Scunthorpe United join a number of clubs in sharing their extreme disappointment in the changes made to the format of the FA Cup, which have been made without, seemingly, any consultation outside of the Premier League.
The removal of replays in the competition will not only have a detrimental effect to any lower league or non-league clubs embarking on a cup run, but fundamentally a massive part of the heritage of the competition has been removed.
Our club, like many others, owes its past and future to the FA Cup replays that have now been taken away.
United have had replay experiences over the years, including a third round replay over Portsmouth in 1962-63, which then went to a second replay at Highbury, along with highly-contested replays over Leeds United in 1983-84. Even the FA Cup replay against Worcester City in 2014-15 enabled us to take part in the longest penalty shootout in FA Cup history. Without replays being in force back then, this would not be part of the record books of the once great and illustrious competition.
Scunthorpe United would like to reiterate their condemning of the decision to scrap FA Cup replays, and call on the FA to suspend these changes with immediate effect until a consultation of all stakeholders has taken place.
