The 2022–23 FA Youth Cup was the 71st edition of the FA Youth Cup.
The competition consisted of several rounds and was preceded by a qualifying competition, starting with two preliminary rounds which was followed by three qualifying rounds for non-League teams. The Football League teams entered the draw thereafter, with League One and League Two teams entered in the first round proper, and Premier League and Championship teams entered in the third round proper.
622 teams were accepted into the FA Youth Cup. Manchester United were the defending champions after defeating Nottingham Forest 3–1 in the 2022 final.
West Ham United won their fourth Youth Cup title, their first since 1999, defeating Arsenal 5–1 in the final at Emirates Stadium.
Calendar
Qualifying rounds
Extra preliminary round
120 teams took part in the extra preliminary round. Eleven teams withdrew from the tournament in this phase, and as a result, eleven walkovers occurred. The draw for the round took place on 8 July 2022.
Preliminary round
448 teams took part in the preliminary round, with 60 teams having progressed from the previous round along with 388 new teams joining in this round. 30 teams withdrew from the competition resulting in walkovers, while Woodford Town was removed from the tournament on appeal for using an ineligible player. The draw for the round took place on 8 July 2022.
First qualifying round
224 teams took part in the first qualifying round, with the all winners from the previous round participating. There were two walkovers in this round, and two teams were removed from the competition. South Park and Tilbury withdrew from the competition. Reading City was removed from the competition for fielding an ineligible player, and Lancaster City was removed for an unknown appeal. The draw for this round took place on 2 September 2022. There were 28 teams from the tenth tier of the football pyramid as the lowest remaining teams in the competition.
Second qualifying round
136 teams took part in the second qualifying round, with all the winners from the previous round and 24 teams from the National League being added for this round.
Third qualifying round
68 teams took part in the third qualifying round, with all the winners from the previous round participating.
Competition proper
First round
46 League One and League Two teams entered the first round proper, with the 34 non-league winners from the qualifying rounds joining them for this round. Only Wycombe Wanderers and Crawley Town did not participate in the first round as they did not apply. Salford City and Barrow were originally drawn, but Barrow withdrew from the first round so Salford City won 3–0 on a walkover.
Second round
40 teams played this round with all the winners from the previous round participating.
Third round
64 teams competed in the third round with the 44 Premier League and EFL Championship clubs appearing in this round along with the 20 winners from the previous round.
Fourth round
32 teams participated in the fourth round proper with all 32 winners from the previous round participating. The draw for the fourth round was made on 9 December 2022.
Fifth round
16 teams participated in the fifth round proper with the 16 winners from the previous round participating. The fifth round draw was made on 13 January 2023.
Quarter-finals
Eight teams participated in the quarter-finals with all eight winners from the previous round participating. The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 3 February 2023.
Semi-finals
Four teams participated in the semi-finals with all four winners from the previous round participating. The draw was made on 24 February 2023.
Final
The winners of the semi-finals advanced to the final to determine the winner of the FA Youth Cup. The draw to determine the home team was made on 24 February 2023. The match was played on 25 April.
References
External links
- The FA Youth Cup at The Football Association official website
