| FA Cup | |
| Year: | 2024–25 |
| Other Titles: | Football Association Cup |
| Country: | England Wales |
| Dates: | [1] |
| Num Teams: | 745[2] 653 (qualifying competition) 124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers) |
| Prev Season: | 2023–24 |
| Next Season: | 2025–26 |
| Defending Champions: | Manchester United |
The 2024–25 FA Cup is the 144th season of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. It is sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship reasons. The FA Cup is the main domestic cup competition for men's football teams in England.
The qualifying competition began on 3 August 2024, with the proper tournament starting on 2 November 2024. The final will be played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 17 May 2025.
The FA Cup is a knockout competition with 124 teams taking part from the first round proper, and all trying to reach the final at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2025. The competition consists of the 92 teams from the Football League system (20 teams from the Premier League and the 72 in total from the EFL Championship, EFL League One and EFL League Two) plus the 32 surviving teams out of 653 teams from the National League System that started the competition in the qualifying rounds. The total 745 entrants was an increase of 13 from the previous season, and the most since 758 entrants were accepted in 2012–13.
All rounds will be drawn randomly, usually either at the completion of the previous round discounting any last games of a round being played, depending on television broadcasting rights.
| Round | Main date | Number of fixtures | Clubs remaining | New entries this round | Winner prize money | Loser prize money | Divisions entering this round | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Saturday 2 November 2024 | 40 | 124 → 84 | 48 | £45,000 | £15,000 | 24 EFL League One teams 24 EFL League Two teams | |
| Second round | Saturday 30 November 2024 | 20 | 84 → 64 | None | £75,000 | £20,000 | None | |
| Third round | Saturday 11 January 2025 | 32 | 64 → 32 | 44 | £115,000 | £25,000 | 20 Premier League teams 24 EFL Championship teams | |
| Fourth round | Saturday 8 February 2025 | 16 | 32 → 16 | None | £120,000 | None | None | |
| Fifth round | Saturday 1 March 2025 | 8 | 16 → 8 | None | £225,000 | None | None | |
| Quarter-finals | Saturday 29 March 2025 | 4 | 8 → 4 | None | £450,000 | None | None | |
| Semi-finals | Saturday 26 April 2025 | 2 | 4 → 2 | None | £1,000,000 | £500,000 | None | |
| Final | Saturday 17 May 2025 | 1 | 2 → 1 | None | £2,000,000 | £1,000,000 | None |
This is the first edition of the tournament to be played without replays in the proper rounds since the 2020–21 FA Cup and the first edition of the tournament to have the final played one week before the end of the Premier League season.[3] The changes were made as part of a six-year agreement between The Football Association and the Premier League due to pressure on the domestic calendar from expanded UEFA competitions, but were criticised since replays were cited as an important source of revenue for lower league clubs.[4] [5] The agreement saw all round dates return to weekends, with previous editions having had some dates in midweek.
See main article: 2024–25 FA Cup qualifying rounds. Teams that are not members of either the Premier League or English Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 available places in the first round. The six-round qualifying competition began with the extra preliminary round on 3 August 2024.
A total of 80 teams played in the first round: 32 winners from the fourth qualifying round, 24 from League Two (tier 4), and 24 from League One (tier 3). Eighth tier side Hednesford Town were the lowest-ranked team in the draw, which was made on 14 October 2024 by Stuart McCall and Danny Webber at Valley Parade.[6]
All 40 winners from the first round will play in the second round. Seventh tier sides Gainsborough Trinity, Harborough Town and Kettering Town were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw, which was made on 3 November 2024 by Emile Heskey and Leon Osman.[7]
A total of 64 clubs will play in the third round: 20 winners from the second round, 20 from Premier League (tier 1), and 24 from Championship (tier 2). National League sides Dagenham & Redbridge and Tamworth were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw, which was made on 2 December 2024 by Mark Hughes and Dion Dublin at Old Trafford.[8]
| Rank[9] | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricky-Jade Jones | Peterborough United | 4 | |
| Josh Magennis | Exeter City | |||
| 3 |  Gassan Ahadme | Charlton Athletic | 3 | |
| Tyler Walton | Accrington Stanley | |||
| 5 | 23 players | 2 | ||
Both BBC Sport and ITV Sport air FA Cup matches until the 2025–26 season. In Australia, FA Cup matches (along with Premier League and Women's Super League matches) are broadcast on Optus Sport.[10]
| Broadcaster | Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| BBC Sport | 18 live matches per season, with highlights of the FA Community Shield.[11] BBC Sport has second and third picks of matches in the second round, fourth round and the quarter-finals, as well as first and fourth pick of matches in the first, third and fifth rounds, and first pick of the semi-finals. | |
| ITV Sport | At least 20 live matches per season, plus live coverage of the FA Community Shield.[12] ITV has first pick and fourth pick of matches in the second round, fourth round and the quarter-finals, as well as second and third picks for the first, third and fifth rounds and second pick of the semi-finals. |
| Round | Date | Teams | Kick-off | TV Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round[13] | 1 November 2024 | Tamworth v Huddersfield Town | 19:45 | BBC Two |
| 2 November 2024 | Northampton Town v Kettering Town | 17:30 | BBC Two | |
| 3 November 2024 | Sutton United v Birmingham City | 12:30 | ITV1 | |
| Harrogate Town v Wrexham | 15:30 | ITVX | ||
| 4 November 2024 | Chesham United v Lincoln City | 19:15 | ITV4 | |
| Second Round[14] | 29 November 2024 | Harrogate Town v Gainsborough Trinity | 19:45 | BBC Two |
| 30 November 2024 | Wealdstone v Wycombe Wanderers | 11:30 | ITV1, ITVX, STV | |
| AFC Wimbledon v Dagenham & Redbridge | 19:15 | ITVX | ||
| 1 December 2024 | Kettering Town v Doncaster Rovers | 12:00 | BBC Two | |
| Solihull Moors v Bromley | 15:15 | ITV1, ITVX, STV |