EFL clubs slam 'disgraceful' decision to change FA Cup format as Premier League branded an 'absolute joke'

A growing number of clubs from the EFL have released statements condemning the decision to scrap FA Cup replays from the first round proper next season.

The change, which was announced by the FA on Thursday afternoon, will come into effect from next season and last for at least the next six years.

In addition to that adjustment, FA Cup games will now be played on the weekends, while the final itself will be held on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season and will not clash with league matches.

The removal of replays has been met with anger from fans of EFL clubs, partially given that the decision will lead to a potential loss of revenue and the losses of away days if their team is drawn at home.

And while a number of Premier League managers have used workloads as an argument to remove replays, fans have argued that EFL clubs play more matches than the vast majority of the 20 teams in the top flight.

Tranmere have gone a step further than that, blasting the FA and the Premier League over their joint decision and stating that EFL, National League and grassroots clubs were not even consulted about the changes.

They stated: "The decision, and the way it was taken, demonstrates a total lack of respect for the football pyramid and its fans.

"Football belongs to all of us and decisions should not be taken in back room deals in which only the very wealthiest clubs are allowed to participate.

"It is yet another eloquent example of the 19th century governance that means that football simply cannot regulate itself and needs the Independent Football Regulator to have real teeth.

"We condemn the changes wholeheartedly and urge the FA to suspend them immediately until all stakeholders in the game are properly consulted."

Fellow League Two club Grimsby Town branded the changes as 'disgraceful', writing on Twitter: "Grimsby Town Football Club finds it absolutely disgraceful that such fundamental changes to the format of the FA Cup have been agreed without, it seems, any consultation outside the English Premier League."

And Andy Holt, the owner of another League Two side in Accrington Stanley, fumed: "How did football survive from 1882 until 1992 without the Premier League???

"They are an absolute joke, claiming to be the saviour of football with their meagre handouts."

He claimed: "They have one objective, that is to monetise football and funnel all the proceeds to themselves.

"Football is massively insolvent whilst these types run with the proceeds. It has to stop. Football is OUR game."