{"id":479230,"date":"2026-02-20T04:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479230\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:45:07","slug":"controversial-womens-fa-cup-plans-on-hold-after-pushback-from-clubs-players-and-fans-womens-fa-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479230\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial Women\u2019s FA Cup plans on hold after pushback from clubs, players and fans | Women’s FA Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposals to make radical changes to the Women\u2019s FA Cup<\/a>, including seeding the top four teams from the WSL, have been put on hold, the Guardian can reveal, after the Football Association received negative feedback on the controversial ideas.<\/p>\n

The FA had also intended to dispense with draw ceremonies after the last 32, introducing a \u201croad to Wembley\u201d bracket akin to a World Cup knockout phase pathway, and review the entry tiers for lower-league sides. But it has put the brakes on its plans after concerns were raised by a significant number of clubs, fan groups and players.<\/p>\n

The FA had hoped to put a submission to its board in April after a period of consultation in February and March, in order for changes to be ratified for next season, but it has extended the discussions to give clubs, fans and stakeholders more time to consider the options.<\/p>\n

Next season\u2019s FA Cup will proceed with the existing format and the earliest any revamp could be enforced would be for 2027-28. It is understood the ideas, including seeding four sides so they could not meet before the semi-finals, have not been abandoned but there is widespread agreement that more time needs to be taken to review the options.<\/p>\n

An FA spokesperson said: \u201cWhile we will continue to review the Adobe Women\u2019s FA Cup and the ways it can evolve, we have listened to the feedback and no changes will be implemented for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand how much the competition means to clubs, players and fans across the pyramid, and it is important that all parties have enough time to share their views. As a result, we will be extending the consultation phase to allow for further engagement informed by the questions and comments raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans had been quick to condemn the idea of seeding teams after the Guardian revealed on 3 February that the proposals had been sent to participating clubs. A spokesperson for the Football Supporters\u2019 Association said seeding was \u201csomething which fans feel goes against the traditions of the FA Cup\u201d, and some clubs\u2019 official supporter groups voiced concerns.<\/p>\n

The supporters\u2019 club of Manchester City Women, one of the teams who would have been seeded, said: \u201cWe feel it goes against the very ethos of what the FA Cup represents. The whole idea of being able to draw anyone, home or away, throughout the entire competition, gives it a unique magic that supporters of all clubs appreciate and embrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season\u2019s fifth round begins on Saturday, with the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, fourth-tier Chatham Town travelling to St Andrew\u2019s to face second division Birmingham City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposals to make radical changes to the Women\u2019s FA Cup, including seeding the top four teams from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-479230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}