FA Cup’s first round of matches will go on as planned even though the government of the United Kingdom has declared a four-week lockdown in the country.
The UK government announced last weekend that a four-week restriction has been placed on every less essential service including non-elite competitions due to the rising cases of coronavirus in the country. This restriction was earlier not clear enough because some non-elite clubs were among the 40 clubs that are still involved in the 2020-2021 FA Cup campaign.
However, the government confirmed on Monday, November 2, that the 10 non-elite clubs that are still involved in the competition this season should continue to participate in the competition but in-line with elite protocols.
The government also confirmed that all the FA Cup fixtures scheduled to be played between 6 and 9 of November 2020 will go ahead even though the national lockdown will commence on Thursday, November 5.
Though the restriction did not affect the elite leagues like the Premier League and the Championships, all their matches will still have to be played behind closed doors. This means that the hope that the Premier League would start hosting spectators at match venues this season might not be possible anytime soon.
The FA Cup for 2020-2021 season
The fact that it has been confirmed that round one of the FA Cup will go ahead amid the coronavirus lockdown in the UK is not the only thing that excites the non-elite clubs that are still involved in the competition, they stand a chance of generating revenue from the competition.
The new system of the 2020-2021 FA Cup gives room for the losing side to partake in the sharing of the prize money as a kind of incentive to lessen the financial burden the coronavirus pandemic has forced on clubs.
Below is the full fixtures of FA Cup’s first round 2020-2021 season:
Friday 6th November
Harrogate vs Skelmersdale United
Saturday 7th November
Tonbridge Angels vs Bradford
Exeter vs Fylde
Banbury United vs Canvey Island
Barrow vs Wimbledon
Bolton vs Crewe
Boreham Wood vs Southend
Brackley Town vs Bishop’s Stortford
Bromley vs Yeovil
Cambridge vs Shrewsbury
Charlton vs Plymouth
Cheltenham vs South Shields
Colchester vs Marine
Dag & Red vs Grimsby
Gillingham vs Woking
Hull vs Fleetwood
Ipswich vs Portsmouth
Leyton Orient vs Newport
Lincoln City vs Forest Green
Oxford Utd vs Peterborough
Port Vale vs King’s Lynn
Rochdale vs Chesterfield
Salford vs Hartlepool
Stevenage vs Concord Rangers
Sunderland vs Mansfield
Swindon vs Darlington
Tranmere vs Accrington
Walsall vs Bristol Rovers
FC United of Manchester vs Doncaster
Sunday 8th November
Scunthorpe vs Solihull Moors
Barnet vs Burton
Eastleigh vs MK Dons
Hampton & Richmond vs Oldham
Havant & Waterlooville vs Cray Valley Paper Mills
Hayes & Yeading vs Carlisle
Maldon & Tiptree vs Morecambe
Torquay vs Crawley
Wigan vs Chorley
Eastbourne Borough vs Blackpool
Monday 9th November
Oxford City vs Northampton
