Major FA decision that impacts Aston Villa, Wolves, Birmingham City and West Brom

The Football Association of England have announced that they are to scrap FA Cup replays.

In a big change to world football's oldest cup competition, there will no longer be replays from the first round proper. The current model is that there are no replays from the fifth round proper given the expanded formats of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, as well as an expanded FIFA Club World Cup.

The agreement between the FA and the Premier League will be in effect for six years. Other changes include all rounds of the FA Cup being played on the weekend, which is a change from the last five years when the fifth round has been scheduled for a midweek.

The weekends of the fourth and fifth rounds will also be exclusive, so there won't be any Premier League matches taking place that weekend. Scheduling of the fixtures will be different too with the window extended from Friday to Monday to now Friday to Wednesday, which will allow for consecutive days of FA Cup football.

FA Cup final day was seen as a huge day in the footballing calendar and from next season, it will take place on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League campaign, and on a Saturday. No Premier League matches will be played on the Friday before it and only on the day after will there be games after it to help focus on the build-up to the showpiece event.

Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Brom and Wolves all currently enter at the third round stage of the competition. Villa are likely to find themselves playing in Europe next season. They currently occupy fourth place which would see them qualify for the Champions League whilst should they win the Conference League, they would qualify for the Europa.

In the case of Birmingham City they are bidding to avoid relegation from the Championship and should they be relegated, they would have to start from the first round stage in League One.

Some positive news is that the Premier League will provide an additional £33m in funding to the football pyramid. It gives £100m to good causes each season, and from the 2025/26 season, it will be worth £133m per campaign.

Explaining the decision, Mark Bullingham, the chief executive of the FA commented: "The Emirates FA Cup is our biggest asset and generates over 60 per cent of our revenue to invest into the game, so it is critical to secure a strong format for the future.

"This new agreement between the FA and the Premier League strengthens the Emirates FA Cup and gives this very special tournament exclusive weekends in an increasingly busy calendar.

"The new schedule ensures the magic of the Cup is protected and enhanced, while working for the whole of the English game. The longer summer period also allows a much-needed player break before the start of the next season.”