FA Cup Betting
The FA Cup is the main cup in England with hundreds of teams taking part. FA Cup betting is extremely active with bets placed throughout the competition from the qualifiers through to the finals. All online bookmakers offer odds on a variety of FA Cup bets throughout the competition. These can often also be tied to things like doing the league and cup double or triple, with europe or even the quadruple including the Carling Cup. FA Cup Betting / Bets on FA Cup Football Matches is available at all the major online bookmakers.
The FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, known simply as the FA cup is an English football competition named for The Football Association and was started in 1871-1872.
Since 1994-1995 the FA has been sponsored but in order to maintain the prestigious name of the world’s oldest football contest it is still called the FA Cup but is sometimes referred to as “The FA Cup sponsored by…”
Traditionally, the FA Cup Final is played at Wembley Stadium. The winning team of the FA cup takes home the cup itself and also earns a qualifying place in the UEFA Cup. However, if the winning team already qualifies for UEFA then the place is reserved for the runners-up. If both teams have already qualified for Europe the place goes to the highest positions Premier League team that has not qualified.
Who Can Participate
The competition is unusual in that it is open to all clubs in the English league system. This means that clubs of all levels and standards play against each other opening up the possibilities of lower division clubs beating a contender for a higher division. The upset caused by “giant-killer” victories when lower league clubs eliminate high division teams is one of the thrilling attractions of the competition.
The 2007-2008 FA cup contest opened with a record 731 clubs taking part. By comparison, the other two major contests in English football have far fewer participants; the League cup has only 72 clubs in it while the Premier League has just 20 teams.
How it Works
The competition kicks off in August and there are six rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. Clubs in lower end of the league system play extra preliminary rounds before the main even starts. Drawn games are replayed but if a replay ends in draw the match is settled with extra time and penalty shoot-outs.
The format of the competition is that of a knockout contest between pairs of teams that are drawn at random. There is no seeding system used and fresh draws are made after the majority of games are played in each round.
The Draws
The draws are traditional made by drawing numbered balls from a bag and the draw itself is broadcast on television every year. For fans and the clubs involved the outcome of the draws is of great interest. The randomness of the draws can sometimes pitch top clubs against each other in early rounds ensuring that they can’t meet in the final. For smaller clubs a draw against a top league team can be a boon by drawing large local crowds for the game.
Mid-range teams prefer to be drawn against similar teams rather than face a top Premier team and risk elimination in an early round. The top teams however would rather face lower league teams in the hope of getting an easy path to the final rounds.
The draw has become something of an event in of itself and whereas in the past football officials performed the draw in a television studio more recently it has be done by famous players at public locations.
