2023–24 FA Trophy
Football Association Trophy
Tournament details
Country England
 Wales
DatesQualifying rounds: 8 September 2023 – 7 October 2023
Competition Proper: 28 October 2023 – 11 May 2024
Defending championsFC Halifax Town

The 2023–24 FA Trophy (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2023–24 Isuzu FA Trophy) is the 55th edition of the FA Trophy, an annual football competition for teams at levels 5–8 of the English football league system.

Format and eligibility

Applications to enter the 55th edition of the FA Trophy needed to be submitted by 1 April 2023.[1] Competing clubs had to compete between step 1 and step 4 of the non-League pyramid, equivalent to levels 5 to 8 of the overall English football league system. Furthermore, grounds had to conform to grade 4 of the FA National Ground Grading.[1]

The calendar was announced by The Football Association on 1 July 2023.[2] The competition consists of three qualifying rounds and eight proper rounds.[3] Teams enter at different stages depending on their position in the English pyramid.[3] Teams at level 8 enter into the first qualifying round and must win 11 matches to become champions.[3] Level 7 teams enter into the third qualifying round and must win 9 matches to become champions.[4] Level 6 teams enter into the second round proper and must win 7 matches to become champions.[3] Level 5 teams enter into the third round proper and must win 6 matches to become champions.[3]

All rounds are single-match knockout format, with the winner decided by penalties if the match was drawn after 90 minutes, apart from the Final where the winner was decided by extra-time and penalties if the match is drawn.[4] This is the same format as the 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons which broke from previous seasons that used replays and two-legged semi-finals. The 2019–20 season was scheduled to play two-legged semi-finals but due to their delay by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom were shifted to a single match.[5] All other previous editions played to the same format of replays and two-legged semi-finals.

FC Halifax Town were the reigning champions for the 2023–24 season, having defeated Gateshead in the 2023 FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium.[6][7]

Round Main Date Number of Fixtures Clubs Remaining New Entries This Round Losing Club Winning Club
First round qualifying 9 September 2023 80 (incl. 1 bye) 319 → 240 159

(incl. 1 bye)

 £400 £1,500
Second round qualifying 23 September 2023 40 240 → 200 none £575 £2,250
Third round qualifying 7 October 2023 64 200 → 136 88 £625 £2,450
First round proper 28 October 2023 32 136 → 104 none £775 £3,000
Second round proper 18 November 2023 40 104 → 64 48 £1,000 £3,750
Third round proper 9 December 2023 32 64 → 32 24 £1,250 £4,500
Fourth round proper 13 January 2024 16 32 → 16 none £1,500 £5,250
Fifth round proper 10 February 2024 8 16 → 8 £1,750 £6,000
Quarter-finals 9 March 2024 4 8 → 4 £2,000 £7,500
Semi-finals 6 April 2024 2 4 → 2 £5,000 £15,000
Final 11 May 2024 1 2 → 1 £30,000 £60,000

First round qualifying

The draw for the first qualifying round was made on 8 July 2023.[8]

The first round of qualifying took place on the weekend of 8–10 September[4] and involves 158 teams in 79 matches.[9][10] 159 teams, all from Level 8 of the English football league system, were drawn into 79 fixtures, with the leftover team, Hinckley LR, receiving a bye.[3]

Second round qualifying

The draw for the second qualifying round was also made on 8 July 2023.[8]

This round consisted of the 79 winners from the previous round alongside Hinckley LR who received a bye in the previous round.

Third round qualifying

The draw for the third qualifying round was made on 25 September 2023.[15] The 40 winners from the previous round were joined by 88 teams from the seventh level.

First round proper

The draw for the First round proper was made on 9 October 2023 consisting of the 64 winners from the previous round.[17]

Second round proper

The draw for the second round was made on 30 October 2023, seeing the 48 teams from step two joining the 32 winners from the previous round.[19][4]

Third round proper

The draw for the third round was made on 20 November 2023 and saw the 24 clubs from the National League join the 40 winners from the previous round.[21][22]

Fourth round proper

The draw for the fourth round was made on 11 December 2023 containing the 32 winners from the previous round.[24]

Fifth round proper

The draw for the fifth round was made on 15 January 2024.[26]

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