I'm a former Arsenal great who collapsed and was rushed to hospital after the FA Cup marathon
BRIAN TALBOT was so exhausted after an FA Cup marathon he collapsed on the team bus and ended up in hospital on a heart monitor.
But even Talbot – who played all SEVENTY games for Arsenal in their epic 1979-80 campaign – doesn't want the replays scrapped.
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But Alan Mullery, who captained Fulham in their longest cup run to Wembley in 1975, claims endless replays were 'madness' and football is finally making sense.
When Aston Villa take on Chelsea and Nottingham Forest hosts Bristol City, it will likely be the last time clubs from England's top two divisions feature in replays as they will be eliminated in the third and fourth rounds next season.
Former Gunners midfielder Talbot set up the longest FA Cup semi-final with a headed winner against Liverpool in 1980 – a draw that lasted 7.5 hours.
But Terry Neill's side lost both the cup final to West Ham and the European Cup Winners' Cup final to Valencia in the space of four days, either side of Talbot's visit to the infirmary.
Talbot, now chief scout at Fulham, told SunSport: “I assume it was exhaustion that made me sick on the bus coming back from Wembley. They kept me on a heart monitor in the hospital for 24 hours.
“But I played in the European final on Wednesday and we lost on penalties – so that was even more extra time.
“In the semi-final against Liverpool we played them four times in the cup and once in the league – another draw – in the space of five weeks.
Doing away with reruns would take away whatever romance is left
Brian Talbot
“I hit the crossbar in the first game at Hillsborough and it would have saved everyone a lot of energy if I had scored that.
“But after a few more draws I headed the winner in the fourth game.
“Liverpool were the best team in the country and they were all hard-fought games.
“Both clubs had small squads by modern standards and fielded their best teams in every match.
“The big unknown is whether we would have won one or two cups that season if we hadn't had to play all those replays.”
Still, Talbot believes it will be wrong to scrap replays and that football authorities should think more about smaller clubs.
He said: “They are expanding the World Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup so they are hardly helping themselves.
“It is sad for smaller clubs if they play against Manchester United or Arsenal and would not deserve a repeat if they drew.
“The Cup no longer has the romance it used to have and that makes me sad.
“I think getting rid of replays would take away a little bit more.
“Of course, modern football is faster and players use more energy, but clubs have much larger squads so they can cope.
“Sometimes current players are told they need rest, when they actually don't need it.”
But Mullery, who guided Fulham through Eleven games to reach Wembley in 1975, disagrees.
Just like Talbot's Arsenal, Fulham also lost to West Ham in the final.
That was after they had played three games to beat Hull in the third round and four to beat Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in the fourth round, before needing extra time in another replay to beat Birmingham in the semi-final.
By captaining Fulham to their only FA Cup final, the former Tottenham midfielder spawned 'Mullery is God' graffiti that was defaced on a wall in Stevenage Road, outside Craven Cottage, for years.
I spent more time with teammate Bobby Moore than with my wife during that Cup run
Alan Mullery
And Mullery, who played for England before managing Crystal Palace and Brighton, said: “That record we set for the longest ever route to Wembley will now never be broken. But it was crazy, we were playing at Nottingham Forest every few days at one point.
“I'd had that wretched Cloughie shouting in my ear for weeks!
“We were so devastated that we were on our feet and neither team really had an idea of their chances after playing each other four times.
“Bobby Moore had just left West Ham for Fulham and he was my roommate that season.
“During that cup match I spent more time with him than with my wife.
“At one point Mooro turned to me and said: 'I think I've played more games for Fulham than I ever played for West Ham!'
“So I am happy that they will settle the cup matches on that day with penalties. We should never have experienced so many games, it was madness.”
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