First played in 1871, the FA Cup is the oldest national football competition in the world, and one of the most prestigious domestic trophies that exists in the sport. Open to any eligible team from the Premier League down to the 9th level of English football, more than 700 clubs typically enter each year. As a result, this knockout competition has an undeniable romance few sporting events can match, frequently producing incredible David vs. Goliath match-ups and dramatic “giant-killings” that are immortalised in the annals of football history.
📜 FA Cup History
The competition originated on 20 July 1871, when Football Association secretary Charles William Alcock proposed to the FA “that it is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete.” The inaugural tournament began in November that year, with Alcock captaining Wanderers Football Club to victory in the final 13 games later in the following March.
Aside from breaks for the First and Second World Wars, the FA Cup – the oldest national football competition in the world – has been held annually ever since. Over the years it grew and developed into the tournament we have today, with the 1888-89 campaign not only seeing the introduction of qualifying rounds but also the first “giant-killing” upset as non-league Warwick County beat First Division Stoke City.
The final was held at Wembley Stadium – then known as Empire Stadium – for the first time in 1923; it had a capacity for 127,000 spectators, but more than 200,000 people attempted to attend, prompting a 45-minute delay as police cleared out spectators who had spilled onto the pitch. Substitutions were used for the first time in the 1966-67 tournament to prevent games becoming unbalanced when players were forced off the pitch due to injury, and FA Cup finals and semifinals stopped being played replayed in the event of a draw in 1994 and 2000, respectively. Previously held at neutral grounds, semifinals were permanently moved to new Wembley from 2008 onwards.
The competition’s full name is the Football Association Challenge Cup, although since 2015 it has been known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship reasons. Arsenal are the kings of the competition, having secured more FA Cup wins than any other side.
💯 FA Cup Format & Scoring
The knockout tournament runs from August to May and is played over 12 randomly drawn rounds with no seedings; 6 qualifying rounds preceding 6 “proper” competition rounds, followed by semifinals and a final that are played at Wembley Stadium. Byes ensure the top teams further up the pyramid enter the competition in the later stages; the top 2 divisions enter in the 3rd round. During the competition rounds, if 2 teams are drawing at full-time, 30 minutes of extra-time will be played. If teams still can't be separated after extra-time, a penalty shoot-out will determine the winner. The competition formerly utilised replays – held at the away team's ground – in the event of a draw; these were removed from the final and semifinals in 2000, the quarterfinals in 2016-17, and the 5th round in 2019-20, before being removed altogether in 2024-25.
The winners of the competition qualify for the UEFA Europa League; if the winners have also qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League place will go to the team that finishes 6th in the Premier League.
