robf

I would agree with that. I have a feeling we'll lose at least one of Garrity and Chislett myself.

VAR's clearly rubbish but I still think the Premier League is worse.

This is the Daily Mirror petition. As it's a national paper it may gain more traction. For those who've signed the other petitions it may be good to sign this one too Don't Scrap Replays: Keep the Magic of the FA Cup! YOU.38DEGREES.ORG.UK

I hate to be pedantic but saying "No one wanted to sign him" isn't true. It's true to say the MAJORITY criticised him but having just done a search on here, there were a small number on here who actually said we may want to go in for him in the summer. Yes, perhaps a lot of people have done a big u-turn in their opinion on him, but there were a small number of people on here who thought Taylor could be a good signing. It never happened and we'll never know (for all we know he could have been a disaster) but I just wanted to point out that sweeping terms like "no one" aren't always right - there's a lot of people on here and it's very rare that 100% agree. After all there was an 83% vote result wanting DF out - that means 17% didn't! So, perhaps some people on here saying that we should have signed him were actually part of the small percentage who also wanted him back in the summer.

Hi @Vale till I die the screengrab posted is from Twitter. It's not from OVF but from a Twitter account. That Twitter account @fanaticvalefan happens to have the same username of "Vale till I die". So, it's another user on a different platform (Twitter) with the same username as you, but to be clear it ISN'T your account or someone mocking up posts from your OVF account. I hope that helps to clear it up.

To allow anyone who hasn't seen the various statements today I can offer a summary below. As usual I may well be wrong on some facts but as I see it... 1. The FA issued a statement saying the EFL were consulted on the changes: a) Negotiations that have been going on for a year b) It was approved by EFL representatives. In the words of the FA statement "The calendar for next season was approved last month by the Professional Game Board, which consists of four EFL representatives and four Premier League representatives and then by the FA Board, which includes Premier League, EFL, National Game and grassroots representation. This is the process we undergo every year to approve the calendar." 2. The EFL have now issued a statement challenging that: a) FA Cup changes have been part of negotiations over financial fair play but nothing was agreed. b) The approval of the four EFL people who are on the Professional Game Board is NOT consulting all the clubs. The Game Board is merely there to sign-off on the fixture list, they are not there to agree a change of format. The EFL statement says that even then, when those people voiced concern, their comments were brushed aside - "As part of the discussions the EFL representatives did challenge the position and were told that Clubs would be comfortable with no replays. They were effectively advised that, as a result, of it being an FA competition, the fixture list needed to be agreed as presented." If the EFL is right then that's a quite extraordinary statement from the FA earlier. How on earth did they think they could convince people that consultation with and sign-off from the EFL had taken place when the clubs themselves know that isn't true?

The thread is, by dint of being read and replied to "front and centre". It's the top of the Hot Topics section. It's had over 1,700 views now and growing... However, I don't want to set a precedent by moving something into the wrong category. I think Other Football Issues is the right place. I'd also point out there are three articles on the OVF front page about this all of which contain a link to a Change.org petition as well. This subject is being pushed on here.

Yes. Well done Vale! “Only goes to protect the minority” – Port Vale statement condemns Premier League driven changes to the FA Cup WWW.ONEVALEFAN.CO.UK

Good to read this. Hitting them in the wallet is the way to make them listen - EFL to seek compensation for clubs after FA Cup replays abolished WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK Do that and then get the independent regulator in ASAP - that would be great!

Hi all, To be fair to the club it now looks like it was a spam issue - in that there was a previous email was sent but that didn't get through to me. So, in fairness to them, they did give more notice than I thought.

Thank you if you contributed to the OVF player sponsorship (we're sponsoring Jason Lowe's home kit for those unaware). You may recall that I would be conducting a random draw to select a donor to attend the sponsorship event where you can meet the manager, see a training session etc. It's a good day out and I'd be really keen for one of you to have a nice day out at the club. I am somewhat disappointed that the club have given virtually no notice of the sponsorship event. I have just received an email (10.23am) telling me that the event is taking place on Monday morning. I realise the short notice probably means that many of you have other plans and cannot attend. If you did contribute and are available please do let me know via email. I will then put you in the hat. It will make it easier if I know who can attend as otherwise I'll spend the weekend contacting people only to find out they can't go so I want to restrict the draw to those who are available. All sponsorship contributors should have got an email from me - please reply to it if you can go. I'm really sorry if this last-minute notice means some of you are unable to attend but this is out of my hands sadly. I have to say I'm really not impressed with the late communication from the club on this. Thanks, Rob

I have an alternative suggestion (tongue in cheek). I think the rest of the pyramid should solve the Premier League's own fixture congestion by booting them out of the FA Cup, League Cup and removing their B sides out of the Football League Trophy. It will be a helpful way of reducing the appalling fixture congestion that they suffer during the season.

A round-up of reaction here - “The dreams of so many should not be denied by so few” – Premier League led FA Cup changes prompt a furious response WWW.ONEVALEFAN.CO.UK There's also a number of petitions doing the rounds, this seems the most popular and therefore the most likely to have an impact: Petition · Reinstate Replays in the FA Cup or Initiate a Vote Among Participating Teams - United Kingdom · Change.org WWW.CHANGE.ORG

But regardless of the merits or not, is it right that the Premier League (and its money) should decide that? It's like when they got involved in the Football League Trophy - a competition that by its very title was exclusively for Football League clubs to take part in. It may be right to have a debate as to whether replays should stay or go (I'd prefer them to stay) by the clubs who could lose out financially. However, what isn't right is a bigger and richer organisation throwing a load of cash on the table and asking the FA to change rounds of a competition that don't even involve Premier League clubs.

I've just been reflecting on how so many of my greatest memories as a Vale fan have involved cup replays. The FA Cup giantkillings over Southampton, Derby County and Everton were all achieved via a replay. The 1988 cup run involved two replays while the 1998 penalty shootout loss to Arsenal was also the result of a replay. Further back and before my time, the famous run to the semi-final in 1954 also involved a replay win in the early stages.