The FA are making a number of changes to the FA Cup next season, in response to the expansion of the UEFA Champions League.

OXFORD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal is seen wearing the Arsenal 22-23 Whiteout Kit during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Oxford United and Arsenal at Kassam Stadium on January 09, 2023 in Oxford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
OXFORD, ENGLAND: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal is seen wearing the Arsenal 22-23 Whiteout Kit during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Oxford United and Arsenal at Kassam Stadium on January 09, 2023. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Starting from next season, the UEFA Champions League is expanding to 36 teams, with every team involved in the competition playing at least eight games in the new “league phase”, which replaces the current group stage.

Given the group stage only had six matches, that means at least an extra two games for every team in the first half of the season.

Teams that finish between 9th and 24th in the league phase will also play an additional two-legged play-off round. So a team reaching the final of the Champions League may have to play an extra four games to get there.

As a result, the FA have announced a number of changes to the FA Cup.

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Arsenal's German midfielder #29 Kai Havertz (L) vies with Liverpool's English defender #66 Trent Alexander-Arnold (R) during the English FA Cup third round football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London on January 7, 2024. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Kai Havertz (L) vies with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (R) during the English FA Cup third round football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London on January 7, 2024. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

For a start, there will be no replays from the first round of the FA Cup onwards.

On top of that, the FA Cup final will now be played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, with the last week of the league season being moved back from this year’s May 19th to next year’s May 25th.

In effect, that means that if you aren’t in the final, you have an extra week to fit in a league game.

However, those league games on the FA Cup weekend will not take place on the Friday or Saturday, with both of those days reserved to give the FA Cup final (on the Saturday) some breathing room.

There will also be no winter break next season, with the FA opting to start the season a little later instead – August 17th next season compared to August 11th this season.

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND: Mohamed Elneny, Cedric Soares, and teammates of Arsenal applaud fans following the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Brentford and Arsenal at Gtech Community Stadium on September 27, 2023. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND: Mohamed Elneny, Cedric Soares, and teammates of Arsenal applaud fans following the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Brentford and Arsenal at Gtech Community Stadium on September 27, 2023. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In an attempt to keep the FA Cup feeling like a significant competition, there have been a couple of further scheduling changes.

All FA Cup rounds will now be played on weekends, and the fourth round, fifth round, and quarter-final weekends will be exclusive of Premier League fixtures.

Whether these changes will be enough to solve the scheduling problem remains to be seen, but it certainly doesn’t seem like enough.

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