This weekend, English teams are starting to return. There will be 7 Premier League representatives on the field this weekend but they will play in the FA Cup quarter-finals, not the round of 30 of the national championship. Fans wonder why the FA is given priority to return first, not the Premier League?
In fact, this is a decision that has been finalized since August 2024, before the 2024-2025 season takes place. The Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup were scheduled for an overview match at that time. The FA has chosen the FA Cup quarter-final schedule right after the FIFA Days and has received consensus from all parties.
However, Premier League fans do not have to wait too long because in the middle of next week, about 72 hours after the FA Cup quarter-final, the world's number 1 tournament will return. The matches will take place in the early morning of Wednesday and Thursday next week (Vietnam time).
To ease expectations, Premier League fans can watch the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend because it will have the participation of 7 representatives from the top flight of England. Only Preston North End are the lower-ranked teams in the round of 8.
The Premier League and the FA Cup have signed a six-year deal. In particular, the FA Cup will be nationally registered for the competition schedule in round 4, round 5 and quarter-finals. This means that when these FA Cup rounds take place, the Premier League will not be held.
In the last 5 seasons, the 5th round of the FA Cup took place in midweek. According to the agreement between the two sides, no Premier League matches will take place before and after round 5 ends within 24 hours. The reason for this is because the FA wants to attract more attention to the world's oldest tournament, avoiding spreading the audience to the Premier League.
Since 1870, after the first 6 qualifiers, the FA Cup has decided not to reorganize any matches. The increasingly dense schedule has left teams unable to replay matches, with many big clubs " meaningless" in the FA Cup.
If the FA Cup is held again at this time if the two teams are tied, it is very likely that the big teams will only bring reserve players to compete, thereby seriously decreasing the quality of the tournament.
The FA understands that the status of their tournaments cannot be compared to UEFA. UEFA's increase in the number of teams, the number of matches in the Champions League and Europa League also makes it more difficult for big teams.
If the FA Cup continues the old organization, they will even be turned away by these representatives. The FA Cup cannot compare with the Champions League in value, so they also "know their fate" and have to shrow more.
