The 2000–01 FA Cup qualifying rounds opened the 120th season of competition in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for '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

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competition. A total of 602 clubs were accepted for the competition, up 23 from the previous season’s 579. This season saw invites extended to some teams from Level 10 in the

English football pyramid 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 ...

. With the larger number of clubs entering the tournament from

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

teams (Levels 5 through 10), a new extra preliminary round was added to the tournament. As a result, the competition started with six rounds of preliminary (2) and qualifying (4) knockouts for these non-League teams. The 32 winning teams from 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 ...

, where

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

teams tiered at Levels 3 and 4 entered the competition.

Calendar

Extra preliminary round

Matches were played on weekend of Saturday 19 August 2000. 34 clubs from Level 8 and Level 10 of English football, entered at this stage of the competition, while other clubs from levels 8-10 get a bye to the next rounds.

Preliminary round

Matches were played on weekend of Saturday 2 September 2000. A total of 404 clubs took part in this stage of the competition, including the 17 winners from the extra preliminary round, 300 clubs from Levels 8-10, who get a bye in the extra preliminary round and 87 clubs entering at this stage from the four divisions at Level 7 of English football (all, except

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

). The round featured 40 clubs from Level 10 in the competition, being the lowest ranked clubs in this round.

First qualifying round

Matches were played on weekend of 16 September 2000. A total of 202 clubs took part in this stage of the competition, all having progressed from the preliminary round. The round featured 15 clubs from Level 10 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked clubs in this round.

Second qualifying round

Matches were played on weekend of 30 September 2000. A total of 168 clubs took part in this stage of the competition, including the 101 winners from the first qualifying round and 67 Level 6 clubs, from Premier divisions of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

and

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

, entering at this stage. AFC Wallingford and

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Mers ...

from the

Combined Counties Football League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

and Beaconsfield SYCOB, St Margaretsbury and

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and E ...

from the

Spartan South Midlands Football League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

, which technically were the Level 10 leagues were the lowest ranked clubs in this round. Also, the round featured seven clubs from Level 9 still in the competition.

Third qualifying round

Matches were played on weekend of 14 October 2000. A total of 84 clubs took part, all having progressed from the second qualifying round. Bracknell Town and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

at Level 9 of English football were the lowest-ranked clubs to qualify for this round of the competition.

Fourth qualifying round

Matches were played on weekend of Saturday 28 October 2000. A total of 64 clubs took part, 42 having progressed from the third qualifying round and 22 clubs from

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

, forming Level 5 of English football, entering at this stage. The round featured Bracknell Town from Level 9 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked club in this round.

2000–01 FA Cup

See 2000–01 FA Cup for details of the rounds from the first round proper onwards.

External links

Football Club History Database: FA Cup 2000–01

The FA Cup Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:2000-01 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds FA Cup qualifying rounds Qual