FA Cup 2013-14

The 2013–14 FA Cup is the 133rd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It will be sponsored by Budweiser for a third consecutive season. from England and Wales will enter the competition, beginning with the Extra Preliminary Round on 16 August. For the first time ever in the history of the FA Cup, a team from Guernsey will enter, Guernsey F.C.

The defending champions are Championship side Wigan Athletic, who beat Manchester City 1–0 with an injury time winner by Ben Watson in the 2013 Final. Wigan were the first team to win the FA Cup and to be relegated from the Premier League in the same season, it was also the first time that they had won the FA Cup in their history. They will enter the competition in the third round alongside all the Premier League and Championship teams.

The winners of the FA Cup will earn the right to play in the group stage of the 2014–15 Europa League unless they have already qualified to play in Europe due to their league position. If this is the case then the runners-up of the competition will take their place but if they have already qualified then the place in the Europa League group stage will go to the team that finishes fifth in the Premier League, with the play-off round place moving to the sixth-place team.

The FA Cup Final will take place at Wembley Stadium, London on 17 May 2014.

Qualifying rounds
All of the teams entering the competition that are not members of either the Premier League or the Football League had to compete in the qualifying rounds to win a place in the competition proper. The qualifying rounds decide which 32 non-league teams play in the first round proper.

First Round Proper
The first round draw took place on Sunday 27 October at 1.35pm. A total of 80 teams will compete, 32 of which having progressed from the fourth qualifying round and 48 clubs from the Football League. The 48 Football League clubs that will enter the First Round Proper comprise Football League One and Football League Two. The lowest ranked sides that have qualified for this round are Daventry Town and Shortwood United. They are the only level 8 teams left in the competition.

Second Round Proper
The second round draw took place on Sunday 10 November at 4.10pm. A total of 40 teams will compete, all of which having progressed from the first round proper. The lowest ranked side to qualify for this round is Stourbridge. They are the only level 7 team left in the competition.

Third Round Proper
The third round draw took place on Sunday 8 December at 4.10pm. The draw was conducted by Teddy Sheringham and his son Charlie Sheringham.

A total of 64 teams will compete, 20 of which having progressed from the second round proper and 44 clubs from Premier League and Football League Championship.



Broadcasting rights
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held by the free-to-air channel ITV and the new subscription channel BT Sport. ITV has held the rights since 2007–08, while BT Sport bought ESPN's remaining FA Cup rights in February 2013. Owing to the participation of Welsh clubs in the competition too, the Welsh language channel S4C will offer live coverage of selected matches involving these clubs. The FA Cup Final must be broadcast live on UK terrestrial television under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events.

These matches were, or will be, broadcast live on UK television: