Football tournament season
2024–25 FA Youth Cup Teams 633
The 2024–25 FA Youth Cup was the 73rd edition of the competition.
The competition consisted of several rounds and was preceded by a qualifying competition, starting with two preliminary rounds which was followed by three qualifying rounds for non-League teams. The Football League teams entered the draw thereafter, with League One and League Two teams entered in the first round proper, and Premier League and Championship teams entered in the third round proper.
A record 633 clubs were accepted into the competition. Although 3 teams Hutton , Newent Town , and Thame United withdrew before the draw began, 630 competed in the competition. The current defending Champions are Manchester City who defeated Leeds United 4–0 at the Etihad Stadium in front of 20,000 fans.
Round
Matches played from
Matches
Clubs
New entries
Extra preliminary round
12 August 2024
93
630 → 537
186
Preliminary round
2 September 2024
191
537 → 346
289
First round qualifying
16 September 2024
117
346 → 229
43
Second round qualifying
30 September 2024
70
229 → 159
23
Third round qualifying
14 October 2024
35
159 → 124
First round
2 November 2024
40
124 → 84
45
Second round
23 November 2024
20
84 → 64
Third round
14 December 2024
32
64 → 32
44
Fourth round
18 January 2025
16
32 → 16
Fifth round
8 February 2025
8
16 → 8
Quarter-finals
8 March 2025
4
8 → 4
Semi-finals
5 April 2025
2
4 → 2
Final
3 May 2025
1
2 → 1
186 teams from tiers 7-10 competed in the Extra preliminary Round. 9 walkovers occurred in this round as Ardley United , Arundel , Godalming Town , Rochester United , St Blazey , Selsey , Soham Town Rangers , Sutton Athletic and West Didsbury & Chorlton all withdrew from the competition at this stage. The result is 9 total walkovers so far. The Draw was released on July 5, 2024.[ 1] [ 2]
382 teams competed in the Preliminary round with the 93 winners from the previous round along with 289 new teams. 17 walkovers occurred in this round as Baldock Town , Barnstaple Town , Bideford , Carlisle City , Crowborough Athletic , Evesham United , Flackwell Heath , Great Wakering Rovers , Hamworthy United , Holmesdale , Lancing , Mousehole , Romford , Shepton Mallet , Silsden , Stapenhill , and Wick all withdrew from the competition at this stage. As a result we have 26 walkovers so far. The Draw was released on July 5, 2024.[ 3]
First Round Qualifying [ edit ]
43 clubs from the sixth tier National League North and National League South competed with the 191 winners from the preliminary round. Even though the 6th tier has 48 teams, Chesham United , Farnborough , Peterborough Sports , Scunthorpe United , and Welling United did not apply to compete in the FA Youth Cup this year. Bracknell Town were originally supposed to play in this round, but were disqualified after they fielded an inelligible player so their opponent Ascot United moved on in their place. The Draw was made on September 6, 2024.[ 4]
Second Round Qualifying [ edit ]
23 clubs from the fifth tier National League competed with the 117 winners from the previous round. 12 teams from tier ten are left with 11 confirmed to be moving on to this round. Although the fifth tier has 24 clubs, Braintree Town did not apply to compete in the FA Youth Cup. The draw was done on September 20, 2024.[ 5]
Third Round Qualifying [ edit ]
The 70 winners from the Second Round Qualifying compete in this round with the 35 winners progressing to the First Round Proper.
Tie
Home team (tier)
Score
Away team (tier)
Att.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Tie
Home team (tier)
Score
Away team (tier)
Att.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
45 teams from League One and League Two joined the 35 winners from the previous round. Barrow , Crawley Town , and Wycombe Wanderers will not participate in this round as they did not apply to enter the competition.
National teams
League competitions
Level 1 Levels 2–4 Levels 5–6 Levels 7–8 Levels 9–10
Combined Counties League (Premier North , Premier South , One )
Eastern Counties League (Premier , One North , One South )
Essex Senior League (level 9 only)
Hellenic League (Premier , One )
Midland League (Premier , One )
Northern Counties East League (Premier , One )
Northern League (One , Two )
North West Counties League (Premier , One North , One South )
Southern Combination League (Premier , One )
Southern Counties East League (Premier , One )
South West Peninsula League (Premier East , Premier West - level 10 only )
Spartan South Midlands League (Premier , One )
United Counties League (Premier North , Premier South , One )
Wessex League (Premier , One )
Western League (Premier , One )
Cup competitions
Youth competitions