The Death of English Football

From the very beginning of football’s existence, the English football pyramid has always been revered as the ‘home of football’ and admired for its reputation of unpredictability and risk. English football introduced the play-off format in 1987, which was actively replicated across Europe and the rest of the world in the following years. Having spoken to various American ‘soccer’ fans during my time on social media, there has always been the recurring theme of a wish to mirror the English football system in the MLS. Though, whilst English football has been, and will always be respected, its reputation is warping, and will likely continue to with the existence of those at the top of its, frankly, corrupt organisation. English football is rotting. Disastrous financial management, a lack of representation for the lower leagues, and a general lack of care for the future of the sport, I can say with an honest heart that I fear for the future of the English football pyramid.  

Following the news of the death of FA Cup replays today, these concerns have been amplified entirely. Established in the 1871-72 season, the FA cup is the oldest national football competition in the world, and thanks to the narrow mindedness of those sat in their armchairs at the top of the English footballing world, we risk losing its validity entirely. Following a decision made between Premier League representatives and the board of the Football Association; it seems that English clubs have now seen out their last ever FA Cup replays. But in a tournament consisting of 124 sides from non-league football, as far as the 9th step of English football, how come just 16% of the tournament’s competitors, as 20 premier league sides, have full say in how the trophy should be approached? One word: corruption.  

In a world consisting of whining children in the bodies of ‘big 6’ managers, alike Guardiola and Klopp, constantly complaining about ‘game congestion’ and the toll it has on their poor (£400,000 per week) players, there’s always the obedient premier league representatives bowing down and kissing the feet of, what should be, their subordinates. This is the supposed reasoning for the deposal of the replays in the FA cup, starting from the 2024/25 season, and this is where the rot begins. Too many games for the – professional, world beating – footballers.  

This is a lie.  

Let’s look at Brentford for instance. A mid table premier league side in their last 3 seasons, the ‘bees’ have been semi-successful. And in the perspective of Thomas Frank, their manager, the replays should have been deposed much sooner. Or in his own words:  

“I don’t understand why we have a replay... why’s nobody in the world changing this? They need to take some more clever decisions.”  

Hmm. 

 Now this is interesting.  Having exited both cup competitions in their second fixtures, alongside the premier league’s 36 league games, that’s a total of 40 painfully long games for the poor premier league side this season. Fixture congestion at its finest. However, if we were to counteract this with the average league two season, let’s say my side, Doncaster Rovers, this season: 46 league games, 11 cup matches, of course including the Bristol Street Motors trophy for lower league sides, that’s a total of 57 games played this season. 17 games more than the ‘struggling’ ‘injury riddled’ ‘fixture congested’ premier league side that voted for the removal of FA cup replays. Now there may be the argument that the ‘big six’ sides have their individual European competitions, which may add a few more onto that torment of that of Brentford’s, but the point is that their squads have depth.  

Multimillion, if not multibillion, corporations throwing money around like tennis balls, they have the capacity to spend £100 million on back up players at this stage. If such sides, let’s say Aston Villa, play Sparta Prague in the Europa league, the difference in ability between the two sides, would allow an extreme shift in rotation from the reserves, and I would put money on the fact that Aston Villa’s third team would wipe the floor with teams such as Prague, who plague the European competitions with similar capabilities. If there really is so much ‘fixture congestion’, why not throw in some youth for first team experience? Trick question, they already do, so where has this false narrative of prem players playing 70+ games come from? 

Whilst a premier league side can change their entire first XI and leave with the exact same 3 points as with their first team, lower league sides, with their limited funds, are forced to start their same star players, week after week, to even glimpse at some consistency on the field.  Which brings me onto my next point, the financial aspect of this FA Cup embarrassment.  

There, clearly, and for the umpteenth time, has been very little, if any, consideration of the decision’s possible impact on lower league sides in the pyramid, within either the EFL or non-league environments. By scrapping replay formats without addressing the opinions of lower league sides, the executives have entirely overlooked the financial, as well as emotional value of the replays to most clubs. Throughout football’s existence, the idea of smaller statured clubs in football taking on the big dogs of the game, in David vs Goliath scenarios, has always been thoroughly exciting. Particularly for those that will rarely, if ever, clash with premier league sides. As a result of the rarity of this, the demand for tickets to watch the superstars of world football often skyrockets and will see thousands extra seats sold in home fixtures or fill up that dream worthy away end within a premier league stadium, no matter how far the travel may be. With replays, the likelihood of visiting a premier league side’s stomping ground, or any ‘big’ club for that matter, perhaps just an out-of-reach local rival, becomes much greater. But it’s not just the dream of full seats and a noisy atmosphere that draws the imagination, but the financial importance of such occasions. 

(DRFC vs Aston Villa: 3 - 0 - 2005)

With greater demand for ticket sales both home and away, travelling sides to bigger clubs with much higher average attendances than their own will benefit from greater injections of revenue by playing over two games than just the one. Whilst the top 6 and the rest of the premier league think only about the prospect of silverware and a fancy trophy to display in their glass cabinets and club museums, the real value of the FA cup is the money that it can provide lower league clubs. As worded by National League club Dorking Wanderer’s manager/owner Marc White in response to the decision:  

“Lower league clubs are run by volunteers and rely on investment from local sponsors and individuals to keep them alive and afloat...the fa cup just gives an opportunity financially to lighten the Burden.” 

Let’s take Dorking as an example. A true fairy tale side in the English football pyramid, the club, established in 1999, has risen from the ranks of Sunday league football to the cusp of the professional game in the space of 25 years, sat just one league below league two. Much of their staff are voluntary members that have been with the club for most of their existence, and with part time players and staff, they remain on a 4G pitch that they currently still pay annual rent to utilise. Without the pull of thousands of spectators each week, one fixture away from home at a league club from any section of the pyramid could pay off that rent for one, or even two years, to remain at the ground, and, in the best possible scenario, a replay visit to championship opponents, Hull City for instance, with an average attendance of 18,000, could rake in over £100,000, should the hosts half the revenue from ticket sales. Imagine what a non-league club like Dorking could do with that money.  

So why should the Premier league even be considered to having a say over the EFL as a whole? We’ve already seen the outrage in comment reactions on social media, and League Two’s Tranmere Rovers’ official statement, condemning the actions of the FA representatives, stating their blissful unawareness of what was happening on the top floor. The financial side of the competition provides absolutely no satisfaction to the fanbases, or executives of premier league clubs. As the terrific sum of £100,000 would be to Dorking Wanderers, it is merely a drop in the ocean for even the smallest of premier league clubs, such as Luton Town’s measly £25 million net worth, in comparison to giants Manchester United’s £2.34 billion valuation. My club Doncaster Rovers? £3.87 million.  

Big 6 clubs have never, and will never, experience the peril of financial instability in their clubs, because of their undeniable appeal to sponsorships, yet somehow the idea that Manchester United, for instance, are ‘one of the hardest clubs in the world to support’ because they haven’t won the premier league since 2012, is just laughable. If a top 4 finish and Champions league football is a disaster season, I would just kill to see their fanbase in the position of the likes of Reading, Derby, or Wigan. Or clubs that actually disappeared deep into non-league, alike that Southend, Torquay, Scunthorpe, or in the worst case folded completely, in Bury. For clubs in such positions, with owners cutting funds to maintain the club’s self-sustainability, the only possible outcome would be further sanctions by the frauds at the top, or liquidation. And what helped delay this? Cup competition revenue and prize money. In Derby County’s circumstance, with a dramatic low in financial stability, a finish in the fourth round of the FA cup, with an away trip to premier league side West Ham United, (along with a replay against Torquay may I add), accumulated the required funds to, possibly, even pay for a key transfer later in the season, or the following summer.  

Injections of such money from cup competitions, with the FA cup producing significantly more in prize money and revenue than that of the league cup, is essential for the survival and position of lower league clubs in week financial positions. By removing the replay feature of the competition, the premier league and FA officials deplete the likelihood of large revenue fixtures for lower league clubs, who, after all, may not even have the possibility of advancing through the competition on their mind. In the words of Marc White once again: 

‘The minority have driven a huge decision and it’s affected an awful lot of clubs across the country today’ 

 All this decision will do is develop the financial gap between the top premier league clubs and the clubs beneath them. We see this already with the frankly stupid idea of parachute payments provided to relegated premier league clubs, which so frequently produce yo-yo narratives, with consistent patterns of promotion followed by relegation, until, eventually, all other EFL clubs will be excluded from the possibility of promotion to the top league in world football for good.  

Gone are the days of the English pyramid, and it can only get worse from here.