The 2020–21 FA Cup was the 140th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the

Football Association Challenge 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 competiti ...

. It was sponsored by

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...

and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners qualified for the

2021–22 UEFA Europa League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers ...

group stage.

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 Fo ...

side Arsenal were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

beat the defending runners-up

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

1–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

to win their first FA Cup, having been runners-up on four previous occasions.

Teams

The

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 ...

is a knockout competition with 124 teams taking part all trying to reach the Final at Wembley in May 2021. The competition consisted of the 92 teams from the Football League system (20 teams from the

and the 72 in total from the EFL Championship, EFL League One and EFL League Two) plus the 32 surviving teams out of 644 teams from the National League System (levels 5–10 of the English football league system) that started the competition in qualifying rounds. All rounds were drawn randomly usually either at the completion of the previous round or on the evening of the last televised game of a round being played depending on television broadcasting rights. This year's competition was subject to changes to the rules and round dates at short notice to follow the latest national and local government guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

Delay and scheduling

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the previous season's competition was delayed, with

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

played roughly three months late, on 1 August 2020. In a normal year, the FA Cup would start in early August, but with the previous season finishing late, the start of the 2020–21 FA Cup was also delayed to 31 August 2020. Contrary to initial speculation that the 2020–21 FA Cup would be reduced in size, on 25 July 2020, the FA confirmed that lower league teams would be able to compete in the competition, with 737 teams accepted (out of 889 entrants), actually representing an increase of two teams on the previous season. Following the liquidation of

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

, 736 teams ultimately entered the competition. All eligible teams at step 5 of the National League System (and above) were accepted into the competition, with the remaining places given to clubs at step 6. In previous seasons step 6 clubs have been given access to the Extra Preliminary Round based on their league position, but due to the cancellation of these leagues in 2019–20, the places for these teams was allocated by a random draw instead.

Round and draw dates

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 all rounds, some qualifying rounds were scheduled for Tuesdays rather than the usual Saturday.

Rules changes

To fit into a truncated schedule for the 2020–21 season, replays were removed entirely from the competition. The prize fund was reduced, with figures returning to those last used in the

2017–18 FA Cup The 2017–18 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 137th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates, and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. 737 clubs were accep ...

. While restrictions on fans attending games in person were in place, the usual prize money awarded to the winners for each round was split 75% to 25% with the losers.

Qualifying rounds

Teams that were not members of either the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 available places in the First Round Proper. The qualifying competition began with the Extra Preliminary Round on 31 August 2020.

First Round Proper

The draw for the First Round Proper was held on 26 October 2020. The 31 winners from the fourth qualifying round joined the clubs from League One and League Two and bye recipients Chorley in 40 ties played over the weekend of 7 November. This round included one team from level 9,

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 ...

, the lowest ranked team left in the competition. Chesterfield were originally drawn to play at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in this round. However, due to Chesterfield fielding an ineligible player during their Fourth Qualifying Round match against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

, the match was replayed and ultimately won by Stockport County.

Second Round Proper

The draw for the Second Round Proper was held on 9 November 2020. The 40 winners from the First Round Proper competed in 20 ties played over the weekend of 28 November. This round included two teams from level 8,

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and Marine, the lowest ranked teams left in the competition.

Third Round Proper

The draw for the Third Round Proper was held on 30 November 2020. The 20 winners from the Second Round Proper joined the clubs from the

and EFL Championship in 32 ties played over the weekend of 9 January 2021. This round included one team from level 8, Marine, the lowest ranked team left in the competition. Marine were drawn against

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, representing the biggest league position gap between two teams in the competition's history.

Fourth Round Proper

The draw for the Fourth Round Proper was held on 11 January 2021, right before the Fifth Round Proper draw. The 32 winners from the Third Round Proper played in 16 ties over the weekend of 23 January 2021. This round included one team from level 6, Chorley, the lowest ranked and the only non-league team left in the competition.

Fifth Round Proper

The draw for the Fifth Round Proper was held on 11 January 2021, immediately after the Fourth Round Proper draw. The 16 winners from the Fourth Round Proper played in eight ties in midweek during the week commencing Monday 8 February 2021. The round featured 12 teams from the

(level 1) and four from the EFL Championship (level 2).

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 11 February 2021, before the match between Barnsley and Chelsea. The eight winners from the Fifth Round Proper play in four ties played on the weekend of 20 March 2021. The round featured seven teams from the

(level 1) and one from the EFL Championship (level 2). Bournemouth were the only non-top flight team to play in this round.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 21 March 2021, at half-time of the match between Leicester City and Manchester United. The four winners from the quarter-finals played in two ties at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

on 17 and 18 April 2021. The round featured four teams from the

(level 1).

Final

Top scorers

Television rights

A number of games per round also aired on

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and

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