The Emirates FA Cup is back with a bang this weekend as the 2018-19 season kicks-off across the country.
It’s the 138th edition of the world’s original cup competition this term and with over 1.8m supporters watching over 11,000 players in action during last season’s campaign, it all starts again with 184 extra preliminary round ties scheduled between Friday 10 and Sunday 12 August.
And all 368 clubs at the Cup’s earliest stage will be guaranteed a payment, regardless of their result, with the competition prize fund for this season’s competition doubled to over £30.2m, with £4m of this guaranteed to be distributed to non-League clubs.
Winning clubs in the EPR last season would’ve collected £1500 from the prize fund, with losers taking home nothing. But this year, winners will get £2250 and the losing clubs will receive £750.
FA Cup fans can also get their live football fix on Saturday, with the BBC streaming coverage of Saturday’s tie between Haverhill Rovers and Haverhill Borough.
Kicking-off at 12.30pm, the game will be shown on the BBC Sport website and app to take the honour of being the first televised match of the 2018-19 season.
A further six qualifying round matches will be streamed on the BBC over the coming weeks ahead of the first round proper on Saturday 10 November, when a further 16 free-to-air ties will be shown live along with highlights of every round.
Other additions to the Cup this season see the introduction of a fourth substitute being allowed in extra time of replayed fixtures in all matches throughout the competition and a Video Assistant Referee [VAR] in use at selected ties from the third round proper onwards.
Why not check the full fixture list for this weekend's Cup games and see if there's one near you...
If you're planning your own FA Cup adventures this season, see the round dates for the new term.
