FA Cup replays scrapped: This is what the Crawley Town boss had to say on the issue which has sent shockwaves across the footballing community

The move to abolish all replays from the first round proper onwards is part of a new agreement between the FA and the Premier League which will see an extra £33million going to grassroots football from the top flight each season.

The FA had already scrapped replays from the fifth round onwards and said the move to ditch them altogether had been agreed “in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded Uefa competitions”.

The FA said: "The current format, which has no replays from the fifth round onwards, has been extended throughout the ‘competition proper’ in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded Uefa competitions."

The announcement has caused outrage among football fans, who say lower league clubs are being ignored as they will potentially miss out on big pay days.

Crawley went out of the FA Cup at the first time of trying this season, losing 3-2 to Notts County. But a run in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy means they will have played at least 53 games by next Saturday – with a possible further three if they reach the play-offs.

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“I have two views,” said Lindsey on the issue. “From a football club’s point of view there’s probably a potential loss of revenue if there was to be a replay. But selfishly from a football point of view, I am ok with it because we play a lot of football. This season we have played 51 games, which is a hell of a lot.

"We have at least two more and for clubs who have small squads it’s a big asks for football clubs of this size to play that amount of games and to keep players fit it’s difficult.

"We have been lucky because we have fantastic physios and a fantastic strength and conditioning coach here. I think we have had 97% player availability this season and that’s down to the work we do on the training ground and the work we do at the gym and me having great staff. I just think there are too many games already so I am ok with it.”

The FA said all rounds would now be played at the weekend, with the fifth phase having moved to midweek for the last five seasons.

The FA said the final will now be played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, on a Saturday with no top-flight matches taking place on the same day.