Liverpool's FA Cup replay snub has cost Shrewsbury Town 'up to £600,000', claims manager

Alex Young @alexwsyoung4 February 2020

Shrewsbury Town manager Sam Ricketts says Liverpool's decision to play the Under-23s in Tuesday's FA Cup replay has cost his club up to £600,000.

The League One side produced a superb comeback from 2-0 down to earn a replay at Anfield, only for Jurgen Klopp to declare after the game that neither he nor his first-team squad will attend the replay.

Liverpool beat Southampton on Saturday and do not play again until February 15 because of the Premier League winter break, and Klopp wants to "respect" the agreed time off, so Neil Critchley and his U23s side compete in the fixture.

Ricketts believes that Klopp's decision led to TV rights holders BT Sport and the BBC to opt against broadcasting the game meant Shrewsbury have missed out on a huge windfall.

"Huge, for someone like us, the way the game could have gone," he told reporters.

"If you're playing Liverpool's first team you're generating £400,000, £500,000 or £600,000. On the back of this, it will be £100,000 to £150,000 or something like that.

"So, there is a massive difference there for a club like us where every penny counts.

"That's the biggest disappointment for us, that we will lack the revenue from the replay that historically, Liverpool away, would generate the club. What we're going to get, it's two very different things.

"It's probably half a million."

Ricketts, though, understands Shrewsbury's achievement should not be overshadowed by their Premier League counterpart's decision, adding: "If you offered us a replay and £150,000, we'd have snatched your hand off."

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