Soccer – FA Cup 2018-19: Draw, fixtures, results & guide to each round
Goal brings you all you need to know about the oldest competition in football, with the first round now underway
England’s FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world and this season it returns for the 138th time.
The tournament involves teams from the 10th level of the English football pyramid to the top and will see a total of 736 teams take part.
With a rich history stretching back to the 19th century, there have been plenty of moments to savour through the years and clubs will be eager to dabble in the ‘Magic of the Cup’.
Chelsea are the reigning champions, while Arsenal are the most successful club in the history of the competition and both will no doubt be vying for glory.
However, with one-off knockout games there is always a chance of a ‘giant killing’.
With the 2018-19 edition under way, Goal brings you everything you need to know about this season’s FA Cup.
When did the FA Cup start & when is the final?
The first round proper of this season’s FA Cup is scheduled to begin on Saturday November 10, with 48 clubs from League One and League Two entering at that stage.
Premier League and Championship clubs do not enter the competition until the third round proper, which is scheduled to begin on the weekend of Saturday January 5.
Before the first round proper, there were a number of qualifying rounds involving teams from the lower rungs of English football, beginning with the extra preliminary qualifying round, which was played on August 10.
Including the extra preliminary round, there were a total of six qualifying rounds before teams from the Football League enter.
The 2019 FA Cup final is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18 and it will be held at Wembley.
FA Cup first round
The first-round draw of the FA Cup took place on Monday following the conclusion of the fourth qualifying round, which wrapped up on the weekend of October 20.
Forty-eight teams from League One and League Two enter the competition at this stage, where they will join the 32 winners from the previous round.
Among those in the pot are two teams from the seventh tier of English football, Southern League Premier Division side Metropolitan Police and Isthmian Premier’s Haringey Borough, and Weston Super-Mare of the sixth-tier National League South.
First round games themselves are scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, November 10.
| Date | Match | TV? |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 9 | Haringey Borough 0-1 Wimbledon | BBC Two |
| Nov 10 | Maidenhead United vs Portsmouth | BT Sport 1 |
| Nov 10 | Maidstone United vs Macclesfield Town | No |
| Nov 10 | Ebbsfleet United vs Cheltenham Town | No |
| Nov 10 | Swindon Town vs York City | No |
| Nov 10 | Torquay United vs Woking | No |
| Nov 10 | Scunthorpe United vs Burton Albion | No |
| Nov 10 | Aldershot Town vs Bradford City | No |
| Nov 10 | Grimsby Town vs MK Dons | No |
| Nov 10 | Bromley vs Peterborough United | No |
| Nov 10 | Southport vs Boreham Wood | No |
| Nov 10 | Plymouth Argyle vs Stevenage | No |
| Nov 10 | Chesterfield vs Billericay Town | No |
| Nov 10 | Lincoln City vs Northampton Town | No |
| Nov 10 | Yeovil Town vs Stockport County | No |
| Nov 10 | Bury vs Dover Athletic | No |
| Nov 10 | Gillingham vs Hartlepool United | No |
| Nov 10 | Oxford United vs Forest Green Rovers | No |
| Nov 10 | Tranmere Rovers vs Oxford City | No |
| Nov 10 | Accrington Stanley vs Colchester United | No |
| Nov 10 | Barnsley vs Notts County | No |
| Nov 10 | Metropolitan Police vs Newport County | No |
| Nov 10 | Walsall vs Coventry City | No |
| Nov 10 | Rochdale vs Gateshead | No |
| Nov 10 | Sutton United vs Slough Town | No |
| Nov 10 | Exeter City vs Blackpool | No |
| Nov 10 | Luton Town vs Wycombe Wanderers | No |
| Nov 10 | Morecambe vs Halifax Town | No |
| Nov 10 | Crewe Alexandra vs Carlisle United | No |
| Nov 10 | Southend United vs Crawley Town | No |
| Nov 11 | Mansfield Town vs Charlton Athletic | No |
| Nov 11 | Chorley vs Doncaster Rovers | No |
| Nov 11 | Alfreton Town vs Fleetwood Town | No |
| Nov 11 | Barnet vs Bristol Rovers | No |
| Nov 11 | Shrewsbury Town vs Salford City | No |
| Nov 11 | Hitchin Town vs Solihull Motors | No |
| Nov 11 | Guiseley vs Cambridge United | No |
| Nov 11 | Weston Super Mare vs Wrexham | No |
| Nov 11 | Port Vale vs Sunderland | BT Sport 1 |
| Nov 12 | Hampton & Richmond Borough vs Oldham Athletic | BT Sport 1 |
Fixture dates subject to change pending television scheduling.
FA Cup TV channel & stream
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BBC / BT Sport | BBC iPlayer / BT Sport app |
The FA Cup will be broadcast on the BBC and BT Sport in the United Kingdom.
Both networks will air the final and will share the rest of the competition, taking turns to select the games they wish to broadcast.
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All matches shown by the BBC and BT Sport will be available to stream on their respective websites and apps.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | ESPN+ |
In the United States, the rights to the FA Cup are owned by ESPN, but the games will exclusively be streamed online via ESPN+.
That means the games will not be shown live on television in the US.
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