The son of 1966 World Cup hero Nobby Stiles attacked the decision to axe FA Cup replays yesterday as he backed our campaign to save them.
John Stiles, 59, recalled how his dad would spend all day watching the finals with his family after he finished playing. A keen Manchester United fan, Nobby ‘punched the air’ when their striker Stuart Pearson scored against Liverpool in the 2-1 1977 FA Cup final victory which denied their old foes a historic Treble.
John, who lives in Doncaster, said: “I do absolutely believe we should bring replays back. I am very, very disappointed at the decision to drop replays.
“They are part of the charm of the FA Cup and it is one of the greatest competitions ever as far as I am concerned. The decision, it seems to me, is all about the money for the big boys rather than income for smaller clubs. It is all about the money for the big boys.”
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John, an ex-Leeds Utd and Doncaster Rovers player, recalled his childhood days watching FA Cup finals with his dad, one of only three Englishmen alongside Sir Bobby Charlton and Ian Callaghan, to win the World Cup and European Cup.
“ The FA Cup final was a great day for us,” he said. “We would get up in the morning and watch the FA Cup Final ‘It’s a Knockout’ and then we would be there for the full day.
“To us, to the Stiles family, the FA Cup had a magic and the Cup Final was always a special day for us. It was a great day, we used to love it. I remember when United played Liverpool in 77 and my dad fist pumped when Stuart Pearson scored the first goal.
‘It is just a great day for us and so many families who loved football. It is a shame that it is not treated the way it used to be.”
When Man United beat Leicester City 3–1 in the 1963 FA Cup final, Nobby was not picked for the game. But he went on to win the first division title with United in 1965, the World Cup in 1966 and the European Cup in 1967.
He is an England legend, his victory jig and toothy grin one of the abiding memories of our 4-2 victory over West Germany. After 395 matches and 19 goals, Manchester United sold Nobby in 1971 to Middlesbrough for £20,000.
He became a player-coach at Preston North End when Bobby Charlton was manager. The pair remained friends long after their playing careers ended.
Stiles died in 2020 at Manor Hay Care Centre in Manchester, aged 78, after suffering with prostate cancer. He also had dementia as a result of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from the repeated heading of footballs.
The Football Supporters’ Association yesterday (Fri) called on the FA to reinstate FA Cup replays following an emergency meeting. Their fans’ council convened following the FA decision to abolish replays.
The FSA will continue to seek to ‘protect the integrity, heritage and attractiveness of the FA Cup for supporters...using all avenues and processes open to it to pursue that objective’.
FSA chair Malcolm Clarke said: “We call on the FA to reinstate replays in all rounds. There should be a particular focus on rounds one and two as there is no real opposition to replays at that stage and scrapping them made little sense to supporters or clubs.
“While Premier League teams competing in Europe might like to do away with replays, clubs in the EFL and non-league have made clear their support for replays in the early rounds.
“We call on the FA to reinstate first and second round replays and we will be using every avenue available, including our positions on the FA Council, to push for that.”
The FA announced last month that replays in the world ’s oldest cup competition would be scrapped from the first round proper from next season to ease a calendar congested by European club competitions.
The campaign group Fair Game has sent a letter to the FA and the Dept for Culture, Media and Sport calling for replays to return.
The letter was signed by clubs including Bolton, Exeter, Wycombe, Carlisle, Lincoln, AFC Wimbledon, Accrington, Newport, Swindon, Tranmere and Grimsby.
National League South side Maidstone Utd knocked Championship club Ipswich Town out of this year’s FA Cup. They also want replays back.
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