FA Cup
Overview
The FA Cup is England’s national knockout cup competition and the oldest major association-football cup tournament. The first competition was staged in 1871/72, only a few years after the Football Association codified its original laws.
Key facts
- Format
- National knockout cup
- Country/region
- England
- Founded
- 1871
History
The Football Association created the Challenge Cup in the early 1870s, with the first tournament played in 1871/72. The competition gave clubs from different parts of English football a common knockout tournament and became a model for domestic cup competitions around the world. The first trophy was presented in 1872. Over time the FA Cup became one of the central traditions of the English season, combining leading professional clubs with teams from lower levels of the pyramid. That structure generated the competition's lasting association with upsets, long cup runs and finals at Wembley. Footballopedia uses the FA Cup as a graph hub for clubs, finals, stadiums, managers and players, linking early organised football history with the modern Premier League era and providing a separate historical path from league competition.