by Jamie Frier

Created on: February 22, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Time and time again football managers talk about fixture congestion and tiredness of players and that is the reason why replays should be scrapped. This is utter nonsense. Me and many of my friends play football, whether it be a match or Wembley Doubles, for sometimes three hours at a stretch with only minimal breaks. True the professionals play at a higher level but in fact that should be used as an argument against them. In lower league and children's matches, players tear around the pitch and exhaust themselves within the first hour but then summon up strength to keep battling away for the final half hour for the sake of their manager, friends and family. Professional matches appear to be played at walking pace and if I can tear around for several hours three times a week at least then surely trained, toned adults can do much more. So tiredness should not be a factor as long as they train properly and are in it for the love of the game, not love of the cash.

If replays were scrapped then about 75% of the romance of the Cup will be lost. 25% is the draw and a little club getting a huge club but the other 75% is actually playing or watching the game and getting the chance to get them back to your place so the local fans who have suffered for years can get a glimpse of what life would be like in the big leagues or going to a huge stadium and playing in front of 50,000 people. That is what the Cup is all about and that is why replays should not be scrapped. It gives people who would probably spend the rest of their lives scratching around in the doldrums or older players one last shot at glory and if that is denied to them then people will switch off in their droves. People love the underdog and will always support the Wokings and the Scunthorpes against the Manchester Uniteds and the Chelseas. If after one game it is decided on penalties then it will seem commercial and tacky. In days gone by ties could go to four or five replays before games were decided. That is true football. Grit, determination and a burning desire to win is what got the game off the ground in the first place and if matches are settled from 12 yards then it is luck, not skill or temperament. 'Keepers 'guess' the right way, players 'hope' the 'keeper guesses wrong, whereas seeing who is the stronger over two games is a true test of courage and determination.
People love to see the big boys getting humbled. They play week in week out at stadiums where they are pampered and get imported grass from Scandinavia. When we see them playing at a ground where the fans are inches from them when they take a throw in, shouting at them and making for a hostile area then most people will think 'great. they have an easy life, let them see how the other half live'. If we got rid of replays then there is only a 50% chance that we will get the chance to see that happen, whereas with replays there is every chance that we will get that spectacle.
I am desperately hoping that F.A. Cup replays are not scrapped because football is becoming incredibly commercial and a lot of the soul has gone out of it. You will find the soul of the game in the lower leagues where players will give their right arm for their club and if replays are scrapped then we are unlikely to get half as many shocks and classic cup moments which the world's oldest competition is all about.

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