When Do FA Cup Tickets Go on Sale 2026/27?

FA Cup tickets normally begin going on sale after the draw for each round, most commonly within four to ten days.

Each FA Cup tie has its own ticketing arrangements. Up to and including the quarter-finals, the home club generally organises the sale after agreeing the match date, admission prices and away allocation.

Ticket sales can take longer to appear when clubs are waiting for television selections, kick-off times, policing requirements or confirmation of the visiting club’s allocation.

Note that the first sale may also be restricted to cup scheme members, season ticket holders or supporters with a sufficient number of loyalty points.

FA Cup Tickets

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When Do FA Cup Tickets Go on Sale?

As a handy rule of thumb, it’s best to begin checking for tickets immediately after the draw and expect the first club announcement within approximately one week.

Looking back at recent editions of the competition, initial sales or ticket information usually appeared four to nine days after a draw.

Longer delays happened when clubs had to wait for broadcast selections, away arrangements or a confirmed match schedule.

The FA’s 2026/27 rules also help explain this pattern:

• The home club must submit something called a “Match Arrangement Form” within seven days of the draw for every round, up to and including the quarter-finals.
• Admission prices must be determined and confirmed within seven days.
• The away club generally has four days to request an allocation of up to 15% of the available tickets, capped at 9,000.
• The FA determines the allocations and arrangements for the semi-finals and final.

Of course, these are all administrative deadlines rather than guaranteed public on-sale dates. Even so, they may be useful for fans making educated guesses about on-sale dates, while clubs should normally know their core match arrangements and prices by one week after the draw.

To be informed as early as possible, supporters can enable ticket notifications from their club, join the mailing list and monitor their clubs' official website and social media accounts.

Meanwhile, away fans need to wait for information from the visiting club rather than relying on the home club’s sale date.

Projected FA Cup Ticket Release Dates for 2026/27

The FA has confirmed the default date of every round in the 2026/27 competition.

The Extra Preliminary and Preliminary Round draws were completed on 3 July 2026. All subsequent draw dates in the table are projections based on the established pattern of holding draws during or immediately after the preceding round.

“Expected first ticket release” means the earliest likely club-controlled sale or priority window.

The Saturday match dates are also the default dates for each round; ties can be moved because of broadcasting, policing, venue availability or other scheduling requirements.

What Happens After the FA Cup Draw?

Once a tie has been drawn, the two clubs need to settle several details before the complete ticketing plan can be published.

The home club begins by working with the away club on the match arrangements. For rounds up to the quarter-finals, it must submit the relevant form to The FA and the visiting club within seven days of the draw.

Admission prices are subject to the same seven-day deadline. The minimum adult charge is $8 in the qualifying competition and $13 in the competition proper unless both clubs agree otherwise.

The away club also needs to decide how many tickets it wants. It can generally claim up to 15% of the allocation, subject to a maximum of 9,000 tickets, provided the request is made within four days of the draw.

This process helps explain why home tickets sometimes appear first. Before opening its own sale, the visiting club may need to:

• Receive confirmation of the final allocation
• Establish loyalty point or purchase history thresholds
• Arrange accessible tickets
• Divide the allocation into several sales windows
• Confirm how and when tickets will be delivered

A club selected for television may also wait for the exact date and kick-off time before putting tickets on sale.

Does “On Sale” Mean General Sale?

Since most Premier League clubs use a membership system, an announcement that FA Cup tickets are on sale does not necessarily mean that every supporter can buy one.

For a low-demand qualifying tie, tickets may be available to anyone online or at the turnstiles. A high-profile Third Round match, quarter-final, semi-final or final will likely never reach unrestricted general sale.

The precise meaning of the release date therefore matters. Supporters should check both the opening time and the eligibility criteria attached to that window.

How Ticket Release Dates Differ by Round

Qualifying rounds

The Extra Preliminary and Preliminary Round draws were held more than five weeks before the opening round, giving clubs an unusually long period in which to arrange sales.

The competition begins with 219 Extra Preliminary Round ties, followed by 136 Preliminary Round matches.

Some non-league clubs open online sales several weeks in advance. Others publish admission prices and allow supporters to pay at the gate.

Advance purchase cannot not be taken for granted, as individual ties can be designated “All Ticket” or have different advance and matchday prices.

From the First to Fourth Rounds Qualifying, the timetable becomes much tighter. If the established pattern of a Monday draw is followed, clubs will have approximately 12 days between the draw and the next round. Tickets may appear within a few days or during matchweek.

First and Second Rounds Proper

The First Round Proper is scheduled for Saturday 7 November 2026. Its draw is most likely to take place on Sunday 18 or Monday 19 October, with initial sales concentrated between approximately 22 and 30 October.

The Second Round Proper follows on Saturday 5 December.

Most sales are expected during the second or third week of November, although clubs chosen for television may wait for the broadcast schedule before publishing complete arrangements.

Third and Fourth Rounds Proper

The Third Round Proper is the point at which Premier League and Championship clubs enter the competition. The draw is projected for 6 or 7 December, with many initial ticket sales likely between 11 and 18 December.

Some away allocations and lower-priority windows may extend beyond Christmas. High-demand ties can involve cup-scheme processing, season ticket holder priority, ballots or requirements for previous purchase history.

The Fourth Round is scheduled for Saturday 13 February 2027. The longer gap from its projected January draw gives clubs more time to run several separate priority windows.

Fifth Round and quarter-finals

The timetable contracts during the later rounds. Fifth Round tickets are expected to begin appearing between 18 and 25 February, with quarter-final sales most likely between 12 and 20 March.

At this stage, clubs with large supporter bases are increasingly likely to use loyalty points, cup scheme membership, ballots or previous FA Cup attendance. The first release should not be confused with general availability.

When Do FA Cup Semi-Final Tickets Go on Sale?

We expect initial FA Cup semi-final ticket sales to begin between 9 and 15 April 2027.

The semi-final draw is expected on Sunday 4 or Monday 5 April, with the ties scheduled for the weekend of Saturday 24 April. Exact dates, kick-off times and broadcast selections may need to be confirmed before the clubs publish their full selling arrangements.

Semi-final ticketing works differently from the earlier rounds. The FA determines the venue, allocations, prices and other arrangements, with the competing clubs selling their allocations on The FA’s behalf.

The 2027 semi-finals are expected to be staged at Wembley Stadium. Clubs are likely to divide their allocations into tightly controlled windows based on criteria such as:

• Season ticket status.
• Cup scheme participation.
• Loyalty points.
• Membership.
• Previous FA Cup attendance.

A conventional general sale is unlikely where a club’s eligible supporter base is larger than its allocation.

Recent semi-final sales also illustrate how later batches can appear after the original allocation. Chelsea received 33,350 tickets for its 2026 semi-final, with the entire allocation issued digitally.

The exact allocation and delivery method for each 2027 semi-final will be announced after the competing clubs are known.

When Do FA Cup Final 2027 Tickets Go on Sale?

The first tickets allocated to the two finalist clubs are most likely to go on sale between 30 April and 6 May 2027.

There is no separate draw for the final. The two finalists will be determined during the semi-final weekend of 24 and 25 April, before the final takes place at Wembley on Saturday 22 May. The FA has confirmed both the date and Wembley as the venue.

Supporters should not expect tickets to become available immediately after their club qualifies. The FA must finalise the allocations, prices and seating arrangements before each finalist can announce its own sales process.

The 2026 final gives us a useful example. Chelsea initially reported that its allocation and selling details were awaiting confirmation after the club qualified.

Its eventual process used season ticket holder and member windows based on loyalty points, and an additional 2,276 tickets were released five days before the match.

A similar sequence is likely in 2027:

1. The finalists are confirmed.
2. The FA communicates each club’s allocation and pricing.
3. The clubs publish eligibility criteria and sales windows.
4. Season ticket holders, cup scheme members or high loyalty supporters receive first access.
5. Lower loyalty thresholds open if tickets remain.
6. Returned or additional seats may be released closer to the final.

How easy is it to get FA Cup final tickets?

Buying FA Cup final tickets through a finalist’s standard allocation is difficult. Demand is usually greater than the number of seats available, so the clubs reward supporters who attend regularly or have participated throughout the cup run.

A club may use a ballot, loyalty points, cup scheme status or attendance at previous FA Cup fixtures. General sale is not guaranteed and may never take place.

The details depend on the finalists. In previous editions, Manchester United tickets and Manchester City tickets were distributed through criteria designed to give priority to regular matchgoers.

FA Cup Format 2026/27

The FA Cup contains 14 rounds: six qualifying rounds followed by eight rounds in the competition proper.

Premier League and Championship clubs enter in the Third Round proper. The earlier stages allow clubs from much further down the English football pyramid to progress towards matches against leading professional teams, producing the David vs Goliath ties associated with the competition.

Because every round requires a new draw and a fresh set of match arrangements, supporters following a club deep into the tournament may need to monitor several separate ticket releases during the season.

Conclusion

FA Cup tickets normally begin going on sale after the draw for the relevant round, with the first priority windows most commonly appearing within four to ten days.

That first release may be limited to cup scheme members, season ticket holders, members or supporters with sufficient loyalty points. General sale can follow later, but it is not guaranteed for popular ties.

For 2026/27, the projected windows are:

• Third Round tickets: Approximately 11 to 18 December 2026.
• Fourth Round tickets: Approximately 15 to 25 January 2027.
• Fifth Round tickets: Approximately 18 to 25 February.
• Quarter-final tickets: Approximately 12 to 20 March.
• Semi-final tickets: Approximately 9 to 15 April.
• Final tickets: Approximately 30 April to 6 May.

These are planning windows rather than fixed competition-wide release dates. The club’s official ticket announcement remains the definitive source for the exact opening time, eligibility rules and delivery arrangements.

In realtime there are thousands of FA Cup tickets on sale through Ticket-Compare.com, starting from $35.

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