Inassociation football, replays were often used to decide the winner in a knock-out tournament when the previous match ended in a draw, especially in finals. In 1970,FIFA (the worldwide governing body of the sport) andIFAB (the international rules committee for the sport) allowedpenalty shoot-outs to be held if a match ended in a draw afterextra time. The penalty shootout made its appearance immediately thereafter. The first instance of a shootout replacing a replay (rather than lots) was the final of the1976 European championship. The shootout's first use at theWorld Cup took place in the 1982 semi-finals. Replays are now only used in the early rounds of the EnglishFA Cup tournament. Games going to replays in the FA Cup since1991 are only replayed once, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the tie if the replay ends in a draw, with the lone exception being in the1999–2000 FA Cup, when theWycombe Wanderers andOxford City F.C. played a 2nd replay after the 1st was abandoned due to a fire alarm going off just as the penalty shootout was commencing. Historically, FA Cup games would be replayed as many times as necessary until one team managed to win - in1971, a fourth qualifying round match betweenAlvechurch andOxford City was replayed five times after the initial match ended 2-2, with Alvechurch winning 1-0 in the fifth replay to settle the tie.[1]On 18 April 2024,The Football Association announced that would scrap replays altogether from the first round of the competition proper of the FA Cup beginning from the 2024-25 edition to help ease fixture congestion for clubs competing in UEFA competitions though replays will be retained during the qualifying phase of competition involving non-League clubs.[2]
Replays can sometimes also take place on occasion if a team has fielded an ineligible player in the original match,[3] or if a player has been injured as a result of an action by a spectator (such as throwing a coin or a bottle).[4] However, more common consequences for such actions include awarding victory to non-offending teams and/or deducting points from offending teams.
Until 2007, in the rare event that aMajor League Baseball game ended in a tie, it was replayed if necessary to decide postseason advancement. Tied games counted in statistical records, but were not counted in a team's win-loss percentage. Since 2007, tied games that must be abandoned for whatever reason are resumed (if feasible and/or necessary) from the point of suspension, as opposed to being replayed in full.
Until the2020 Major League Baseball season, it was possible for teams toprotest games, usually if the manager believed his team was harmed by a consequential umpiring decision that violated MLB rules. If the protest was upheld, the game would be replayed from the "point-of-protest" at a later date. In total, 15 MLB games were partially replayed under this rule, the last such occurrence happening in 2014. Most upheld protests were in theNational League. The only case where theAmerican League upheld a protest and ordered a replay was after the famousPine Tar Incident in 1983. The rule was abolished after the 2019 MLB season, so protests and ensuing replays are no longer possible.
In boxing, rematches (referred to as "rematch" and not "replay", or simply by the match-up followed by aRoman numeral, as inHolyfield vs. Tyson II) are common and expected, producing historically significant moments in the sport. Examples include:
TheNational Football League has a clause in its rules that allows thecommissioner to order a whole or partial replay of a game that has been corrupted by an "extraordinary act." For a partial replay, the game is reset to the point immediately before the play in which the act took place, with all game parameters (time, score, ball position and possession) set to where they were at that point. A full replay discards the result of the previous game altogether and restarts the game from its beginning.
As of 2026, the NFL has never used its extraordinary act clause. The rulebook states that the authority is only to be used in the event that "any club action, non-participant interference, or calamity occurs in an NFL game which the Commissioner deems so extraordinarily unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of the game."[10] Former commissionerPete Rozelle refused on principle to use the provisions, notably after the notoriousSnowplow Game.[11] Under commissionerRoger Goodell, the league also opposes using the power, mainly because of thedomino effect it could have on the rest of the schedule and the financial ramifications that would result.[12] When this situation occurred in the aftermath ofDamar Hamlin's on-field collapse in January 2023, it was decided instead to create an alternate playoff path for both theBuffalo Bills andCincinnati Bengals, rather than replay the game.
The1909 Scottish Cup Final resulted in a 2-2 draw betweenCeltic F.C. andRangers F.C. When the replay resulted in a 1-1 draw, a riot ensued after the crowd learned extra time would not be played. As a result, a second replay was not held and the trophy was not awarded.
The1932 NFL Playoff Game can be seen as a replay, since the two teams had tied earlier in the year and the extra game was needed to decide the league championship.
A 1972Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAAA football semifinal playoff betweenMonroeNeville and hostNew OrleansBrother Martin was replayed four days later after the game ended scoreless and both teams had the same number of first downs and penetrations inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Since there was no overtime provision in theNational Federation of State High School Associations rules at the time (except inKansas), the commissioner of the LHSAA ordered a new game after the suggestion to use acoin toss to determine the winner was vehemently rejected by both coaches. Neville won the replay, contested in a driving rain atAlexandria 8-0, and went on to defeatBossier City Airline three days later for the state championship.
The1991 UAAP men's basketball championship between theDe La Salle Green Archers and theFEU Tamaraws ended with FEU winning the game byforfeit; the original game ended with De La Salle winning 80–77. It was then ordered into a replay after FEU put the game under protest as a De La Salle player did not immediately leave the game after fouling out. De La Salle did not attend the replayed game, and FEU was awarded the championship by forfeit.
The2010 AFL Grand Final betweenCollingwood andSt Kilda ended in a 9.14 (68) to 10.8 (68) draw, and was replayed the following week, withCollingwood taking the Premiership by winning 16.12 (108) to 7.10 (52). This would prove to be the last replayed AFL Grand Final, as from the 2016 season forward the league abolished Grand Final replays in favour of the use of two 5-minute overtime periods. If a Grand Final is tied at the end of the second overtime period, the siren that ends play will not be sounded until the next score by either team.
Game 6 of the2010 Japan Series between theChunichi Dragons and theChiba Lotte Marines ended tied 2-2 after 15 innings (in the longest game in the league's history: 5 hours, 43 minutes), and was replayed the following day with the Marines winning the game 8-7 and claiming the league championship 4 games to 2 (with 1 tie).
InGaelic games, the final matches of the All-Ireland championships in each individual sport are decided by replays in the event of a draw. As in the AFL before 2016, extra time is used only if the replay is also drawn at the end of regulation. The most recent replay in the top-level finals of each Gaelic sport was:
Men's football: In2016,Dublin defeatedMayo 1–15 to 1–14 (18 points to 17) after the teams finished the original match level at 15 points (Dublin 2–9, Mayo 0–15).
Hurling: In2013,Clare defeatedCork 5-16 to 3-16 (31 points to 25) after the teams finished the original match level at 25 points (Cork 3-16, Clare 0-25).
Ladies' football: In1998,Waterford defeatedMonaghan 2–14 to 3–8 (20 points to 17) after the teams finished the original match level at 19 points (Monaghan 4–7, Waterford 1–16).
Camogie (women): In1981,Kilkenny defeated Cork 1–9 to 0–7 (12 points to 7) after the teams finished the original match level at 18 points (3–9 each).
In the1991 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, theDublin–Meath game required four matches for a winner to be found: the first game was a draw; the second was tied, and still tied after extra time; the third game was also drawn, and drawn after extra time; Meath won the fourth game.[13]
In the1925 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, theRoscommon–Sligo game required six matches for a winner to be found: Roscommon won the first game, but the result was overturned on an objection; the first three replays were all draws; Roscommon won the fourth replay, but the result was again overturned on an objection; and Sligo won the fifth replay.[14][15][16]
