FA Cup Tickets

What the 2026/27 FA Cup involves

The FA Cup is England's primary domestic cup competition and one of the oldest football tournaments in the world, dating back to 1871. This season's edition brings together 60 clubs at this stage, spanning the Premier League and English Football League, giving smaller sides a genuine chance to test themselves against the country's biggest names.

The format is a straightforward knockout, with every tie decided over a single match. A club that loses is out, which is part of what gives the FA Cup its reputation for shocks and giant-killings as the rounds progress.

Who is involved this season

The list of clubs at this stage includes Premier League regulars such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, alongside Aston Villa, Brighton, Brentford, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.

Also involved are Crystal Palace, AFC Bournemouth, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur, along with a range of Championship and lower-division clubs including Coventry City, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Bradford City, Peterborough United, Barnsley and Leyton Orient.

The mix of top-flight and lower-league clubs in the same draw is what makes early rounds of the FA Cup unpredictable, with fixtures that would never otherwise happen thrown together by the luck of the draw.

How the rounds progress

The competition works through a series of numbered rounds before reaching the business end of the tournament. Fans can follow the draw and fixtures stage by stage through the First Round and Second Round, where clubs from the lower reaches of the pyramid are still involved.

From there, the competition moves into the Third Round, traditionally the point at which Premier League and Championship clubs enter, and on to the Fourth Round as the field narrows further towards the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final itself.

Why the FA Cup draws such big crowds

Part of the appeal of the FA Cup is unpredictability. Lower-league clubs regularly draw Premier League opposition, and cup ties are often played with a different intensity to league fixtures, since a single defeat ends the run. That unpredictability, combined with the competition's long history, means demand for tickets can be strong even for clubs not usually associated with cup runs.

For smaller clubs, hosting a big-name Premier League side is often the highlight of the entire season, and grounds that rarely sell out can see demand spike well beyond their usual capacity.

Choosing seats for FA Cup matches

Because fixtures are only confirmed after each round's draw, and grounds vary hugely in size across the 60 clubs involved, it is worth checking the venue and ticket allocation for each specific tie rather than assuming availability will match a Premier League fixture.

This page compares FA Cup ticket prices from StubHub, Viagogo, Hellotickets, Football Ticket Net, Gigsberg and SportsEvents365, making it easier to see how prices vary between partners for the same match.

• Away allocations at smaller grounds can be limited, so check availability early
• Replays are not always guaranteed, so confirm the format for each tie
• Compare prices across partners rather than settling on the first listing you see