The FA Cup has been one of the most iconic football tournaments in the world since its inception in 1871.
It is the oldest national football competition in the world and is open to all eligible clubs down to Level nine of the English football league system with Level 10 clubs acting as stand-ins. In fact, in 2011-12, a record 763 clubs participated in the tournament.
Although the prize money on offer might not be overly lucrative for the Premier League outfits, it undoubtedly makes a difference to those lower down the football pyramid and a giant-killing cup run can be definitive.
GOAL takes a look and how much clubs stand to earn right from the first round winners and losers to the champion.
The prize for winning the 2022-23 FA Cup final alone is £2 million, with the runners-up receiving £1 million. However, the overall cumulative prize money depends on how many rounds a team progresses through.
While the prize money for the competition has not varied significantly, after the Covid-19 pandemic, the winnings went down to £3.4 million. However, the Football Association has increased the prize pool for 2022-23, which is always a welcome relief for the clubs that are lower down the football hierarchy.
A full breakdown of the FA Cup prize money for 2022-23 can be found in the table below.
Round
No. of teams
Prize money
Extra preliminary round winners
208
£1,125
Extra preliminary round losers
208
£375
Preliminary round winners
136
£1,444
Preliminary round losers
136
£481
First round qualifying winners
112
£2,250
First round qualifying losers
112
£750
Second round qualifying winners
80
£3,375
Second round qualifying losers
80
£1,125
Third round qualifying winners
40
£5,625
Third round qualifying losers
40
£1,875
Fourth round qualifying winners
32
£9,375
Fourth round qualifying losers
32
£3,125
First round proper winners
40
£41,000
Second round proper winners
20
£67,000
Third round proper winners
32
£105,000
Fourth round proper winners
16
£120,000
Fifth round proper winners
8
£225,000
Quarter-final winners
4
£450,000
Semi-final winners
2
£1,000,000
Semi-final losers
2
£500,000
Final runners-up
1
£1,000,000
Final winners
1
£2,000,000
The Premier League teams enter the competition in the third round and this season the prize money has shot up by £23,000 to £105,000 if they win in this round.
Whoever wins this year's final will earn around £3.7m from prize money alone.
There has been a marginal increase in the prize money from the last season.
While the prize money has remained the same in the preliminary and qualifying rounds, it has increased from the first round proper.
Liverpool earned £1.8m in the 2021-22 season for beating Chelsea in penalties and the Blues settled for £900,000 after finishing as runners-up.