The English Football Association (FA) have confirmed that there will be a number of major changes to be implemented into the historic FA Cup competition starting from the 2024/25 season. This is part of a minimum six-year agreement meant to strengthen the competition’s format.
FA Cup Ready For Major Changes From 2024/25
Which New Rules Are Being Implemented?
The FA have confirmed that all the rounds of the FA Cup will now be played on the weekends starting from next season. This includes the fifth round of the competition, which has normally been played during the mid-week over the last five campaigns. It’s also added that the fourth and fifth rounds “will be exclusive of Premier League fixtures” going forward, with the former running from a Friday to Wednesday window for fans to get five consecutive days of FA Cup action.
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The most major change to the format is the confirmation that there will be no more replays implemented across any of the rounds of the competition from next term. Currently, there are no replays to matches that end up in a draw from the fifth round onwards, but that will be cut out completely going forward. This means that any match starting from the first round will go into extra time or potentially a penalty shootout if a draw is played out at the end of 90 minutes.
An interesting update has also been given on the FA Cup final starting from the 2024/25 season, as the association stated: “The Emirates FA Cup Final will now take place on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, on an exclusive Saturday with no Premier League fixtures taking place on the same day. Additionally, there will be no Premier League games on the Friday night before the Final, to allow focus on the build-up to the showpiece event.”
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Who Can Win The FA Cup Title This Season?
Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Coventry City are the remaining four teams in the 2023/24 FA Cup competition. The semi-finals, which will see the Cityzens face off against Chelsea and The Red Devils play against the Championship side, will happen on the weekend of April 20-21, 2024. The winners of these matches will move onto the FA Cup final, which happens on May 25 at Wembley.
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This means the FA Cup will take place after the Premier League season ends, the last time this will happen in the foreseeable future. Manchester City, the defending champions, are the overwhelming favourites to reclaim the title despite their recent elimination from the UEFA Champions League. The Blues, coming off a huge 6-0 battering of Everton, are in good form and hope to defeat Pep Guardiola’s side which has had some injury boosts recently. Manchester United aim to salvage their season by ending the fairy-tale run of Coventry City.
