Manchester City impacted by major FA Cup fixture change announcement amid fans fury

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are set to be impacted by major changes to the fixture scheduling of the Emirates FA Cup from the 2024/25 season.

Manchester City host Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening in the quarter-finals of this season’s Emirates FA Cup competition, with the Sky Blues bidding to retain the historic trophy after success at Wembley Stadium last season.

City lifted the trophy as part of a landmark treble, as an Ilkay Gundogan brace helped beat Manchester United in the FA Cup Final, with Pep Guardiola’s side winning the competition for a second time under his management.

Manchester City reached the quarter-finals of this season’s competition with a 2-6 win over Luton Town in the fifth round, with Erling Haaland becoming the first player since George Best to score five goals in a fifth round tie.

The Blues have also overcome both Huddersfield Town and Tottenham in the previous rounds this campaign, meanwhile Saturday’s opponents Newcastle needed a penalty shoot-out against Blackburn Rovers to qualify for the last-eight.

Despite focus on this season’s FA Cup campaign, a major change to plans for next season’s competition have been revealed, raising eyebrows amongst clubs and supporters alike.

Matt Hughes exclusively reports that the Football Association are planning to scrap FA Cup replays from the third round for the 2024/25 competition, with such changes hugely impacting lower division clubs financially.

FA Cup replays have become a vital source of income to many clubs below the Premier League in the pyramid, as televised third and fourth-round replays are worth between £40,000 and £55,000 to each club.

Replays from the fifth round were scrapped from the 2018/19 season, however third and fourth round replays remained within the schedule.

Such changes have been impacted by changes to the UEFA Champions League format, with the expansion to the competition seeing an increase in midweek fixtures.

The Mail claim that in a rebellion against the decision that the EFL will withdrawn their offer of scrapping two-legged semi-finals in the Carabao Cup competition.

The Premier League and EFL are currently amidst a funding battle after 10 top-flight clubs blocked plans to agree a £900 million financial settlement for the lower divisions.