About FA Cup 2024-25
The FA Cup stands for Football Association Challenge Cup and is the oldest existing football competition among the ones that exist today. It is organized by and named after the Football Association (FA). A concurrent Women's FA Cup was also started in 1970.
The first edition of the tournament was organized in the 1871-72 season and it has been going on every year since then (with interruptions during the first and the second World Wars).
FA Cup History and Records
On July 20, 1871, i.e., eight years after the establishment of the Football Association (FA), secretary C. W. Alcock proposed the establishment of the FA Cup. In the inaugural edition of the tournament, Wanderers FC were declared champions after a total of 13 games played. The modern format of the game was introduced in the 1888-89 season when qualifying rounds were introduced.
Premier League giants Arsenal have won the most number of FA Cups (14), followed by Manchester United (13). Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur have won eight times each. Manchester United are the most recent winners of the tournament in the 2023-24 season under former coach Erik ten Hag. Here is the list of the winners of every single edition of the FA Cup.
Ashley Cole is the player with the highest number of FA Cup wins in history with seven titles to his name. Among them, three were won with Arsenal and four with Chelsea. Arsene Wenger has won the tournament seven times with Arsenal, making him the manager with the most FA Cup wins. Ian Rush is the highest goalscorer in FA Cup history with 41 goals in 73 games.
FA Cup 2024-25 Host
The 2024-25 edition of the FA Cup is its 144th edition and is known as the Emirates Cup (for sponsorship reasons). Like every season, England will host the tournament and all matches will be held in the country.
FA Cup 2024-25 Format
The FA Cup is played by teams from all ten divisions of the English footballing pyramid. The rounds in the competition can be broadly divided into two stages – Qualifying competition and Competition Proper.
All teams from Level 9 begin the tournament in the extra preliminary round, with teams from level 10 participating in case of a vacancy. From level 8, teams are ranked based on their PPG and are split between the extra-preliminary and the preliminary rounds depending on the balance of matches. Teams from higher levels are introduced in the subsequent rounds. Here is the detailed format of the FA Cup.
| Round | Month | Leagues entering this round | New entries this round | Winners from previous round | Number of fixtures |
| Qualifying Competition | |||||
| Extra preliminary round | August | Any vacancies filled by Level 10, Level 9 club, Level 8 clubs (96 lowest ranked) | 416 | 208 | |
| Preliminary round | Level 8 clubs (64 highest ranked) | 64 | 208 | 136 | |
| First round | September | Level 7 clubs | 88 | 136 | 112 |
| Second round | Level 6 clubs | 48 | 112 | 80 | |
| Third round | October | none | 0 | 80 | 40 |
| Fourth round | Level 5 clubs | 24 | 40 | 32 | |
| Competition Proper | |||||
| First round | November | Level 3 and 4 clubs | 48 | 32 | 40 |
| Second round | December | none | 0 | 40 | 20 |
| Third round | January | Level 1 and 2 clubs | 44 | 20 | 32 |
| Fourth round | February | none | 0 | 32 | 16 |
| Fifth round | March | 0 | 16 | 8 | |
| Quarter-finals | 0 | 8 | 4 | ||
| Semi-finals | April | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| Final | May | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
FA Cup 2024-25 Schedule
Here is the schedule for the five rounds of the FA Cup 2024-25 Competition Proper.
First Round Draw
| Date | Fixture |
| Nov 1 | Notts County vs. Alfreton Town |
| Nov 1 | Tamworth vs. Huddersfield Town |
| Nov 2 | Barrow vs. Doncaster Rovers |
| Nov 2 | Brackley Town vs. Braintree Town |
| Nov 2 | Bradford City vs. Aldershot Town |
| Nov 2 | Bristol Rovers vs. Weston-super-Mare |
| Nov 2 | Burton Albion vs. Scarborough Athletic |
| Nov 2 | Carlisle United vs. Wigan Athletic |
| Nov 2 | Chesterfield vs. Horsham |
| Nov 2 | Crewe Alexandra vs. Dagenham & Redbridge |
| Nov 2 | Exeter City vs. Barnet |
| Nov 2 | Gillingham vs. Blackpool |
| Nov 2 | Grimsby Town vs. Wealdstone |
| Nov 2 | Hednesford Town vs. Gainsborough Trinity |
| Nov 2 | Maidenhead United vs. Crawley Town |
| Nov 2 | Newport County vs. Peterborough United |
| Nov 2 | Port Vale vs. Barnsley |
| Nov 2 | Reading vs. Fleetwood Town |
| Nov 2 | Rochdale vs. Bromley |
| Nov 2 | Rotherham United vs. Cheltenham Town |
| Nov 2 | Rushall Olympic vs. Accrington Stanley |
| Nov 2 | Salford City vs. Shrewsbury Town |
| Nov 2 | Solihull Moors vs. Maidstone United |
| Nov 2 | Southend United vs. Charlton Athletic |
| Nov 2 | Stevenage vs. Guiseley |
| Nov 2 | Stockport County vs. Forest Green Rovers |
| Nov 2 | Swindon Town vs. Colchester United |
| Nov 2 | Tonbridge Angels vs. Harborough Town |
| Nov 2 | Tranmere Rovers vs. Oldham Athletic |
| Nov 2 | Walsall vs. Bolton Wanderers |
| Nov 2 | Woking vs. Cambridge United |
| Nov 2 | Worthing vs. Morecambe |
| Nov 2 | Wycombe Wanderers vs. York City |
| Nov 2 | Northampton Town vs. Kettering Town |
| Nov 3 | MK Dons vs. Wimbledon |
| Nov 3 | Sutton United vs. Birmingham City |
| Nov 3 | Boreham Wood vs. Leyton Orient |
| Nov 3 | Curzon Ashton vs. Mansfield Town |
| Nov 3 | Harrogate Town vs. Wrexham |
| Nov 4 | Chesham United vs. Lincoln City |
Second Round Draw
| Date | Fixture |
| Nov 29 | Harrogate Town vs. Gainsborough Trinity |
| Nov 30 | Wealdstone vs. Wycombe Wanderers |
| Nov 30 | Salford City vs. Cheltenham Town |
| Nov 30 | Walsall vs. Charlton Athletic |
| Nov 30 | Exeter City vs. Chesterfield |
| Nov 30 | Leyton Orient vs. Oldham Athletic |
| Nov 30 | Barnsley vs. Bristol Rovers |
| Nov 30 | Accrington Stanley vs. Swindon Town |
| Nov 30 | Crawley Town vs. Lincoln City |
| Nov 30 | Stevenage vs. Mansfield Town |
| Nov 30 | Peterborough United vs. Notts County |
| Nov 30 | Stockport County vs. Brackley Town |
| Nov 30 | Morecambe vs. Bradford City |
| Nov 30 | Cambridge United vs. Wigan Athletic |
| Nov 30 | Wimbledon vs. Dagenham & Redbridge |
| Dec 1 | Kettering Town vs. Doncaster Rovers |
| Dec 1 | Blackpool vs. Birmingham City |
| Dec 1 | Burton Albion vs. Tamworth |
| Dec 1 | Reading vs. Harborough Town |
| Dec 1 | Solihull Moors vs. Bromley |
Third Round
| Date | Fixture |
| Jan 9 | Sheffield United vs. Cardiff City |
| Jan 9 | Everton vs. Peterborough United |
| Jan 9 | Fulham vs. Watford |
| Jan 10 | Wycombe Wanderers vs. Portsmouth |
| Jan 10 | Aston Villa vs. West Ham United |
| Jan 11 | Bristol City vs. Wolves |
| Jan 11 | Middlesbrough vs. Blackburn Rovers |
| Jan 11 | Birmingham City vs. Lincoln City |
| Jan 11 | Liverpool vs. Accrington Stanley |
| Jan 11 | Leicester City vs. QPR |
| Jan 11 | Exeter City vs. Oxford United |
| Jan 11 | Reading vs. Burnley |
| Jan 11 | Norwich City vs. Brighton |
| Jan 11 | Chelsea vs. Morecambe |
| Jan 11 | Bournemouth vs. West Brom |
| Jan 11 | Sunderland vs. Stoke City |
| Jan 11 | Brentford vs. Plymouth Argyle |
| Jan 11 | Nottingham Forest vs. Luton Town |
| Jan 11 | Manchester City vs. Salford City |
| Jan 11 | Leeds United vs. Harrogate Town |
| Jan 11 | Coventry City vs. Sheffield Wednesday |
| Jan 12 | Hull City vs. Doncaster Rovers |
| Jan 12 | Tamworth vs. Tottenham |
| Jan 12 | Arsenal vs. Manchester United |
| Jan 12 | Newcastle United vs. Bromley |
| Jan 12 | Ipswich Town vs. Bristol Rovers |
| Jan 12 | Crystal Palace vs. Stockport County |
| Jan 12 | Southampton vs. Swansea City |
| Jan 13 | Millwall vs. Dagenham & Redbridge |
| Jan 14 | Mansfield Town vs. Wigan Athletic |
| Jan 14 | Leyton Orient vs. Derby County |
| Jan 14 | Preston North End vs. Charlton Athletic |
Fourth Round
| Date | Fixture |
| Feb 7 | Man Utd vs. Leicester |
| Feb 8 | Leyton Orient vs. Man City |
| Feb 8 | Leeds vs. Millwall |
| Feb 8 | Brighton vs. Chelsea |
| Feb 8 | Preston vs. Wycombe |
| Feb 8 | Coventry vs. Ipswich |
| Feb 8 | Wigan vs. Fulham |
| Feb 8 | Birmingham vs. Newcastle |
| Feb 8 | Everton vs. Bournemouth |
| Feb 8 | Southampton vs. Burnley |
| Feb 8 | Stoke vs. Cardiff |
| Feb 9 | Plymouth vs. Liverpool |
| Feb 9 | Blackburn Rovers vs. Wolves |
| Feb 9 | Aston Villa vs. Tottenham |
| Feb 10 | Doncaster Rovers vs. Crystal Palace |
| Feb 11 | Exeter vs. Nottingham Forest |
Fifth Round
| Date | Fixture |
| Feb 28 | Aston Villa vs Cardiff City |
| Mar 1 | Preston vs Burnley |
| Mar 1 | Crystal Palace vs Millwall |
| Mar 1 | Bournemouth vs Wolves |
| Mar 1 | Manchester City vs Plymouth |
| Mar 2 | Newcastle United vs Brighton |
| Mar 2 | Manchester United vs Fulham |
| Mar 3 | Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich |
FA Cup 2024-25 Teams and Groups
FA Cup 2024-25 consists of a total of 745 teams from all ten levels of English football. They are not divided into groups and are randomly drawn based on various rules and participate in knockout games. The last two remaining sides reach the final,
FA Cup 2024-25 Sponsors and Partners
The chief sponsor for the FA Cup 2024-25 is Emirates. As per a report by FA, they have extended their partnership with Emirates for four more years this season. Therefore, FA Cup will continue to be called the Emirates FA Cup until 2028. Both ITV Sport and BBC Sport has the television rights to broadcast FA Cup matches for the entire season.
FAQs on FA Cup 2024-25
A. FA Cup 2024-25 will be held in England.
A. A total of 745 teams are participating in FA Cup 2024-25.
A. As per Transfermarkt, Ian Rush is the highest goalscorer in FA Cup history with 41 goals in 73 games.
