The 2020–21 FA Cup qualifying rounds opened the 140th season of The Football Association Challenge Cup (

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

), the world's oldest

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

single

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

competition, organised by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

, the governing body for the sport in England (though the competition also features teams from Wales). The 32 winning teams from the Fourth qualifying round progressed to the

First Round Proper First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...

. The FA made 737 places available in the FA Cup for the 2020–21 season, an increase in two on the previous season, due to the need to produce an extra qualifier in the second qualifying round, following a shortfall in teams at step 2 of the National League System. Following the liquidation of

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

, 736 teams ultimately entered the competition. The 92 teams from the EFL and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

received direct entry to the competition proper. The remaining 644 teams, from the National League System (levels 5–10 of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

), entered into the qualifying competition consisting of six rounds of preliminary (2) and qualifying (4) knockout matches. With 889 eligible entrants, more than the number of places available, teams from level 10 of the English football league system were accepted up to the point at which the 737 places were full, based on a random draw. This reflected the cancellation of level 10 leagues in 2019–20 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and thus the absence of league placings on which to base qualification, as had been used in previous seasons. The pandemic also led to the removal of replays from the qualifying competition, in order to fit with a delayed start following the extended 2019–20 football season, and a reduction in the prize fund, with figures returning to those last used in the 2017–18 season.

Calendar

Planned dates for the early qualifying rounds were released to clubs in the National League System in late July, and confirmed by the FA on 3 August 2020. With replays removed from qualifying, several rounds were scheduled for Tuesdays rather than the usual Saturday.

Extra preliminary round

Extra preliminary round fixtures were played on 31 August – 3 September 2020. The draw was made on 18 August 2020. A total of 368 teams, from Level 8, Level 9 and Level 10 of English football, entered at this stage of the competition, 20 of which were making their first appearance in the competition. This round included 74 teams from Level 10, the lowest-ranked teams in the competition.

Preliminary round

This draw was also made on 18 August 2020, and saw another 136 clubs joining the 184 winners from the previous round. Ties were played between Friday, 11 September and Monday, 14 September 2020. This round included 26 teams from Level 10, the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was made on 14 September 2020, and saw another 74 clubs from Level 7 joining the 160 winners from the Preliminary round. Ties were played between Monday, 21 September and Wednesday, 23 September 2020. This round included 6 teams from Level 10, the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.

Second qualifying round

The draw for the Second qualifying round was made on 25 September 2020, and saw 43 clubs from Level 6 joining the 117 winners from the First qualifying round. Ties were played between Saturday, 3 October and Monday, 5 October 2020. This round included two teams from Level 10, Saltash United and Risborough Rangers, the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.

Third qualifying round

The draw for the Third qualifying round was made on 5 October 2020, and consists solely of the 80 winners from the Second qualifying round. Ties were played on Tuesday, 13 October and Wednesday, 14 October 2020. This round included five teams from Level 9, these being Longridge Town,

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...

, Chatham Town, Sheppey United, and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.

Fourth qualifying round

The draw for the Fourth qualifying round was made on 15 October 2020, and saw 23 clubs from Level 5 joining the 40 winners from the Third qualifying round. Ties were played on the weekend of Saturday, 24 October 2020. This round included one team from Level 9,

, the lowest-ranked team left in the competition. Due to the liquidation of

, there was an odd number of teams competing in this round. As a result,

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

were drawn to receive a bye to the

Broadcasting

The qualifying rounds were not covered by the FA Cup's broadcasting contracts held by

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

and

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

, although one game per round was broadcast by the BBC on its media platforms. In addition,

Hashtag United Hashtag United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Len Salmon Stadium. Founded in 2016 by YouTube personality Spencer Carmichael-Brown, the club original ...

streamed their second qualifying round match live on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

Notes

References

External links

The FA Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 FA Cup qualifying rounds qualifying rounds FA Cup qualifying rounds