(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)
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.
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.
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]
Stadium: Portman Road Attendance: 9,817 Referee: Ross Joyce
Third round proper
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.
Stadium: Crown Ground Attendance: 1,940 Referee: Scott Oldham
Note: The Accrington Stanley v Boreham Wood replay match, originally scheduled to be played on 17 January 2023, 19:45 GMT, was postponed due to cold weather causing an unplayable pitch.[11]
Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 3,701 Referee: Sam Allison
Note: The Forest Green Rovers v Birmingham City match, originally scheduled to be played on 7 January 2023, 12:30 GMT, was postponed due to heavy rain causing a waterlogged pitch.[12]
Fourth round proper
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]
The draw for the fifth round took place on 30 January 2023 on The One Show at Broadcasting House in Portland Place. The matches took place in the week commencing 27 February 2023.[14] This round included one team from the fourth tier, the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition: Grimsby Town.
The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 1 March 2023.[15]
This round included one team from the fourth tier, the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition: Grimsby Town. Grimsby were the first fourth-tier side to reach the quarter-finals since Cambridge United in 1990.[16]
The draw for the semi-finals took place on 19 March 2023 on BBC One, after Brighton & Hove Albion's victory over Grimsby Town.[17] This round, decided in one match, which was played at Wembley Stadium, included one team from the second-tier EFL Championship: Sheffield United.
Following the conclusion of the competition, Wrexham player Paul Mullin was awarded the FA Cup Golden Ball Award, commemorating him as the top scorer of the season from the extra preliminary round through to the final with eight goals.[18]
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the BBC, who had held them since the 2014–15 season, and ITV, who were showing matches for the second successive season. Both of these broadcasters will air the tournament until the 2024–25 season, and both were permitted to show the final live. In addition, FA Cup matches could also be streamed on ESPN+.
18 live matches per season, with highlights of the 2022 FA Community Shield.[20] BBC Sport has second and third picks of matches in the second round, fourth round and the quarter-finals, as well as first and fourth pick of matches for the first, third and fifth rounds, and first pick of the semi-finals.
At least 20 live matches per season, plus live coverage of the 2022 FA Community Shield.[21] ITV had first pick and fourth pick of matches in the second round, fourth round and the quarter-finals, as well as second and third picks for the first, third and fifth rounds and second pick of the semi-finals.
