Alfie, we need to talk about your need to talk

"I was in Prague on a hiatus from work" is how Gary Neville describes a holiday.

To be fair the “we need to talk about” title works, it’s eye catching

Guys come quick the yappinator is back (I have no friends)

As a fan of Exeter City, it's worth going into more detail to emphasise just how important our FA Cup run was. After being subject to asset stripping owners (who eventually went down for fraud, something about Uri Geller alerting police after double checking the accounts, don't ask), we had £5m of debt and went into administration. The CVA took this down to £1m, but that still looked like extinction for the club which was taken over by the supporters. Cometh the cup run. The first couple of rounds proper helped a bit, but getting United at Old Trafford was worth around £650k back in 2004, and the replay got rid of the rest of the debt. The FA Cup, replays and all, saved my club.

It's not just about replays at Premier League clubs. Lincoln City (national league at the time) got a replay against Ipswich (championship) at home, won and then went on to the quarter finals in 2017. That run funded a training ground and set the club up to be within a whisker of the Lg1 playofffs 6 years later. Also, the Premier League scrapping replays from round 1 and 2 is an absolute joke. They don't even play in those rounds!!

After seeing what the FA down south has done with the FA Cup I think it's time for all leagues in the UK to adopt the German style of their Pokal where every club goes into the hat round one. No ducking or hiding as the rules allow the teams outside the top two leagues the right to play at home no matter who is drawn. This helps smaller teams get more revenue and the chances for upsets are massive. Just look at this year's competition in Germany as Saarbrücken took out 3 Bundesliga teams in a row on way to semi finals. We have a team from 2nd division in final as well. This also comes after the longest running cup competition in America was thrown under the bus by the MLS and its Greed.

Even De Bruyne, who’s a well established Footballer, gets a little envious at times for how much chattery Alfie accomplishes on the daily.

The problem is the FA lied, they claimed they consulted every team in the EFL but many came out to dispute this, even the EFL released a statement confirming they were not consulted.

I’ve always maintained that a way to lessen fixtures for the big teams, and enhance opportunity for the rest, is have all the teams in that given season who are playing in European competition removed from the League Cup. That way the sides in Europe have 5-6 games fewer to play, and it gives all the other clubs a much better chance of winning silverware. Could even have the prize be the English slot in next seasons Conference League, therefore guaranteeing there’ll be new winner every year

In the US, we've had our version, the US Open Cup, crippled by the MLS owners this year as most won't participate or only send their farm team to make more way for their own tournament with some teams from liga mx, and the federation just rolled over for it

On a similar note the US Open Cup (the American equivalent of the FA Cup) is going through a similar scandal where MLS made a deal with the USSF without the consultation of the lower leagues in which MLS pulled all but a quarter of their teams from the Cup in favor their developmental sides (PL 2 sides) in the name of “fixture congestion”

Make it like the dfb-Pokal: lower league teams get home right in the first round.

I feel like it's a generational thing regarding the popularity of the FA Cup now. I grew up in the 80s and 90s where Cup final day was an event. We sat infront of the TV first thing in the morning watching the build up, it really felt special and ill always remember as a 10 year old at my grandparents' in 1993 watching my team win it for the first time in my lifetime. One thing that makes me sad nowadays is on the occasion my team wins the FA Cup all people say is 'mickey mouse cup' and 'you never win anything' showing how far its fallen since its prime. 🤨

Alfie, we need to talk about you *still* working for HITC

I (a football fan from Germany) have never understood why England has the two-game rule in the FA Cup. You were able to explain it to me well, even though you're against it yourself. Respect, that's what makes quality contributions. 21:50: Since most small teams are (usually) eliminated earlier than the big clubs, it is still possible, even likely, that the big clubs will meet in the early rounds. In Germany, where the rules are the same as in Spain, you can see this quite clearly this season. So in the end, there was only one team from the Bundesliga, namly Bayer Leverkusen, left in the semi finals. Not despite, but because lower teams always have home games against bigger clubs. And in Spain too, Real have had to play Atletico early this season. Saarbrücken's cup run probably wouldn't have been possible if they hadn't always had home games. 29:30: That's only half the truth. The DFL Ligapokal was a cup competition without a great history, which was only held in 1972/1973 and between 1997 and 2007 and always had low spectator interest. The reasons for abolishing the competition and creating a successor competition in the form of the DFL Super Cup (which is also not very popular and which I first had to look up to see if it even still exists. Yes, it still exists) was because the fans didn't want it, rather than giving FIFA or UEFA a free hand.

The thing is this is mainly to help English teams playig in European competition So why have they scrapped replays in round one and round two which Premier League and Championship teams don't partake in.?

FA Cup final had been held before the last top division games before. It has happened many times.

As a Coventry fan, no we fucking don't!

The funny thing about fixture congestion as well is that Coventry city is that they played more games than Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester United, Tottenham, etc and you won’t hear them complaining about fixture congestion.

Quite simple really, don't allow any Premier League side to compete in the FA Cup, they can create a Cup competition themselves, like they did with the League. The FA Cup would thus be back to how it used to be with the winner being any club unlike now were it's any of the top 6 (except Spurs of course)

God, this channel still produces good content :)

Not the first time the FA Cup final has been before the end of the season. 2001 FA Cup final was on 12th May with the final games on 19th May

What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals. When you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do. - The years of Lynden Johnson (by Robert Caro).

The FA Cup gave me my best football memory when I was 11, to see the greed ruining the show just hurts so much

Wow Alfie, you really inspire a sort of deep grey hopelessness and a real heart blackening anxiety within me which other KZfaqrs or football content creators never seem to be able to match. Thanks for the video

Instead of turning the FA Cup into a devalued joke, they should scrap the Carabao Cup instead, which is already a joke.

What make it worse is that they have given the FA cup to TNT Sports so less matches on the BBC and ITV😢

2:50 that was down to pressure from both the UK government & the FA, as a way to sway votes for the 2006 World Cup hosting rights. My god, that turned out in hindsight to be a stupid decision by all parties.

Replays have been an absolute staple of the FA Cup since the inaugural competition in 1872. "F*ck the FA"'s what I say. I am a Southampton fan and in 1976 my club, who were in the equivalent of the Championship, beat First Division title contenders Manchester United 1-0 in the Fa cup final. This is our only ever major trophy (discounting the 2010 johnstone's paint trophy) and our run to the European cup winners' cup quarter finals the following season (still, I might add, as a second-tier team- this was literally like Cardiff or Bristol City getting to the Europa League quarters today) pretty much promoted us to the top flight two years later, and by 1984 we were finishing 3 points off the first division title. We weren't relegated until 2005. Without that cup win, which started with a 90th minute equaliser at Villa before winning the replay, literally changed our history, not only our trophy case but league positions for the next 50 years as well. Being an underdog rather than a big 6 fan who expects to get to the final without even trying, that's what's killing it all. We were the third Second Division side in the Cup final in four years... can you even begin to imagine a single one doing so today?? A mid-table championship outfit in Europe at all?? It all stems from hooliganism, and clubs trying to prevent it by forming the premier league which was a massive pig-out on money anyway, and big clubs getting bigger, small ones getting smaller. The gap between the Premier League and the Championship is bigger than the one between the Championship and the national league!! THAT IS MENTAL!! Revenues for already struggling non-league teams (I literally watched my local semi-pros today) will plummet and the Yeovil's, Torquays, Scunthorpes, Southends, Rochdales, Oldhams, even clubs like Morecambe, will barely, if at all, manage to stay afloat. Scrapping replays is like scrapping the bloody final or banning non-league teams. Biggest tournament in Britain being treated like a Mickey Mouse cup by the rich cash-grabbers cough Saudi Arabia cough and that atrocious attitude to such a big and romantic competition is being further enhanced by its own organisers. I can't remember who it was that said, in the 1980s, "English football is diseased, and it looks terminal," but it still rings true today. If I've just made that up, I bet Sheffield United's chances of getting relegated that it'll still ring true in another 40 years. If you've read all of that, cheers. And cheers alfie for letting everyone know. Disgrace

Another brilliant video Love how sarcastic you are How about giving the position of Head of the FA to Lady Louise Windsor who’s just turned 20 Or Lady Margrita Armstrong Jones with her bespoke jewellery brand in Paris 🤣🤣🤣

We need to do a bundesliga and own our clubs 51%. I think their fan owned system keeps football enjoyable there, based of of what the community really wants.

This is just another nail in the coffin of the smaller lower league teams who rely on the income from replays.

Moribund, but absolutely right. Keep up these great vids, Alfie!

The only context where the phrase we need to talk doesn't give me anxiety

I agree with scrapping replays, but the premier league needs to contribute way more back into the lower leagues than they do. My thoughts were why not have it so that (where possible) the fixtures are always played at the bigger stadium of the two teams, with the away team getting 60% of the gate. . It's not perfect, but it's something?

Alfie, my man, we need to talk about Bruno.

Of all of the things they’ve changed, the one that irks me the most is that they’ve moved the final to the weekend before the premiere league. It’s not right and the FA are basically selling out. The last day of the premiere league season not worthy of the last domestic game of the season. It should be the FA cup as it is a competition for all. I have feeling that they will go back on a lot of these things especially with the new independent regulator hopefully putting the premiere league teams in their place.

I'm a Bristol rovers fan, we earned a replay against Norwich City at the Mem this season in a game which was easily our biggest attendance of the season, despite there only being about 20 or so gap in the pyramid, it was a big money gainer for us.....these games are too important for clubs like us to have them dictated to by the greedy prem clubs, who didn't give a crap about travelling to a shit ground on a cold rainy January afternoon.....

4:50 There was a good period of time where the FA Cup final wasn’t the final game of the domestic calendar. I recall that being the Division 1/Chanpionship play-off final for several years around the turn of the millennium.

Every cloud has a silver lining ! great you find always a positive note at the end! thanks :)

Alfie, great vid btw, we should also talk about how well Stockport county are doing and what a brilliant video it would be!

the Welsh cup final was on Sunday 28th of April between the new saints and Connah's quay, it was a thrilling game that Connah's quay eventually won 2-1 thanks to a screamer from from Josh Williams, but there were only 1,246 people in attendance. it would be great if you could do a video on the Welsh football pyramid, the situation it's in, and why it attracts so little attention. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Possibly a comment against the grain, but I back the decision. Football clubs already play a lot of games, even down to Step 6 and sometimes rearranging matches is difficult. Add to that the inclement weather and that thing called climate change (whether you believe in it or not) and this just makes things a whole lot worse. To people demanding the replays stay and will dig their talons in - imagine that you are a club secretary at a lower or non-league club. The first Saturday of the Month, you drew 2-2 in the FA Cup and will then have to travel 400 miles for a mid week replay. This eats into the finances initially but isn't terrible and you will have an amount from the ticket sales and cup money payments. However, that replay gets rained off and then you and that team have to rearrange for yet another night, but the team you are playing already have a game scheduled two days before the new replay and their pitch won't be ready in time for the replay. Also, your stadium cannot host the replay as a Premier League U21 side is using it for a match on the night and have 'first dibs'. By the end of it, you get sick, stressed and tired of trying to rearrange things. You might go 'buh is not fair waah!' Think about the clubs and the work needed to get matches on...?

Could probably say I'm a traditionalist but I enjoy a replay against any level and it fills my calendar of possible days out. Its unique to the FA cup and gives teams another go at knocking a side out in normal time. The European game is growing rapidly and that's because its easier to access for people across the globe. its not all situated in one country this works against the FA Cup so I agree its needs to start reaching out more across the world. id like to see an end to e.g. premier league Asia trophy and other pre season tournaments to have an extended season for the FA Cup to keep its Replays. I also on the side where there should be a 2-3 week winter break in January (The January Transfer window should also coincide)

They should take a page out of Germany's book and just put the lower ranking teams at home against the higher ranking in the 3rd to 5th round so at least those teams can generate revenue through TV rights and ticket sales

Video idea. Go through premier leauge history and see what was the longest amount of time a team has stayed in a certain position Example 1st is city with 5 months

There may be more upsets in a single match, but realistically they might only get one more match anyway and both matches could be played at home with 1000 seats. The chance of finishing off a draw in the extra 30 minutes or penalties potentially against a team that, as you say, are far more athletic, are more likely to have the extra legs for that 30 minutes and the extra skill and experience for the penalties. I'm a top 6 fan, but I still think this is shocking. Non of this means that there is a better chance that lower league teams might make it to the final, let alone win it. That money is worth more than getting to the next round, because surely there have been more replays than there have been non and lower league teams in the final or even semi finals.

Brentford opposing replays is the very definition of a club making it then wanting to pull the ladder up. Imagine telling a Brentford of 15 years ago this.

Keeping FA Cup games to weekends sounds like a solid idea, actually.

It's bonkers when a club is better off drawing with a bigger club and then losing the replay, than by beating them in the first play. Reminds me of 'tanking' in the NFL, when the bottom teams start losing on purpose in order to get better draft picks next season. It's the antithesis of everything sport should be about.

Alfie this is insane what a video how do you get all this info it's amazing

Just wanted to say I love listening to your videos, thanks to the extensive vocabulary used in them. As a neutral not even close to England, I do agree with the replays being scrapped due to fixture congestions not just for the Top 6, but also anyone outside the Prem - not only you do have 46 league games, but you also get EFL Cup, FA Cup and the Papa John's Trophy (or whatever it's called). That easily can make it... 70 games a season, with the worst case being L1/L2 teams. Isn't it too much, especially with Fixture Congestion worries?

The alternative would have been to expand the senior squad player limit from 25 to 35-40. Which would instantly kill off any player fatigue & fixture congestion concerns that are currently in place.

What if... now hear me out, what if the FA cup brings in more money and it actually helps the lower league rather than the lottery of getting a draw with a big team.

29:53 this reference…is appreciated 😂

Massively agree on the VAR at premier league grounds and not elsewhere, probably a fairly extreme point from me but it pretty much invalidates the competition in my eyes.

By any chance, is the background noise at the very beginning of the video from Morocco?

You need to talk about FIFA signing a deal with Aramco

Another great video Alfie 👌🏿

Alfie mate, the FA Cup final hasn't always been the season finale. In 2012, when Wigan beat Man City, it was held on May 11th. The reason I know this is because I was at the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal fan), when we relegated them, and they'd already lifted the cup.

Ive been to the stadium at 8:53 and could walk there right now

If ive said that a million times then i havent said it enough. Alfie your channel is amazing. YOU are amazing. Eveytime the themes you put out in your videos are always interesting and i add that while alot of the times you put your personal opinion forward i agree 150% of the times. Wellspoken, humourous and intelligent

i was baffled when he mentioned kidgrove. I played for the youth setup since i was 12 and know the owner. Had to rewind to make sure i wasnt hearing things😂

Will there be a video about the new premier league spending cap?

I think a compromise could be if there is a game with two teams in the same league, it's decided on the day. If there is a game with two teams in different leagues it goes to a replay.

Lol the AI hands on the Kidsgrove Athletic FC tweedted pic.

Been trying my hardest not to be blackpilled about English football recently, but this video is making it very difficult Love it tho, keep em coming

Would like to see a video on “forgotten GOAT candidates” or something alike. Players like M. Laudrup being called top 4 of all time by Romario (before Messi obviously), best player of the 90’s by Beckenbauer and the statement “ballon D’or is worth nothing because Michael Laudrup never won it” by Guardiola. Watching his highlights makes it clear to me, that somewhere in modern football history, the great Michael Laudrup has been forgotten (at least outside of Denmark and Spain). It is a shame, because if his nationality was Brazilian, it would likely be very different.

When are you going to produce a video on my team Ipswich? We've had two quite staggering years.

If you want smaller clubs to benefit just rebalance the payouts. You don't need to play extra games in an already brutal schedule to do that. Also, winning in a replay is significantly harder than penalties for the underdog. This change will see more efl teams reach higher stages.

If they are going to scrap the replays, there should be a compromise, as the FA Cup replays are often very financially lucrative for the small clubs. One idea I had is that every time the draw is done, the home tie goes to the lowest team in each pairing, even if it wasn't picked first. The best solution however, is that the Premier Clubs are "taxed", having to give a percentage of their massive earnings into a giant pot, which is then shared by the EFL clubs.

The FA Cup has never been quite the same since moving semi finals to Wembley. .

Can you make a video about the FA trophy and FA vase? Maybe covering each winner from the last 10 years or something?

In the 2010/11 season the fa cup final was played with still a round of fixtures still to be played

Eastleigh got there biggest crowd and made there best gate and was on TV with the reply against Newport 🙄 which basically funded the club for 3 months

We need to talk about frank schmitt… brought heidenhiem from the 5th tier to the bundesliga, is the longest serving manager in the world, and managed to beat bayern

The simple fix to this replay would be to make the game at home for the lower league club, if the premier league clubs can travel to the ends of Europe in Europa league. They can surely play at a club in the UK...8 hours by bus

Fantastic video, not really a fan of English football yet this video made me yearn for the good Ole FA Cup

Please what is the name of the background music in all of your videos?

35:00 My god Eric Cantona's unibrow is legendary.

When Clyde beat Celtic in the Scottish cup in 2006. The players were a bonus for drawing 10x that for winning. I find it pretty distasteful that a League Two or non-league team losing 6-0 at Anfield is a better outcome than winning

You have an awesome voice, im addicted to this channel

Can we get a video on the new spending cap being proposed in the premier league and if there are any other plans to change the spending and revenue sharing structure with lower leagues?

This is sad to see. We see the same with college sports here in the states, the closes analogue being the NCAA tournament

Sounds like what’s needed is more opportunities for small teams to make it into the same rounds as the big boys, how about a round of 128, 92 pro teams+the conference and enough from the qualifying competition to make up the numbers. If the champions league can add 4 games to increase revenue they can have 1 more to give some more money into the pyramid

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm almost certain at least one FA Cup final happened the week before the final PL games before?

Televised more fa cup fixture get more money from the premier league so you can double the fa cup prize money maybe triple and if a team is in the division below they get 10% more of the ticket after expensive to bring back the magic

600k well done Alfie

Can we get a video on the US Open Cup? It's getting dark out here in the States

Best intro so far

Give to them Alfie Potts-Harmer!

Surely Maidstone United has quite the windfall this year, which is good to see

My local team Crawley Town played my childhood club Man Utd at Old Trafford. FA CUP. Crawley also beat Leeds 3-0 a few years back. FA CUP.

Make a series of videos, "the best 11 from each league on the 21st century" you go to the different leagues and select the best 11 players from this century that have played in that league. Like La Liga... idk, casillas, sergio ramos, puyol, dani alves, marcelo, busquets, modric, iniesta, suarez, ronaldo, messi, this is just an example, I didnt give this much time to think

1:35 Look at Frank James Lampard Senior at the right , The Legendary father of a Legend

The real problem with cup competitions in England and maybe elsewhere as well is that it's not lucrative money-wise whatsoever. Big clubs still win it, but I don't think they care a lot about it - especially not the business side of the club. If each round would provide proper financial incentive for the persons who run the club then the "issue" would solve itself.

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 628) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

11:17 Missed opportunity to use the Hoever shirt pic as per the custom

Alfie, you need to talk about Ipswich Town.....