FA Cup: Round-by-round details about this year's tournament

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger lifts the trophy after winning the 2014-15 FA Cup

Matches: Fixtures - Results - Goals and highlights

Extra preliminary round

Draw date: Friday, 3 July 2015

Match day: Saturday, 15 August 2015

Number of matches: 184

Who enters: Entrants into the qualifying competition must play within the top 10 tiers of English football and must have competed in either the FA Trophy or FA Vase last season, and be entered into one of those competitions this year. In total, 276 of the 296 clubs competing in the 14 divisions at the ninth tier of English football met the criteria, and they were joined by 92 successful applicants from the 17 divisions in the 10th tier of the English pyramid.

Prize money: £1,500

See also:

From Ashes hero to FA Cup manager - Stories from this round

Preliminary round

Draw date: Friday, 3 July 2015

Match day: Saturday, 29 August 2015

Number of matches: 160

Who enters: The 136 clubs playing in the eighth tier of English football entered the FA Cup at this stage. The Northern Premier League, the Southern Football League and the Isthmian League each have two regional divisions in this tier. Their clubs joined the 184 winners from the previous round.

Lowest-placed remaining clubs: 30 clubs from the tenth tier of English football made it through to this stage.

Prize money: £1,925

See also:

Macarana to FA Cup preliminary round

First qualifying round

Draw date: Monday, 24 August 2015

Match day: Saturday, 12 September 2015

Number of matches: 116

Who enters: The 72 clubs at the seventh tier of English football entered the FA Cup at this stage. The Northern Premier League, the Southern Football League and the Isthmian League each have their Premier division in this tier. Their clubs joined the 160 winners from the previous round.

Lowest-placed remaining clubs: 11 clubs from the tenth tier of English football made it through two rounds to this stage.

Prize money: £3,000

See also:

From Angola to Ilkeston via war-torn Ukraine - Stories from this round

Second qualifying round

Draw date: Monday, 14 September 2015

Match day: Saturday, 26 September 2015

Number of matches: 80

Who enters: The 44 clubs from National League North and South entered the FA Cup at this stage. They compete in the sixth tier of English football and joined the 116 winners from the previous round.

Lowest-placed remaining clubs: Three clubs from the tenth tier of English football made it through three rounds to this stage. They were Bodmin Town of the South West Peninsula League Premier Division, Hinckley AFC of the Midland Football League Division One and Hook North of the Hellenic Football League Division One West.

Prize money: £4,500

See also:

Stories from this round - Keeper scores overhead kick

Third qualifying round

Draw date: Monday, 28 September 2015

Match day: Saturday, 10 October 2015

Number of matches: 40

Lowest-placed remaining clubs: Eight clubs from the ninth tier of English football made it through four rounds to reach this stage.

Prize money: £7,500

See also:

Pilsners and Patrik Berger at Bamber Bridge - Stories from this round

Fourth qualifying round

Draw date: Monday, 12 October 2015

Match day: Saturday, 24 October 2015

Number of matches: 32

Who enters: The 24 clubs from the National League, the fifth tier of English football, enter the FA Cup at this stage. They join the 40 winners from the previous round.

Lowest-placed remaining club: Sporting Khalsa, of the Midland Football League Premier Division, were the sole remaining representatives of the ninth tier of English football to make it through the five rounds to this stage. They lost 3-1 at home to FC United of Manchester of the National League North.

Prize money: £12,500

See also:

'We normally only have 50 fans' - Stories from this round - Watch the first Mobile Match of the Day - Mobile MOTD: Pre-match team talk - Watch Salford's long-range stunner - The FA Cup through your pictures - FA Cup fourth qualifying round as it happened

First round

Draw date: Monday, 26 October 2015

Match day: Saturday, 7 November 2015

Number of matches: 40

Who enters: The 48 clubs from League One and Two, the third and fourth tiers of English football, enter the FA Cup at this stage. They join the 32 winners from the previous round.

Lowest-placed remaining clubs: Didcot Town, of the Southern League Division One South and West, and Northwich Victoria, of the Northern Premier League Division One North, were the two teams from the eighth tier of English football in the first round. Both progressed through five rounds to this stage. Didcot lost 3-0 to League Two's Exeter City, but Northwich advanced courtesy of a replay win against National League side Boreham Wood.

See also:

Salford City feel the 'magic' - Stories from this round - Five things you may have missed

Prize money: £18,000

Second round

Draw date: Monday, 9 November 2015

Match day: Saturday, 5 December 2015

Number of matches: 20

Lowest-placed remaining club: Northwich Victoria were again the lowest-placed club in the round; the eighth tier club progressed through six rounds to this stage. They surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at League Two Northampton.

Prize money: £27,000

Third round

Draw date: Monday, 7 December 2015

Match day: Saturday, 9 January 2016

Number of matches: 32

Who enters: The 44 clubs from the Premier League and Championship, the first and second tiers of English football, enter the FA Cup at this stage. They join the 20 winners from the previous round.

Lowest-placed remaining club: Eastleigh, of the fifth-tier National League, were the lowest-placed club in the round. They drew 2-2 at home to Championship side Bolton before losing their replay 3-2. They had progressed through three rounds to this stage.

Prize money: £67,500

Fourth round

Draw date: Monday, 11 January 2016

Match day: Saturday, 30 January 2016

Number of matches: 16

Lowest-placed remaining clubs: Oxford United and Portsmouth of League Two were the lowest-placed clubs in the round. They progressed through three ties to the fourth round. Both exited the competition, with Oxford losing 3-0 at home to Championship side Blackburn and Portsmouth falling 2-1 at home to Premier League Bournemouth.

Prize money: £90,000

Fifth round

Draw date: Sunday, 31 January 2016

Match day: Saturday, 20 February 2016

Number of matches: 8

Lowest-placed remaining club: Shrewsbury Town of League One were the lowest-placed club in the round. They progressed through four rounds to this stage and exited to Premier League side Manchester United, losing 3-0.

Prize money: £180,000

Quarter-finals

Draw date: Sunday, 21 February 2016

Match day: Saturday, 12 March 2016

Prize money: £360,000

Lowest-placed remaining club: Championship side Reading were the only team outside the Premier League in the quarter-finals. They progressed through three rounds to this stage and exited to Crystal Palace, losing 2-0.

Semi-finals

Draw date: Monday, 14 March 2016

Match days: Saturday, 23 April 2016 & Sunday, 24 April 2016

Prize money: £900,000 (winners) or £450,000 (losers)

Final

Match day: Saturday, 21 May 2016

Prize money: £1.8m (winners) or £900,000 (losers)

Please note, with the exception of the semi-finals and final, match day denotes the day on which the majority of matches in a round are to be played. Replays in the qualifying rounds are to be played by the Thursday after the original match day, with replays in the tournament proper scheduled at the discretion of the FA. For full scheduling information for all drawn matches, please visit our fixtures page.

Draw dates are subject to change. Rounds prior to the fourth qualifying rounds are drawn from a set of regional sections, with the size and number of these being dependent on which clubs are in that round. In the fourth qualifying round clubs are drawn from northern and southern sections. A national draw proceeds from the first round proper.