The 2024–25 FA Cup qualifying rounds opened the 144th edition of the

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, organised 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 ...

, the governing body for the sport in England. 653 teams in the 5th to 9th tier of

English football Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first football league, the oldest ...

competed across six rounds for 32 spots in the 2024-25 FA Cup first round proper.

Eligibility

The qualifying rounds are the point of entry into the FA Cup for all "

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—teams below the top four tiers of English football, and therefore outside the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

(EFL). These teams compete in leagues below the EFL which constitute the

National League System The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Football Association. The National League System has a ...

. The number of teams entered in the FA Cup overall rose from 732 in 2023-24 to 745 the following season due to an increase in the number of teams in the 9th tier. Because of this increase, teams from 10th tier were no longer accepted into the competition, so the 2024-25 qualifying rounds encompassed all teams that entered from the 5th to 9th tiers—steps 1 to 5 of the National League System.

Calendar

Extra preliminary round

The draw for the extra preliminary round was made on 5 July 2024.

Notes

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round was made on 5 July 2024, following the draw for the extra preliminary round. This round saw the remaining teams from Tier 8 enter the competition.

Notes

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was made on 19 August 2024. This round saw all teams from step three enter the competition.

Upsets

Notes

Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was made on 2 September 2024. This round saw all teams from Tier 6 enter the competition. 16 teams from Tier 9 ( 1874 Northwich, AFC Stoneham, Amersham Town,

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, Barnoldswick Town, Bottesford Town, Bury, Corinthian, Crook Town,

Hallam Hallam may refer to: Places * Hallam, Victoria, Australia ** Hallam railway station UK * Hallamshire, an area in South Yorkshire, England, UK ** Royal Hallamshire Hospital ** Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency) ** Sheffield Hallam Univer ...

, Harefield United, Lordswood, Nailsea & Tickenham, Newcastle Benfield, Shifnal Town, and West Didsbury & Chorlton) entered this round as the lowest ranked teams remaining in the competition.

Upsets

Notes

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was made on 16 September 2024. Three clubs ( Amersham Town, Bury, and Shifnal Town) from Tier 9 progressed to this round. Teams in bold advanced to the Fourth qualifying round.

Upsets

Notes

Fourth qualifying round

The draw for the fourth qualifying round was made on 30 September 2024. One club from Tier 9, Bury, progressed to this round. Teams in bold advanced 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 ...

Upsets

Notes

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

References

External links

The FA Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 FA Cup qualifying rounds

qualifying rounds Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

FA Cup qualifying rounds