The FA Cup is the oldest national football competition in the world and is played by England’s football teams from various divisions namely the Premier League, Championship, League 1, league 2 and other lower leagues and it is held annually. The FA Cup or Emirates FA Cup was first played in the 1871/72 season and it has developed to be what it is today. The official website is http://www.thefa.com/competitions/thefacup/

The FA Cup is quite unique due to the number of clubs which participate in a single season, the 2012 season had a record number of teams , that is 763 teams participated in that year and not many competitions can handle such a big number of teams.

The first six FA Cup rounds are the qualifying competition, from which 32 teams progress to the first round of the Competition where they will meet the first of the 48 professional teams from leagues one and two. Premier League and Championship clubs are the last entrance into the draw for the third round proper.

The FA Cup is mostly won by a premier league team but many premier league sides have suffered humiliation at the hands of the so called ‘minnows’, last season a Frank Lampard led Derby County beat Manchester United led by Jose Mourinho proving that this is no easy competition for the big boys.

The most successful club in the FA Cup are Arsenal with 13 titles followed by Manchester United with 12. Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers historically won it three times in a row. Arsène Wenger is the most successful manager in the history of the competition, having won seven finals as the Arsenal manager.

The winners of the FA Cup will participate in the Europa League and it actually does not matter if the team belongs to the lower leagues, if they win, they will participate in Europe. The FA Cup winner also win plays in the Community shield match against the Premier league champions just before the beginning of the season.

The draw for each of the proper rounds is broadcast live on television, usually taking place at the conclusion of live coverage of one of the games of the previous round. FA Cup fixtures resulting in draws in the first leg will go to a replay which will be played at the away venue at a later date; if the return leg ends in a draw, extra time or even the dreaded penalty shootouts will be effected just to find the winner.

Manchester City are the current holders after they thoroughly beat Watford 6-0 in the final played in May 2019, and Manchester City are the odds on favourite to retain their title in the upcoming season.