English FA Sets New Rules for the English FA Cup, Carabao Cup and EFL
The English FA has come out to say they will be no FA Cup replays for next season which is the 2020-21 season, the decision was taken to “ease pressure” on the football calendar. The English FA Cup competition will start with the extra preliminary round on the 1st of September hopefully and the final is due to be played at Wembley Stadium on 15 May 2021.
It has also been announced that the Carabao Cup semi-finals will be one-legged henceforth, the first round is scheduled to start on the 5th of September, while the next three rounds will be played on consecutive midweek dates from 15-16 September. The Premier League 2020/21 season is also scheduled to start on the 12th of September with the final round of matches on 23 May 2021, the league, however, said fixtures will be announced no later than 21 August.
Fixtures for the 2020/21 English Football League (EFL) season will also be released on the same date as that of the Premier League which is the 21st of August with the Championship, League One and League Two also all scheduled to start on 12 September. The English FA Cup prize money has been halved from 2019-20 because of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The winners will receive £1.8m, down from £3.6m last season, in line with the 2017-18 campaign. The draws for the FA Cup extra preliminary and preliminary rounds, and the EFL Cup first round, will be made on 18 August. The EFL Cup final will take place at Wembley on 28 February 2021. The EFL Trophy will start on 8-9 September with the Wembley final on 14 March.