THE FA CUP is the oldest football competition in the world – it is quite simply priceless.
There is no substitute for an epic Cup upset and some of English football’s greatest matches have happened in this prized tournament.
Liverpool lifted the FA Cup in May after beating Chelsea on penaltiesGetty
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 last term the winnings actually went DOWN to £3.4million, but it has increased again.
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 £1,125Extra preliminary round losers £375Preliminary round winners £1,444Preliminary round losers £481First round qualifying winners £2,250First round qualifying losers £750Second round qualifying winners £3,375Second round qualifying losers £1,125Third round qualifying winners £5,625Third round qualifying losers £1,875Fourth round qualifying winners £9,375Fourth round qualifying losers £3,125First round proper winners £41,000Second round proper winners £67,000Third round proper winners £105,000Fourth round proper winners £120,000Fifth round proper winners £225,000Quarter-final winners £450,000Semi-final winners £1,000,000Semi-final losers £500,000Final runners-up £1,000,000Final 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.