Guide to Feds’ 2026–27 Cup Campaign

Three Cups, Three Routes to Silverware: Your Guide to Feds’ 2026–27 Cup Campaign

Alongside our league campaign, We compete for silverware across three cup competitions. From the national stage of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup to the FA Women’s National League Cup and the local Liverpool County FA Women’s Senior Cup, each competition offers a different challenge and its own route to a trophy.

You’ll notice the cup calendar is now getting busy pretty quickly. Women’s FA Cup fixtures come thick and fast alongside our league matches, while the FA WNL Cup group and knockout rounds fit (almost) neatly around the league schedule. The County Cup is still to come, so managing the fixture list is a crucial part of the challenge when competing across all these different fronts.

If you’re not sure how all the competitions work, when the bigger clubs enter the FA Cup, or how far Feds have gone in previous seasons, we’ve put together this handy guide to our cup campaigns.

The Adobe Women’s FA Cup

How it works
The Adobe Women’s FA Cup is our historic national knockout competition, bringing together clubs from across the women’s football pyramid. It offers lower-league sides the opportunity to progress through the rounds, face higher-ranked opposition, become giant-killers and even go as far as the final at Wembley. Well, that hasn’t happened yet, but we always hear about “the magic of the FA Cup” don’t we. Can Feds provide some of that magic this season? Last season Tier 4 team Chatham Town got as far as the final 16, and in the 22/23 season Lewes FC got as far as welcoming Manchester United into their home in the quarter-finals. Who knows what could happen!

The competition begins with a preliminary round and qualifying rounds in August. Tier 6 is the lowest tier routinely eligible to enter, although Tier 7 clubs can also be accepted if there are still places available. The first round proper is where clubs from the FA Women’s National League Premier Divisions enter, with Feds among the teams involved at this stage.

The higher-ranked clubs join later. WSL 2 clubs enter at the third round proper in December, followed by WSL clubs at the fourth round proper in January. That means a successful run can bring the possibility of a tie against some of the biggest names in the women’s game. You never know we could end up bringing a WSL side back to Walton Hall Park!

Once all teams have been added to the competition, that brings the total up to a whopping 535 sides introduced at different stages.

When it happens
The competition begins in August and runs through to the final in May. The early rounds are played additional to league fixtures, meaning teams can face a busy run of matches as they try to progress in both competitions.

The 2026–27 final is scheduled for Saturday 15 May 2027 at Wembley Stadium.

What’s at stake?
The Women’s FA Cup offers prize money at every stage, with the amounts increasing as clubs progress. For the 2026–27 season, winning a first-round-proper tie is worth £7,000, rising to £35,000 for a win in the third round proper. The winners of the final will receive £430,000.

Those figures remain a long way below the prize money available in the men’s FA Cup, but they still make a significant difference to the competing clubs, including us. 

Feds’ FA Cup record

  • Best run: Third round proper, reached in 2021–22 and 2025–26.
  • Last season: Feds beat Chester-le-Street Town 4–0 and Boldmere St Michaels 5–0 before losing 4–0 away to Newcastle United in the third round.
  • This season: Feds began their campaign in the first round proper against Leeds Modernians on 25 October, winning 3-1.

The FA Women’s National League Cup

How it works
The FA Women’s National League Cup is for clubs competing in the two tiers (3 and 4) of the FA WNL, with Professional Game Academy (PGA) teams also taking part.

The competition began with a group stage rather than a straight knockout. For 2026–27, 88 teams were divided into 22 groups of four, with each side playing the other three teams once.

The group stage determined which competition each team progresses into. The 22 group winners and the ten best runners-up qualify for the FA WNL Cup knockout stages, creating a 32-team competition. From there, teams progress through four knockout rounds before the final.

What is the FA WNL Plate?
The Plate was introduced in 2014–15 and runs alongside the Cup and gives teams that don’t progress past the group stages a second route to national silverware. The 12 remaining group runners-up and the 20 best third-placed teams move into the Plate knockout stages, mirroring the cup with 32 teams and four knockout rounds.

When it happens
We played the group stage across late summer and early autumn, with the knockout rounds scheduled around our league fixtures. Compared with the Women’s FA Cup, the group format spreads the early matches across several weeks, although further progression through the knockouts can bring additional mid-season fixtures.

What’s at stake?
The Cup and Plate provide another route to silverware beyond the league campaign. Both competitions do also offer prize money for the clubs reaching the quarter final onwards, although the PGA teams are not eligible to receive it if they progress through the knockout rounds of the plate.

Feds’ cup record

  • Best run: Reaching the national cup semi-final in 2021–22.
  • Last season: Feds progressed from their group into the Cup knockout stages.
  • This season: Feds won all three group matches to qualify for the Cup knockout stages. They have been drawn at home to Leeds United in the first round.

The Liverpool County FA Women’s Senior Cup

How it works
The Liverpool County FA Women’s Senior Cup is a local competition organised by Liverpool County FA.

When it happens
The County Cup takes place later on in the season alongside league football and the national cup competitions. The exact draw, entry round and fixture dates for 2026–27 will be confirmed by our County FA in due course.

What’s at stake?
As a local knockout competition, the County Cup offers Feds the chance to win regional silverware and defend the trophy they lifted last season.

Feds’ cup record

  • Best run: Winners on five occasions, including 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2025–26.
  • Last season: Feds lifted the trophy after beating Liverpool FC Women’s U21s 3–1 in the final.
  • This season: Watch this space!

Three competitions, one goal

Each cup competition brings something different to the season. The Women’s FA Cup offers the chance to earn substantial winnings, to make a national impact and potentially meet top tier opposition; the FA WNL Cup provides a route to silverware against teams from across our league, the one below and the PGAs; and the County Cup gives Feds the opportunity to defend our title.

With league football running alongside all three, there’s plenty to play for, and plenty to fit into the fixture calendar as the season progresses. We’ll do our best to keep you updated with draws, fixtures and results as Feds continue to battle it out.