 minutes at home with your backing and penalties than have to go to the Etihad in a replay.

[Northern Harrier]

https://fanbanter.co.uk/premier-league-managers-give-their-verdict-on-controversial-fa-cup-changes/

Valid response from Gary O'Neill (Wolves):

‘I think it’s a shame we have had to go that way. I think it could work both ways for the lower league teams as well where if you’re drawing at home to a big club you’d rather play extra-time and penalties as you have more chance of winning that at home than you would if you’re drawing 1-1 with Man City.

‘You’d rather carry on for 30 minutes at home with your backing and penalties than have to go to the Etihad in a replay.

Didn’t help us against Cardiff in the League Cup

[tonythescout]

Some of these people talking about the results are completely missing the point. It’s about the “smaller club” potentially a lucrative replay away from home, like Burton Albion did when they held Man Utd to a 0-0 draw. Outcomes like that are huge to all non league and many league one/two clubs. Can help secure a clubs future for many years.

[Northern Harrier]

Some of these people talking about the results are completely missing the point. It’s about the “smaller club” potentially a lucrative replay away from home, like Burton Albion did when they held Man Utd to a 0-0 draw. Outcomes like that are huge to all non league and many league one/two clubs. Can help secure a clubs future for many years.

Absolutely!

There’s also the chance for non league players to play at grounds they wouldn’t ever normally get the chance to do. Ditto fans and families getting the same opportunity

[tonythescout]

Perhaps they should concentrate on perhaps reducing the fixture list if it’s so demanding? Champions league yet you can qualify for it without being champions for example. And what on earth is the uefa conference league?!
Oh wait they won’t as small clubs don’t matter. Must keep the big six happy.

[Krasnyi]

Very disappointed that the club hasn’t made a statement on this. Love the response from Marc White.

[TomLong78]

So, in memoriam and for the FA Cup replay, what were our favourites (and which ones would we gladly have avoided)?

I’ll start with the obvious one - Peterborough away in 2014. Third round replay, away to a team two leagues above, having got away with a 0-0 draw at Aggborough. The prize, an away trip to a Premier League club. Joe Lolley inspired, fighting back from a goal down at half-time, and then conceding a gut-busting equaliser to win 3-2.

I’d also flag the long forgotten multiple replays. These were fixtures that became part of your life for a couple of weeks. The second round tie in December 1987 against fellow Conference side Maidstone that went to 4 games. We’d never made the 3rd Round before, but after Ocker Davies got a late equaliser at their place in the first game, the draw paired us with a potential trip to Sheffield United (then in the second tier). We drew 2-2 at Aggborough, then won the coin toss to play at Aggborough again. We drew, again, 0-0 this time. We finally lost the third replay, 2-1, back in Maidstone. We’ve still not played at Bramall Lane and the 3rd round would have to wait until 1994.

We’re also part of Woking’s great story in 1990-91, when our 1st round tie went to three games. They were the division below us, but were obviously a seriously good team. We got a 0-0 draw at Kingfield on the Saturday, but were held 1-1 at Aggborough in the first replay. The draw had paired us with Merthyr Tydfil, then in the Conference, but another great chance to make the 3rd round for the first time. It wasn’t to be as Woking won the second replay, again at Aggborough, 2-1. They then stuffed Merthyr (5-0 or similar), and got a trip to the Hawthorns in round 3. Baggies fans of a certain vintage will not want to recall what happened next, but suffice to say Woking got to go to Goodison Park in round 4 and lost narrowly 1-0.

How about you? Anyone remember bringing Brighton back to Aggborough for a replay in the late 1960s? Holding Millwall at Aggborough in the early 1980s and getting a trip to south-east London (I bet that was an experience in those days!). Before my time, but I bet they were memorable if you were there.

You can probably tell I am not overly delighted at the magic of the FA Cup being messed with. We have already missed out on a trip to the London/Olympic Stadium in 2022 and I cannot think of a single replay that didn’t have some virtue. Although perhaps those that saw us lose 3-0 at Stafford a few years ago may beg to differ!

[Sheffield Harrier]

Brown was noticably cool in his interview, and given Lane does not seem your usual football man - I can't see us doing similar.

Add Wimbledon to that list, by the way.

Disappointingly the Football Supporters Federation's statement was very very lukewarm.

Just because he isn’t vocal doesn’t mean he may not do anything. He will know better than anyone how good a replay against West Ham would have been for us

Still nothing. Really disappointed.

[Phil]

So, in memoriam and for the FA Cup replay, what were our favourites (and which ones would we gladly have avoided)?

I’ll start with the obvious one - Peterborough away in 2014. Third round replay, away to a team two leagues above, having got away with a 0-0 draw at Aggborough. The prize, an away trip to a Premier League club. Joe Lolley inspired, fighting back from a goal down at half-time, and then conceding a gut-busting equaliser to win 3-2.

I’d also flag the long forgotten multiple replays. These were fixtures that became part of your life for a couple of weeks. The second round tie in December 1987 against fellow Conference side Maidstone that went to 4 games. We’d never made the 3rd Round before, but after Ocker Davies got a late equaliser at their place in the first game, the draw paired us with a potential trip to Sheffield United (then in the second tier). We drew 2-2 at Aggborough, then won the coin toss to play at Aggborough again. We drew, again, 0-0 this time. We finally lost the third replay, 2-1, back in Maidstone. We’ve still not played at Bramall Lane and the 3rd round would have to wait until 1994.

We’re also part of Woking’s great story in 1990-91, when our 1st round tie went to three games. They were the division below us, but were obviously a seriously good team. We got a 0-0 draw at Kingfield on the Saturday, but were held 1-1 at Aggborough in the first replay. The draw had paired us with Merthyr Tydfil, then in the Conference, but another great chance to make the 3rd round for the first time. It wasn’t to be as Woking won the second replay, again at Aggborough, 2-1. They then stuffed Merthyr (5-0 or similar), and got a trip to the Hawthorns in round 3. Baggies fans of a certain vintage will not want to recall what happened next, but suffice to say Woking got to go to Goodison Park in round 4 and lost narrowly 1-0.

How about you? Anyone remember bringing Brighton back to Aggborough for a replay in the late 1960s? Holding Millwall at Aggborough in the early 1980s and getting a trip to south-east London (I bet that was an experience in those days!). Before my time, but I bet they were memorable if you were there.

You can probably tell I am not overly delighted at the magic of the FA Cup being messed with. We have already missed out on a trip to the London/Olympic Stadium in 2022 and I cannot think of a single replay that didn’t have some virtue. Although perhaps those that saw us lose 3-0 at Stafford a few years ago may beg to differ!

Brighton replay was my first Harriers game. Can't remember much about it apart from being very cold and us teenagers mocking a fat copper in front of us.

Only went because there was no one in the Green Man and we were bored and wanted a laugh

[Marcus Garvey]

Surely the least the Premiershite clubs could do would be to forfeit all monies when they play a lower league team if they are just worried about fixture congestion?

[Northern Harrier]

Ironically the ‘big clubs’ could easily put out the second string teams that they use in the League cup!