" FA CUP SET FOR CHANGES "

" Revealed: FA Cup set for ground-breaking changes as Premier League plots winter break "

16/02/16

Express Sport

THE FA CUP could be set to see its replays scrapped with games moved to midweek to accommodate a winter break.

Football's oldest competition is facing a dramatic shake-up while changes are also planned for the League Cup.

According to reports, abolishing cup replays is firmly on the agenda as officials from the FA and Premier League hold talks over how to ease fixture congestion.

It is said the two parties are broadly in agreement over the issue, as plans to introduce a winter break gather pace.

The moves would certainly be controversial and could face a backlash from fans up and down the country.

FA Cup replays are especially important to smaller clubs because of the extra TV money they bring in.

But English football's big clubs are desperate to scrap them to limit huge fixture pile-ups while no winter break on these shores has been used as an argument for England's poor performances in recent international tournaments.

An insider told The Sun: "There's consensus that nowadays, with the number of matches being played, FA Cup replays may become a thing of the past.

"And the same goes for the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi.

"It is about finding a balance while keeping every competition, instead of one competition becoming a thing of the past.

"We have to move with the times."

Moving FA Cup ties to midweek after the third round would help find space for a winter break, which the FA, England manager Roy Hodgson and previous bosses have long called for.

The insider added: "Top players think, if I go to Spain I'll score 40 goals.

"If I go to England I'll get maybe 20 and play so many more matches.

"If Cristiano Ronaldo had to choose between Real with £20m a year or Man United for the same or even a bit more, where do you think he'd rather be?"

The smaller clubs need replays, the money is everything to them

Imo that would kill the fa cup off even more. Love the fa cup. Some of the mid week replays are great