THE FA CUP is the oldest football competition in the world – and it gets underway once again this weekend.
There is no substitute for an epic Cup upset and some of English football’s greatest matches have taken place in this prized tournament.
Liverpool lifted the FA Cup in May after beating Chelsea on penaltiesGetty
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But one of the issues that has seen the FA Cup lag behind the Premier League in terms of popularity is the prize money.
Clubs can simply earn millions more from moving a few places up in the Prem table, while getting through the rounds in the Cup is not such a priority.
That sad economic reality does not take away from the romance of this competition though – and players from the UK and abroad still marvel at the idea of lifting the cup at Wembley.
The prize pot changes every season and two seasons ago the winnings actually went DOWN to £3.4million, but it increased again last season.
Here we look at how much money clubs can earn from being in the competition.
How much is the FA Cup prize money?
The FA’s prize fund sees the winner of the final bag £2million, for the match itself.
But they will also cash in increasing sums for winning the previous rounds.
Extra preliminary round winners £1,125
Extra preliminary round losers £375
Preliminary round winners £1,444
Preliminary round losers £481
First round qualifying winners £2,250
First round qualifying losers £750
Second round qualifying winners £3,375
Second round qualifying losers £1,125
Third round qualifying winners £5,625
Third round qualifying losers £1,875
Fourth round qualifying winners £9,375
Fourth round qualifying losers £3,125
First round proper winners £41,000
Second round proper winners £67,000
Third round proper winners £105,000
Fourth round proper winners £120,000
Fifth round proper winners £225,000
Quarter-final winners £450,000
Semi-final winners £1,000,000
Semi-final losers £500,000
Final runners-up £1,000,000
Final winners £2,000,000
How much is the total prize money for winning the FA Cup?
If a team from the Premier League wins the FA Cup – which is likely – they will only play from the third round onwards.
This means if a team goes all the way they will land a £3.9m windfall for winning all the rounds.
Should a team from the first round lift the trophy, which is highly unlikely, they will scoop £4.08m.
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