The 2015–16 FA Cup qualifying rounds opened the 135th season of competition in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for The Football Association Challenge Cup (

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

), 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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, ...

competition. A total of 736 clubs were accepted for the competition, the same as the previous season. The large number of clubs entering the tournament from lower down ( Levels 5 to 10) in the English football pyramid meant that the competition started with six rounds of preliminary (2) and qualifying (4) knockouts for these

non-League Non-League football describes association football, 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 ...

teams. The 32 winning teams from the fourth qualifying round progressed to the

First round proper First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, 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 * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

teams tiered at Levels 3 and 4 entered the competition.

Calendar and prizes

The calendar for the 2015–16 FA Cup qualifying rounds, as announced by

The Football Association The Football Association (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 oldest footb ...

Extra preliminary round

Extra preliminary round fixtures were due to be played on 15 August 2015, with replays taking place no later than 20 August 2015. A total of 368 teams, from Level 9 and Level 10 of English football, entered at this stage of the competition. The round includes 91 teams from Level 10 of English football, being the lowest ranked clubs to compete in the tournament.

Preliminary round

Preliminary round fixtures were due to be played on 29 August 2015, with replays no later than 4 September. A total of 320 teams took part in this stage of the competition, including the 184 winners from the Extra preliminary round and 136 entering at this stage from the six leagues at Level 8 of English football. The round included 29 teams from Level 10 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked teams in this round.

First qualifying round

First qualifying round fixtures were played on 12 September 2015, with replays no later than 18 September. A total of 232 teams took part in this stage of the competition, including the 160 winners from the

Preliminary round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

and 72 entering at this stage from the three leagues at Level 7 of English football. The round included eleven teams from Level 10 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked teams in this round.

Second qualifying round

Second qualifying round fixtures were due to be played on 26 September 2015, with replays no later than 2 October. A total of 160 teams took part in this stage of the competition, including the 116 winners from the first qualifying round and 44 entering at this stage from the two leagues at Level 6 of English football. The round included Bodmin Town,

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...

and

Hook Norton Hook Norton is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It lies northeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, Chipping Norton, close to the Cotswold Hills. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded ...

from Level 10 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked teams in this round.

Third qualifying round

Third qualifying round fixtures were due to be played on 10 October 2015, with replays taking place no later than 16 October. A total of 80 teams took part in this stage of the competition, all winners from the second qualifying round. The round included eight teams from Level 9 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked teams in this round.

Fourth qualifying round

Fourth qualifying round fixtures were due to be played on 24 October 2015, with replays taking place no later than 30 October. A total of 64 teams took part in this stage of the competition, including the 40 winners from the third qualifying round and 24 entering at this stage from the

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

at Level 5 of English football. The round included Sporting Khalsa from Level 9 still in the competition, being the lowest ranked team in this round.

Competition proper

Winners from the fourth qualifying round advanced to the

, where teams from League One (Level 3) and League Two (Level 4) of English football, operating in

The 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, first enter the competition. See

2015–16 FA Cup The 2015–16 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 135th 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. It began with th ...

for a report of first round proper onwards.

Broadcasting rights

The qualifying rounds aren't 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 BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

and

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

, although one game was televised. The following qualifying rounds matches were broadcast live on UK television:

References

External links

The FA Cup Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds 2015–16 FA Cup FA Cup qualifying rounds