The Premier League is behind a proposal to have a two week winter break which will mean that fifth round FA Cup replays may be scrapped.
The idea being put forward is for a break in the first two weeks of February but only for the Premier League. Other Leagues would continue as in the past.
However the fifth round of the FA Cup might be moved to mid-week. And the tie would be settled on the night. Some clubs are concerned that the idea of no Cup replays might be extended to other rounds of the competition.
“I see both sides of the fence with fifth round,” he said. “I can see from the top end they think there’s too many games but it would certainly be to the detriment of lower league clubs particularly if replays were scrapped in rounds three and four – that would be a very sad day.
“It really is once every 10 years your club has that and it makes a difference. We played Liverpool in 2016 in a replay and made enough money in that tie to pay for artificial turf facilities for our academy. It allowed us to have the biggest improvement to our facilities in 10 years thanks to one game so it would be really unfortunate if we lost replays completely.”
More at https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/27/premier-league-winter-break-fa-cup-switch-agreed