FA Cup quarter-finals: All you need to know

Football writer Ben Bloom previews this weekend's remaining FA Cup ties.

It says everything about the unusual make-up of this year’s FA Cup quarter-finals that seven of the eight clubs involved have not lifted the trophy for more than 60 years.

Indeed, out of those seven, four have never tasted FA Cup glory at all, and AFC Bournemouth do not even know what it feels like to play in a semi-final.

With Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool all already out, the five most successful teams in the competition’s history will not be adding to their tally this season.

Here's everything you need to know about a highly untypical FA Cup year.

Remaining FA Cup quarter-finals

Sunday 30 March

16:30 BST: Bournemouth v Manchester City

Big chance to end trophy droughts

Clubs up and down the country will have watched Newcastle United’s EFL Cup triumph earlier this month with a pang of envy.

In triumphing over Liverpool, Eddie Howe’s side ended a 56-year trophy drought that also yielded a first piece of domestic silverware in 70 years. The scenes among players and fans alike at Wembley and back home in Newcastle were nothing short of delirious.

Could this be the year that another rarely seen name is added to the list of major domestic trophy winners?

Quarter-finalists' history in FA Cup

Four of this season's FA Cup quarter-finalists have never won a trophy in their entire club’s existence.

Given that Bournemouth were a lower tier club for many years until their rise to the Premier League a decade ago, it is little surprise that they have never tasted major silverware glory, only twice making it to this stage of the FA Cup in their 126-year history. 

Brighton & Hove Albion’s similar trajectory means they have not won a major trophy in 124 years, while Fulham’s wait will now go beyond 146 years, having come within five minutes of a penalty shootout before losing the 2010 UEFA Europa League final to Atletico Madrid.

Crystal Palace have twice reached FA Cup finals, but are yet to experience victory in their 120 years, while the rich histories of Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Preston North End date back deep into the previous century.

Those three clubs have won the FA Cup 11 times between them, but none have lifted major silverware in the last 35 years.

Only four-time reigning Premier League champions Manchester City are regulars when it comes to winning trophies.

Opta Analyst has found that, since the Premier League era began in 1992, this is only the third FA Cup season where at least half of the quarter-finalists have never previously won the competition, after 2010 (Birmingham City, Fulham, Reading, Stoke City) and 2019 (Brighton, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Swansea City, Watford).

European qualification at stake

In addition to ending long silverware droughts, the FA Cup also presents an opportunity for clubs to qualify for European football next season at a time when the battle to secure a route through the Premier League is more fierce than ever.

All seven Premier League clubs in the quarter-finals currently sit between third and 12th in the table.

Some European aspirations are almost certain to fall short through that route alone, leaving the FA Cup as a prime second chance.

This year’s FA Cup winners qualify for next season’s Europa League, which would otherwise require finishing fifth or sixth in the Premier League, depending on the number of UEFA Champions League places England receives next campaign.

That prospect may well prove beyond the likes of Brighton, Fulham, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, while Preston have no other European opportunity competing in the Championship.

If the FA Cup winners qualify for the Champions League or Europa League via their Premier League position – or, in Villa’s case, by winning the Champions League – their Europa League place for next season will go to the next-highest ranked team in the Premier League who have not already qualified for UEFA competitions.

There is even a convoluted scenario where the 11th-placed Premier League team could earn a UEFA Conference League place, although that is highly unlikely to materialise.

What is certain for most of the FA Cup quarter-finalists is the opportunity the competition presents, including a rare opportunity to play at Wembley Stadium in the semi-finals.

Bournemouth v Man City

Man City have reached the FA Cup semi-finals every season since 2018, although this campaign has been like no other under Pep Guardiola.

A poor Premier League title defence and early Champions League exit mean this is the sole piece of silverware still available before City head to the FIFA Club World Cup.

Preston are the only quarter-finalists not to have taken points off Guardiola's side this season, and they lost to Bournemouth earlier in the campaign.

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With their high-pressing, fast-breaking style of football, Bournemouth present problems for Guardiola, and the hosts will hold no fear as they look to make their first ever major cup semi-final.

What the managers said

Andoni Iraola: "I think we have a big opportunity this weekend. Anyone who steps on the pitch has to be ready to give everything, and even that might not be enough to beat City. The work for everyone is huge, but the chance to play at Wembley - for City it is less important as they play there a lot, but for us it is huge.

"The draw we cannot change, once it is finished it is what we have. We are in a different moment, we hope we are close to the level we give that day [beating Man City in November] - it is the only way we have a chance."

Pep Guardiola: “We see every week in the Premier League [big clubs losing] and can prove it again in the FA Cup. In England the biggest thing is that every team can beat every team.

“Teams like Liverpool, who have done amazing in the Premier League - but the rest of the teams, everything can happen. To reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the seventh time in a row, this is the target.”