FA Cup: Exeter City to ask Man City for a greater share of gate receipts

Since last season, replays have been scrapped from the first round onwards, meaning clubs like Exeter will not get the chance of a second payday should they secure a draw.

Last season, the Greek side were eliminated in the fourth round on penalties by Nottingham Forest, wasting the chance of a replay at the City Ground after a 2-2 draw after extra time.

Exeter received a huge boost in 2005, when they were a non-league club with multi-million pound debts, when Manchester United gave them all the gate receipts from their 0-0 third-round draw at Old Trafford, with the Premier League side taking the lead in a televised replay.

Club chairman Pete Fairley told BBC Radio Devon: “We just wanted to inform the football world of how small clubs are being punished in the FA Cup now.”

The fund has provided more loans worth more than £600,000 this season after overspending last year left the club with worrying debts.

They then suffered a fire in November, which caused more than £100,000 worth of damage and led to a League One match being postponed for safety reasons.

“Funds are limited right now, but we’ve worked our way through it,” Fairley added.

“There are measures and plans being put in place to bring the situation back to normal.

He added: “This extra money from the FA Cup helps of course, but we would like to see more to make sure the summer is easier than it could be.”