FA Cup replays scrapped: How Man Utd tie 'saved' Exeter City
Last updated on .From the section Exeter
'We would have been in a very different place today had it not been for that game,' reflects Exeter City Supporters' Trust chairman Nick Hawker.
Twenty-one years ago, fans took over the then non-league club which had debts of close to £5m, with its future in real peril.
But less than two years later along came the FA Cup, and a run to the third round for the Devon side with an away tie at holders Manchester United.
The Red Devils played a weakened team against their non-league opponents and drew 0-0.
It ensured a televised replay with Sir Alex Ferguson recalling the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to the starting line-up as the Premier League side went on to win 2-0 in Devon.
But the ticket money generated from the two matches, as well as television fees and associated income, wiped out what was left of the club's debts - a hefty six-figure amount even after a 10p-in-the-pound creditors' voluntary agreement.
The stroke of luck in drawing United - and then drawing with them - allowed Exeter to build the foundations for what is now a sustainable League One side.
However, the decision of the Football Association and Premier League to abolish replays means clubs like Exeter will no longer have the same chance to get a windfall against the ever-richer teams at the top of the football pyramid.
"Those FA Cup replays can generate huge amounts of money for clubs that are really struggling, and there's never been a time when clubs haven't been struggling more than they are today," Hawker tells BBC Sport on the morning after the FA's announcement.
"We know from ourselves a game against Manchester United almost certainly saved the club."
'Where we are today, it's a direct outcome of that game'
Exeter have gone on to produce players such as England star Ollie Watkins and Wales' Ethan Ampadu from an academy that is the pride of the fan-owned outfit.
They also took Liverpool to a third-round replay in 2016, benefiting from a money-spinning tie at Anfield after a 2-2 draw at St James Park, where Lee Holmes scored directly from a corner kick and Jurgen Klopp famously did a pre-game interview next to the tea ladies in a cramped kitchen that had been hurriedly turned into a media room - the very essence of what is 'the magic of the FA Cup'.
But it was the United replay in 2005 that was key.
"That was the start of it. That was the moment when you can start to believe that you can recover and you can start to plan and have aspirations," Hawker says.
"Before that, it was just real worry about whether we would survive at all.
"That Manchester United game gave us the impetus to say, 'OK, we can do this now because we don't have that [situation with] the creditors.'
"Where we are today, it's a direct outcome of that game."
The decision to abolish replays has drawn widespread criticism from sides outside the top flight with claims that the rich will get richer, while those lower down will struggle as a result.
The FA claims it will help football at all levels, with the Premier League increasing its funding to grassroots football by an additional £33m as part of the agreement.
"The FA Cup is our biggest asset," said FA chief executive Mark Bullingham.
"This new agreement between the FA and the Premier League strengthens the FA Cup and gives this very special tournament exclusive weekends in an increasingly busy calendar."
'Every football supporter should be writing to their MP'
It is unclear how, or if, clubs can do anything to stop the changes, which form part of a six-year agreement between the top flight and the FA, and come in after Uefa expanded the group stages of its European tournaments.
Hawker feels plans to bring in an independent regulator for football, which are currently going through Parliament, may be the best way.
"I think if ever you needed a reason for having one this is probably it. This stretches beyond finances, this talks to our heritage as well," he says.
"I would urge all clubs and all MPs across the country to get on the FA's back a little bit and say, 'Come on, this isn't on, you can't unilaterally do this.'
"It's damaging our heritage, it's damaging the way I think that people will perceive the FA Cup, and goodness knows it's kind of dropped in value over the years anyway because of the top teams bringing their reserves down.
"Every football supporter should be writing to their MP, and every MP should be turning up at the independent regulator bill and saying clearly this needs to be fixed."
