FA Cup 2018-19

The 2018–19 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) will be the 138th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world. It is sponsored by Emirates, and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. 737 clubs were accepted into the tournament, and it will begin with the Extra Preliminary Round on TBA, and will conclude with the final on TBA. The winner will qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Premier League side Chelsea are the defending champions.

Round and draw dates
The schedule follows

Qualifying rounds
All of the competing teams that are not members of either the Premier League or English Football League will compete in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 available places in the First Round Proper. The qualifying competition begins with the Extra Preliminary Round on 11 August 2018. The final (fourth) qualifying round will be played over the weekend of 20 October 2018.

First Round Proper
The First Round draw took place on 22 October and was made by Dennis Wise and Dion Dublin. All 40 First Round Proper ties took be played on the weekend of 10 November with 13 replay due to be played on 20 and 21 November. 32 teams from the qualifying competition joined the 48 teams from League One and League Two to compete in this round. This round included three teams from Level 7: Metropolitan Police, Haringey Borough, and Hitchin Town, who are the lowest-ranked teams still in the competition.

Second Round Proper
The Second Round draw took place on 12 November. The 40 winners of the First Round Proper played in 20 Second Round Proper ties on the weekend of 1 December. This round included five teams from Level 6: Guiseley, Slough Town, Southport, Stockport County, and Woking, who were the lowest ranked teams still in the competition. This round included an all-Welsh tie, Wrexham at home against Newport County, the first such tie in the FA Cup since 2006.

Third Round Proper
The Third Round draw took place on 3 December 2018 and was broadcast live on BBC One and BT Sport before the final second round tie between Guiseley and Fleetwood Town. All 32 Third Round Proper ties will take place on the weekend of 4–7 January 2019. A total of 64 clubs will play in the third round; 20 winners of the second round, and 44 teams from the Premier League and EFL Championship entering in this round. This round will include one team from Level 6, Woking, the lowest-ranked team still in the competition.

The scheduling for the third round was controversial, due to the number of games scheduled outside the traditional kick-off slot of 15:00 GMT on Saturday. Only 10 of 32 Third Round Proper matches will kick-off at that time. This was a result of the FA signing a new overseas television deal in October 2016, which came into force this season. The new contract caused a number of matches to be moved to other time-slots to accommodate viewers outside the UK.

Fourth Round Proper
The draw for the fourth round will be on January 7 following the Wolverhampton-Liverpool game. It was broadcast on BBC and conducted by Carl Ikeme and Robbie Keane.

Fifth Round Proper
The draw for the Fifth Round will take place on 28 January 2019. As of this season, extra time and penalties will replace replays as the method for resolving a tie. The teams that have already qualified for this round are:


 * Bristol City (2)
 * Derby County (2)
 * Doncaster Rovers (3)
 * Manchester City (1)
 * Manchester United (1)
 * Swansea City (2)
 * Watford (1)

Television rights
The following matches were/will be broadcast live on UK television: