FA Cup draw live: League One and Two clubs enter the fray in first round

Some more reading on new Luton boss Jack Wilshere for you. He sat down with our Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney back in March to discuss Mikel Arteta’s influence on his career and his coaching journey.

Just two years ago, Wilshere wasn’t even sure he wanted to go into coaching but seeing Arteta work means the former Arsenal and England man is now adamant.

One of the teams in this evening’s draw will be Luton Town and the League One side appointed a new manager today in the form of Jack Wilshere.

The former Arsenal and England midfielder is taking on his first full-time managerial role, replacing Matt Bloomfield at Kenilworth Road.

The 33-year-old, who retired as a player in 2022, takes over a Luton side who are 11th in League One after back-to-back relegations.

Wilshere earned managerial experience in charge of Arsenal’s Under-18s and was a first-team coach at Norwich last season. He was named interim head coach for the final two games of the Championship campaign, following the departure of Johannes Hoff Thorup.

There is only one eighth-tier side left in this season’s FA Cup and that’s Essex-based outfit Maldon & Tiptree.

The superbly-nicknamed Jammers are the current leaders of the Isthmian League North Division and they beat Flackwell Heath 1-0 over the weekend to reach this stage.

The scorer of that goal was ex-West Ham striker Freddie Sears, who is now 35, as he turned in Courtney Senior’s cross at the near post with his head just after the half-hour mark.

They’re the only team in the first round proper to have played in every round since the extra-preliminary round and have won six games to reach this stage.

“[This win is] massive,” said Maldon & Tiptree boss Kevin Horlock. “It was something we set out to do. The owners came in and have spent a lot of time and money on this football club and rightly want to be talked about. So, the target was to get to the first round. We’ve achieved that. And now we want to go further.

“We’d look for a winnable game at home. Or one of the big boys, the highest-ranked team we can get away, where the club gets a nice payday.”

First-round ties in the FA Cup will take place on the weekend of Saturday 1 November before the second round at the start of December.

Here’s the full schedule for the FA Cup this season:

First Round Proper: Saturday 1 November 2025

Second Round Proper: Saturday 6 December 2025

Third Round Proper: Saturday 10 January 2026

Fourth Round Proper: Saturday 14 February 2026

Fifth Round Proper: Saturday 7 March 2026

Quarter-Final: Saturday 4 April 2026

Semi-Final: Saturday 25 April 2026

The Final: Saturday 16 May 2026

And here’s the second half of the list of tonight’s ball numbers. The remaining handful of EFL clubs plus the non-league sides.

51. Gainsborough Trinity or Hartlepool United

62. Altrincham or Harborough Town

63. Worthing or Forest Green Rovers

65. Woking or Brackley Town

76. Banbury United or St Albans City

78. AFC Totton or Truro City

80. Farnham Town or Sutton United

We’ve got the confirmed ball numbers for this evening’s draw and here are the first 40, consisting solely of League One and Two clubs

The FA Cup first-round draw is scheduled to take place on Monday 13 October, in the build-up to the fourth round qualifying tie between Worthing and Forest Green Rovers, which starts at 7.30pm BST.

The draw will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 and its streaming platform discovery+, as well as the TNT Sports YouTube channel, from approximately 6.30pm BST.

The start of the FA Cup proper is nigh, with the first-round draw happening this evening.

Forty-eight sides from League One and Two enter the fray alongside the 32 non-league qualifiers as the dream of drawing a big boy in the third round inches closer.

Here’s everything you need to know about the draw:

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the FA Cup first-round draw for the 2025-26 season.

We’ve got 40 matches to be drawn this evening, so stick with us for all the info