FA Cup replays abolished from first round proper next season

Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi scores their side's second goal of the game during the Emirates FA Cup quarter-final match at Stamford Bridge. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

FA Cup replays have been scrapped from next season, the Football Association has announced.

The move to abolish all replays from the first round proper onwards is part of a new agreement between the FA and the Premier League which will see an extra £33m (€38.5m) going to grassroots football from the top flight each season.

The FA had already scrapped replays from the fifth round onwards and said the move to ditch them altogether had been agreed "in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded UEFA competitions".

The FA said all rounds would now be played at the weekend, with the fifth phase having moved to midweek for the last five seasons.

The FA said the final will now be played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, on a Saturday with no top-flight matches taking place on the same day.