FA CUP PLAN IS A BOTCHED JOB

IF THE plan was to kill the FA Cup it would all make sense. It is, largely, a weekend competition apart from a fifth round that will be played midweek. There are replays for rounds one to four, but not from round five onwards. And the aim is to reach Wembley — although the semi-finalists get to do that, too. Competitions need to make sense to be consistent. It is ridiculous, for instance, that the EFL Cup plays two legs in the semi-final, but not in any other round. If the aim is easing fixture congestion, start there. The FA are to be commended for making room in the calendar for a mid-season break, but this was the chance to revamp their cup competition completely. Replays in all rounds should have been sacrificed for extra-time and penalties, with any club from a lower division that takes a match beyond 90 minutes receiving a compensatory boost in prize money to make up for lost revenue. Indeed, the FA could have looked at wealth redistribution throughout the tournament to better reward the lower league clubs for their contribution to its magic and reputation. The cup would then make sense again. This way is a dog’s dinner, reflecting only its increasingly diminished status.