FA Cup

About the FA Cup

The FA Cup is the open knockout in which a Yorkshire club can be drawn against anyone still in the hat — a non-league qualifier one round, a Premier League side the next. Yorkshire.com follows Leeds United FC, Hull City FC, Sheffield United FC, Sheffield Wednesday FC, Barnsley FC, Middlesbrough FC and other Yorkshire sides through every round they reach. There is no table: one tie, winner goes through.

The 2025/26 FA Cup ran from August qualifying to a May final at Wembley Stadium. Qualifying opened on 1 August 2025, the competition proper on 31 October 2025, and the final on 16 May 2026.

How the tournament works

• It is a straight knockout from August through May: qualifying, then the proper rounds, then semi-finals and a single final. Clubs higher up the pyramid join later, so Barnsley FC or a National League side is not meeting Leeds United FC on the first Saturday of August.
• The first six rounds are qualifying and are drawn in regions so smaller clubs are not sent the length of the country. From the first round proper there is one national draw. That is when League One and League Two clubs, including Yorkshire sides at that level, come in; Premier League and Championship clubs receive a bye until the third round proper in January.
• Each round is an unseeded random draw. Extra-preliminary, preliminary and first-qualifying draws can be batched; after that, the next round is not drawn until the previous round’s scheduled dates have passed.
• From the 2024/25 competition, first-round-proper ties that finish level are settled on the night with extra time and, if needed, penalties. Qualifying ties that finish level may still be replayed once.

Rounds