The Football Association cup is a highly respected Football Competition in the United Kingdom, allowing all types of non-league and league teams to compete on a level playing field for the biggest prize in British Football. With entry allowed from all of the leagues, this makes the FA Cup somewhat special in the world of football, as it brings the large teams like Chelsea FC and Manchester United into the arena with non-league and lower league teams. As well as the trophy there is also a large cash prize as well as automatic entry in other types of cups and competitions for the year following the cup final. This year it is likely that the FA Cup final will be held in London at Wembley Stadium, although there has been mention of alternative locations for the final, due to the Olympics being held in London also.
The fixtures for all the competing teams for 2012 are listed below:
Friday, 01/06/2012
Liverpool
20:00
Oldham Athletic
Saturday, 01/07/2012
Birmingham City
12:30
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Dagenham & Redbridge
13:00
Millwall
Middlesbrough
15:00
Shrewsbury Town
Nottingham Forest
15:00
Leicester City
Crawley Town
15:00
Bristol City
Doncaster Rovers
15:00
Notts County
Tottenham Hotspur
15:00
Cheltenham Town
Milton Keynes Dons
15:00
Queens Park Rangers
Hull City
15:00
Ipswich Town
Coventry City
15:00
Southampton
Brighton & Hove Albion
15:00
Wrexham
Fulham
15:00
Charlton Athletic
Norwich City
15:00
Burnley
Derby County
15:00
Crystal Palace
Fleetwood Town
15:00
Blackpool
Swindon Town
15:00
Wigan Athletic
Barnsley
15:00
Swansea City
Macclesfield Town
15:00
Bolton Wanderers
Newcastle United
15:00
Blackburn Rovers
Everton
15:00
Tamworth
Sheffield United
15:00
Salisbury City
Gillingham
15:00
Stoke City
Watford
15:00
Bradford City
West Bromwich Albion
15:00
Cardiff City
Reading
15:00
Stevenage
Bristol Rovers
17:30
Aston Villa
Sunday, 01/08/2012
Manchester City
13:00
Manchester United
Sheffield Wednesday
15:00
West Ham United
Chelsea
15:00
Portsmouth
Peterborough United
15:30
Sunderland AFC
Monday, 01/09/2012
Arsenal
19:45
Leeds United AFC
So far the competition has kept some of the smaller clubs in the running for the prestigious prize. This is what the FA Cup is all about, as it represents the masses.