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 ...

, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a

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 in English

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 ...

. It is the oldest football competition in the world, having commenced in 1871. Although the competition is the national cup of England, numerous clubs from outside England have participated in the tournament, with some still doing so as of 2016.

Guernsey

Although St. Martins and

Vale Recreation A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...

have competed in the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

, Guernsey FC are the only club from the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the t ...

to have competed in the FA Cup. Formed in 2011, they first entered the competition in 2013, reaching the 2nd qualifying round. Under FA rules, Guernsey must play any home replay at a neutral English venue – as of 2015, they had played six games in the competition – four away and two 'home' replays in England. Although sides from Isle of Man and Jersey had competed in the

, Guernsey FC remained the only club from the crown dependencies to have played in the FA Cup until Jersey Bulls in 2021. The football associations of each crown dependency has County Football Association status within

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 ...

Ireland

Between 1887–88 and 1890–91, five Irish clubs competed in the FA Cup. In 1887,

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

became the first club from Ireland to enter the competition. Cliftonville and Linfield Athletic were the last clubs from the island to appear, both competing in 1890–91. Cliftonville progressed further in the competition than any other Irish club, reaching the 3rd round in 1886–87 before crashing out 11–0 to

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. Following the introduction of qualifying rounds, Linfield Athletic progressed through the most rounds of any Irish club, winning three ties in 1888–89 to reach the first round proper. Linfield's 7–0 victory over Cliftonville during the 1888–89 fourth qualifying round is notable for being the only FA Cup match ever to be played on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

. All five clubs were located in what is now

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. However, the entire island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

was still a part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

at the time, as Northern Ireland was not created until the

partition of Ireland The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. I ...

in 1921.

Jersey

Jersey Bulls are the only club from the

Bailiwick of Jersey A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on the ...

to have competed in the FA Cup. Formed in 2018, they first entered the competition in 2021, reaching the 3rd qualifying round. Although a team from the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

and several other Channel Island teams have competed in the

, Jersey Bulls and Guernsey FC are the only two clubs from the crown dependencies to have played in the FA Cup. The football associations of each crown dependency has County Football Association status within

Scotland

The first Scottish club to enter was Queen's Park, who accepted an invitation to take part in the very first competition after a number of the clubs which had originally entered withdrew. The

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

team were by far the dominant force in Scottish football, and no other team had even managed to score a goal against them. Because of a combination of

byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body. Scoring byes Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...

and the withdrawal of opponents, "Queen's" reached the semi-finals without playing a match, but after holding Wanderers to a draw the Scottish club was forced to withdraw as the funds could not be raised to return for a replay. The following season Queen's entered the competition again and, to ease the travelling expenses required to take part in a competition in which virtually every other team was based in the home counties, were afforded byes all the way to the semi-finals. At this stage the club was drawn against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, whereupon the Scots withdrew from the competition, although one account states that Queen's in fact beat Oxford only to then withdraw as the team could not afford to travel to London for the final. In 1873, the newly formed

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

launched the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, but Queen's Park continued to enter the FA Cup draw, although for unknown reasons the club withdrew each time without playing. In 1883, Queen's returned to the FA Cup and reached the final, scoring resounding wins over Crewe Alexandra (10–0) and Manchester F.C. (15–0) en route, only to be defeated by Blackburn Rovers. The match against Manchester was the first FA Cup tie to be staged in Scotland, hosted at

Titwood Titwood is a cricket ground in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home of the Clydesdale Cricket Club and is one of four international grounds in Scotland approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a home venue f ...

, the home of Clydesdale CC. A year later Queens met Blackburn Rovers in the final once again, with the English team again emerging victorious. The 1885–86 competition saw the first participation by other Scottish clubs, as Queen's were joined by

, Third Lanark,

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and Heart of Midlothian, although the latter two withdrew without playing a match. These clubs all returned for the 1886–87 competition, along with newcomers Renton and

Cowlairs Cowlairs is an area in the Scottish city of Glasgow, part of the wider Springburn district of the city. It is situated north of the River Clyde, between central Springburn to the east and Possilpark to the west. Administratively, in the 21st ce ...

. In 1887, the Scottish Football Association banned its members from taking any further part in the FA Cup. No more Scottish clubs participated until

Gretna F.C. Gretna Football Club was a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, close to the border between England and Scotland, that last competed in the Scottish Premier League, the then top flight of Sco ...

entered the competition in the 1980s. Because the town of Gretna is located extremely close to the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

, the local football club had opted to play in 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 ...

and by the 1980s had reached the

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 ...

, making the team eligible to enter the FA Cup. Gretna played in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup for nineteen seasons, making the first round proper twice, until the club joined the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

in 2002.

Wales

Until the founding of the

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

in 1991, most senior Welsh sides were included within the English league system, and could therefore be eligible for entry into the FA Cup. Since that time, all but a handful of Welsh teams have joined the Welsh league system and are no longer eligible.

References

{{FA Cup FA Cup Expatriated football clubs