2023–24 FA Cup

Football Association Challenge Cup
Wembley Stadium hosted the final on 25 May 2024
Tournament details
Country	England Wales
Dates	3 November 2023 – 25 May 2024
Teams	732[1] (all) 640 (qualifying competition) 124 (main competition incl. 32 qualifiers)
Defending champions	Manchester City
Final positions
Champions	Manchester United(13th title)
Runners-up	Manchester City
Tournament statistics
Matches played	148
Goals scored	512 (3.46 per match)
Attendance	2,167,257 (14,644 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Ellis Simms Sammie Szmodics (6 goals each)
← 2022–23 2024–25 → (Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)

The2023–24 FA Cup was the 143rd season of theFootball Association Challenge Cup, the oldestfootball tournament in the world. It was sponsored byEmirates and known as theEmirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes.

Thefinal was played on 25 May 2024 between defending championsManchester City andlocal rivalsManchester United, a repeat of theprevious final which Manchester City won 2–1.^[2] This made the final the first to feature the same teams in consecutive editions since the1884–85 season. Manchester United beat Manchester City to clinch their 13th title in the competition. As the winners, Manchester United qualified for the2024–25 UEFA Europa League league stage, as well as earned the right to play against the winners of the2023–24 Premier League, Manchester City, in the2024 FA Community Shield.

This was the last edition of the tournament to feature replays in the non-qualifying rounds, as well as the last one to have the final played after the end of thePremier League season.^[3] The changes were made as part of a six-year agreement betweenThe Football Association and the Premier League due to pressure on the domestic calendar from expandedUEFA competitions, but were criticised since replays were cited as an important source of revenue for lower league clubs.^[4][5]

TheFA Cup is aknockout competition with 124 teams taking part from the first round proper, and all trying to reach the final at Wembley Stadium on 25 May 2024.^[6] The competition consisted of the 92 teams from the Football League system (20 teams from thePremier League and the 72 in total from theEFL Championship,EFL League One andEFL League Two) plus the 32 surviving teams out of 640 teams from theNational League System that started the competition in thequalifying rounds.

All rounds were drawn randomly, usually either at the completion of the previous round discounting any replays or on the evening of the last televised game of a round being played, depending on television broadcasting rights.

The total prize fund for the competition was £22,269,800.^[7]

Teams that were not members of either thePremier League orEnglish Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 available places in the first round. The six-round qualifying competition began with the extra preliminary round on 4 August 2023 with the fourth and final qualifying round kicking off on Saturday 14 October.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round wereScarborough Athletic,Oldham Athletic,Marine,Worksop Town,AFC Fylde,Hereford,York City,Solihull Moors,Chesterfield,Alfreton Town,Whitby Town,Chester,Kidderminster Harriers,Gateshead,Curzon Ashton,Aldershot Town,Maidstone United,Ramsgate,Barnet,Woking,Horsham,Eastleigh,Yeovil Town,Bromley,Sheppey United,Maidenhead United,Chesham United,Worthing,Bracknell Town,Cray Valley Paper Mills,Slough Town andBoreham Wood.

Sheppey United, who had been entering the Cup more-or-less continuously since 1892, was the only team in this season's tournament appearing in the competition proper for the first time, although phoenix club Scarborough Athletic was featuring at this stage for the first time in their own right following the liquidation ofScarborough FC in 2007. Of the others, Chester had last appeared in the first round in2014-15, Ramsgate had last done so in2005-06, Whitby Town had last done so in2003-04, Worksop Town had last done so in2001-02 and Worthing had last done so in1999-2000.

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 15 October 2023 byPaul Parker andJobi McAnuff live onITV1 andSTV.^[8]

• The round included three teams from the eighth tier,Cray Valley Paper Mills,Ramsgate andSheppey United, the lowest-ranked teams remaining in the competition.

• The Swindon Town-Aldershot Town match at theCounty Ground was the first in which a non-league club scored seven goals against Football League opponents since Crystal Palace's controversial win over Chelsea in the third qualifying round of1905-06.

The draw for the second round was held live on ITV1 and STV on 5 November 2023 following the conclusion of the televised first-round game between Chesterfield and Portsmouth. The draw was made byDave Beasant andAnita Asante, and consisted of the 40 winners from the previous round.^[11]The round includedRamsgate from the eighth tier, the lowest ranked team remaining in the competition.

The third round saw the 20 winners from the second round joined by the 44 clubs from the Premier League and the Championship. The draw was made on 3 December 2023 byTrevor Steven andJen Beattie during pre-game for the Eastleigh v Reading second round tie on ITV1 and STV.^[12] The round includedMaidstone United from the sixth tier, the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition.