FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competition in the world. It is organized by and named after The Football Association. Since 2015, it has been known as The Emirates FA Cup after its headline sponsor.
The competition of FA Cup is open to all eligible clubs down to Level 9 of the English football league system with Level 10 clubs acting as stand-ins in the event of non-entries from above. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12. The tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. Entrants are not seeded, although a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds the minimum number of games needed to win, depending on which round a team enters the competition, ranges from six to fourteen.