2022–23 FA Cup

2022–23 FA Cup

Football Association Challenge Cup
Wembley Stadium hosted the final on 3 June 2023
Tournament details
Country	England Wales
Dates	5 November 2022 – 3 June 2023
Teams	732[1] (all) 640 (qualifying competition) 124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers)
Defending champions	Liverpool
Final positions
Champions	Manchester City (7th title)
Runner-up	Manchester United
Tournament statistics
Matches played	144
Goals scored	428 (2.97 per match)
Attendance	2,016,747 (14,005 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Paul Mullin (8 goals)
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 FA Cup was the 142nd edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup. It is a one-legged competition whereby teams play each other once and the winner proceeds to the next round, in contrast to a two-legged competition in which teams play each other twice (home and away) to determine which team progresses to the next round. The FA Cup was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes.

Premier League team Liverpool were the defending champions, having defeated Chelsea to secure their eighth title in the previous year's final, but they were eliminated in the fourth round by Brighton & Hove Albion.^[2]

Manchester City defeated city rivals Manchester United 2–1 in the final to win their seventh FA Cup title.^[3] As winners, they would have qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League group stage; however, as they had already qualified for European competition via the league standings, the spot was passed down to the sixth-placed Premier League team.

Teams[edit]

The FA Cup was a knockout competition with 124 teams taking part all trying to reach the final at Wembley on 3 June 2023.^[4] The competition consisted of the 92 teams from the Football League system (20 teams from the Premier League and the 72 in total from the EFL Championship, EFL League One and EFL League Two) plus the 32 surviving teams out of 640 teams from the National League System (all but eleven clubs from 5–9 and eleven replacements from tier 10 of the English football league system) that started the competition in the qualifying rounds.

Qualification rounds were on a geographical basis and main competition rounds were drawn randomly usually either at the completion of the previous round or on the evening of the last televised game of a round being played depending on television broadcasting rights.

Round	Main date	Number of fixtures	Clubs remaining	New entries this round	Winners prize money[5]	Losers prize money	Divisions entering this round
First round proper	Saturday 5 November 2022	40	80 → 40	48	£41,000	None	24 EFL League One teams 24 EFL League Two teams
Second round proper	Saturday 26 November 2022	20	40 → 20	None	£67,000	None	None
Third round proper	Saturday 7 January 2023	32	64 → 32	44	£105,000	None	20 Premier League teams 24 EFL Championship teams
Fourth round proper	Saturday 28 January 2023	16	32 → 16	None	£120,000	None	None
Fifth round proper	Wednesday 1 March 2023	8	16 → 8	None	£225,000	None	None
Quarter-finals	Saturday 18 March 2023	4	8 → 4	None	£450,000	None	None
Semi-finals	Saturday 22 April 2023	2	4 → 2	None	£1,000,000	£500,000	None
Final	Saturday 3 June 2023	1	2 → 1	None	£2,000,000	£1,000,000	None

Qualifying[edit]

Teams that were not members of either the Premier League or English Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 available places in the first round.

On 6 August 2022, Newport (IOW) teenager Finn Smith became the youngest ever FA Cup goalscorer, a day after his 16th birthday.^[6]

First round proper[edit]

The first round saw the 32 winners from the fourth qualifying round joined by the 48 clubs from League One and League Two. The draw was made on 17 October 2022 by Dion Dublin and Alan Smith.^[7] The round included six teams from the seventh tier, the lowest-ranked teams remaining in the competition: Alvechurch, Bracknell Town, Coalville Town, Merthyr Town, Needham Market, and South Shields.

Second round proper[edit]

The draw for the second round was made on 7 November 2022 by Jermaine Beckford and Mickey Thomas, consisting of the 40 winners from the previous round.^[8] The round contained one team from the seventh tier, Alvechurch, who defeated EFL League One club Cheltenham Town in the first round.

Third round proper[edit]

The draw for the third round was made on 28 November 2022, consisting of the 20 winners from the previous round, all 20 members of the Premier League and the 24 EFL Championship clubs.^[9][10] The round included three teams from the fifth tier, the lowest-ranked teams remaining in the competition: Chesterfield, Boreham Wood, and Wrexham.

Fourth round proper[edit]

The draw for the fourth round was made on 8 January 2023, consisting of the 32 winners from the previous round. The round included one team from the fifth tier, the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition: Wrexham.^[13]