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The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is the main "knockout" cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association.The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world. As such its prestige as the sport's premier domestic cup competition is without par around the world. As it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other, there is great scope for "giant-killers" from the lower divisions to eliminate top clubs from the tournament.
1 Format
The competition is a knockout (single elimination) tournament with ties drawn completely at random - there are no seeds. The draw also determines which team will play at home. If a match is drawn, there is a replay at the ground of the other team. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time and penalty competitions, though in the past further replays were possible, and some ties took as many as five matches to settle. The semi-finals are contested at neutral venues, and the final is normally played at Wembley Stadium in London. During the redevelopment of Wembley, finals have been played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. This is the first time the final has been played outside of England.
The competition begins with the Extra-Preliminary rounds contested by non-league clubs in August, which any F.A. affiliated club meeting a basic standard of ability and ground facilities may enter. 644 clubs entered the competition in the 2003/04 season,and a record 660 for 2004/05 (the old record was 656 in 1921/22). Following the Extra-Preliminary Round is a Preliminary Round, four Qualifying Rounds, and six Rounds of the competition proper, followed by the Semi-Finals and the Final. All Football League clubs may enter. Non-league clubs may also enter if they competed in the previous season's FA Trophy or FA Vase and are deemed to be playing in an "acceptable" league for the current season. All clubs entering the competition must have a suitable and safe stadium capacity.
Teams from the higher levels of the non-league "pyramid" may get exemptions from some of these rounds: Clubs from the Nationwide Conference are given a bye to the Fourth Qualifying Round, clubs from Football League One and Two join the winners of the Fourth Qualifying Round in the draw for the First Round proper in November. Football League ChampionshipThe Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short or the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English foot and Premier League teams are given a bye into the Third Round, traditionally held in the first weekend in January. The Final is played at the end of the season in May. Tottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur F. is a North London Association football team, also known by the nickname Spurs . Their home ground is White Hart Lane in Tottenham. The club was formed in 1882 by boys from Hotspur cricket club and from the local grammar school. Origin were the only non-league winners of the FA Cup, in 1901Events January 1 World celebrates what is regarded as the start of the new century. Zero-ists' argument that new century should be celebrated in 1900 rejected worldwide). January 1 The six colonies that make up Australia are federated as under an act of t. They were then playing in the Southern League and were only elected to the Football League in 19081908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January-February January 1 A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time January 8 A train collision occurs in the Park Avenue T. At that time the Football League consisted of only two 18-team divisions; Spurs's victory then would be comparable to a team near the bottom of the second step of the English football pyramid, the Football League Championship division, winning today.
The winning team qualifies by right for the first round of the UEFA CupThe UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams. It was founded in May 1955 as the Inter-Cities' Fairs Cup. It is the second most important competition for European club teams, the first being the UEFA Champions League. Qualification for th. If the winners qualify for the Champions League, the losing finalist qualifies for the UEFA Cup. If both finalists qualify for the Champions League, an extra UEFA Cup place is given on the basis of Premier League position.
