FA Cup 2026-27 1st Qualifying Round Preview
By Phil Annets (@FACupFactfile)
The FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round sees the 88 clubs from Step Three of the Trident Leagues join the competition alongside the 136 clubs that advanced from the Preliminary Round, the majority of which began their campaigns in the Extra Preliminary Round.
Five Alive
There are 56 clubs from Step Five of the Pyramid still standing with ten of them involved in games against another that mean at least five clubs from that level will still be involved in the next round. These include debut clubs Dunstable FC and Fleetlands FC who host Woodford Town and Cirencester Town respectively.
South Liverpool versus Prestwich Heys and Tadley Calleva against Laverstock and Ford will also result in a Step Five club celebrating at least equalling their best FA Cup run.
Guaranteed Success
There are nine ties in total where the winner is guaranteed to be celebrating a record run in the competition. Ascot United versus Pagham FC and Heaton Stannington against Knaresborough Town will result in the victorious club equalling their best Cup run, whilst Yaxley FC versus Buckhurst Hill, Mulbarton Wanderers against Cornard United and South East Dons versus Erith Town will see the winner celebrating either a new best run or an equal best run.
However, North Ferriby versus Barton Town and Petts Wood and Holmesdale against Windsor and Eton will definitely guarantee the winner reaches a new FA Cup round milestone. That latter tie is also one of two Ampersand Derbies in the round, the other being Wingate and Finchley versus Felixstowe and Walton United.
Tough Challenges
Twenty-one of the remaining Step Five clubs have been drawn to face Step Three opposition including another debutant club Knowle FC who will host Worcester City ‘live’ in front of the BBC cameras on iPlayer at Saturday lunchtime.
A dozen of the Step Five sides have the more daunting task of an away trip to Step Three opposition including AFC Wolverhampton City who travel to Alvechurch FC. The Wulfs will be hoping for a repeat of their 3-2 victory the only other time the clubs met in the FA Cup 12 years ago!
Old Foes
That tie is one of 29 in this round that have occurred in the FA Cup before. The most common tie of the round is also the most historically one-sided tie of the round. Hitchin Town has progressed at the expense of Biggleswade Town all six of the previous times they’ve been drawn together in the competition.
Brixham FC has an immediate chance to avenge last season’s defeat in the FA Cup by Dorchester Town whilst Malvern Town has had to wait 42 years for the chance to avenge defeat by Redditch United, Three Bridges two more years than that for the opportunity to erase the memory of a 4-3 defeat by Kingstonian FC and Chertsey Town has waited 48 years for their chance to get revenge for a 3-0 loss to Carshalton Athletic.
That latter tie is one of 16 that guarantees that a Step Three club will fall at their first hurdle. Warrington Rylands is involved in another such tie as they try to cancel out the heavy 4-0 defeat by Hyde United when the two sides met in the competition four years ago.
The 100 Clubs
Another club looking to avenge a past FA Cup defeat by their 1st Qualifying Round opponents is Halesowen Town who lost 3-0 to Basford United nine years ago. Halesowen Town is one of five clubs in this round who are participating in the FA Cup for the 100th time alongside Cambridge City, Whitstable Town, Prescot Cables and Workington AFC.
East Grinstead Town will be playing in their 100th FA Cup game when they travel to Dulwich Hamlet who will be the first opponents they’ve faced in the competition with a name beginning with the letter ‘D’. Elsewhere, Falmouth Town versus Frome Town is the only ‘Barker’ Tie of the round.
Same Difference
Finally, between 1897 and 1971 Kettering Town won six, lost one against the first Wellingborough Town club in the FA Cup, but the Poppies’ tie against the current Wellingborough Town side will set a new FA Cup record by being the 195th different club they will have faced in the competition!