FA Cup first round draw underway with 80 teams entering

The draw for the FA Cup first round proper takes place tonight, Monday October 13, 2025, bringing 48 League One and League Two clubs into the competition alongside 32 nonleague qualifiers. Proceedings begin in the build-up to Worthing’s fourth qualifying round match against Forest Green Rovers, with the draw scheduled to start at about 6:30pm BST and broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 and its Discovery streaming service and YouTube channel.

A total of 80 teams have been assigned ball numbers for the draw, which will produce 40 fixtures to be played in the first round on Saturday November 1. The entrants include full-time EFL sides such as Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City and Cheltenham Town, and a mix of nonleague survivors, among them eighth-tier Maldon and Tiptree and Southern League side Weston-super-Mare, who sealed their place with a 1-0 win over Needham Market. One qualifying tie, Worthing versus Forest Green Rovers, will be completed after the draw.

The draw will be overseen on air by presenter Becky Ives, joined by former players Michail Antonio and Joel Ward. Under the FA Cup’s longstanding random-draw format there are no seeds. Each club is allocated a numbered...