Women’s 20/21 FA Cup: Quarter-finals to take place four months after last round

Everything you need to know ahead of the 20/21 Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals

Tottenham and Arsenal will compete in a quarter-final (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I)

The Women’s FA Cup 20/21 competition returns Wednesday evening with the quarter-finals, four months after the last round was played.

The tournament began in December 2020 but was paused due to the pandemic and was put on hold again after the last round in May because of the summer break.

Having the quarter-finals in a new season is presenting selection headaches for some managers as they cannot register more than three new signings who played for another team last season who are still in the competition. Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor is unable to play Alanna Kennedy or Ruby Mace, who played in the tournament for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham respectively last term.

“It gives us another issue with Alanna and Ruby not being eligible. It’s not ideal,” Taylor said. City are also dealing with an injury headache with many players, including Lucy Bronze and Steph Houghton, out.

“We didn’t get the information until really, really recently, which causes us kind of even more frustration. I just think getting that information to us a little bit quicker would help. It’s obviously going to impact us probably more than anyone else due to the injury crisis we have at the moment.”

City, who are the defending champions, will play Leicester City in their knock-out match. But what are the other fixtures and when will this season’s FA Cup be played? Here’s all you need to know.

Full quarter-final fixtures

Brighton vs Charlton, kick-off 7pm, FA Player

Manchester City vs Leicester City, kick-off 7pm, FA Player

Arsenal vs Tottenham, kick-off 7.15pm, BBC Four

Birmingham City vs Chelsea, kick-off 7.45pm, FA Player

When are the 20/21 semi-finals and final?

The semi-finals have been scheduled to take place on 31 October with the final on 5 December.

When will the 21/22 competition be played?

The first qualifying round was played on 12 September and the competition is planned to conclude in May 2022.

Women’s Super League clubs are usually introduced into the competition in the fourth round proper, scheduled for the 30 January.

Here is a list of all the key dates you need for this season’s tournament:

First Round qualifying: Sunday 12 September 2021

Second Round qualifying: Sunday 3 October 2021

Third Round qualifying: Sunday 24 October 2021

First Round proper: Sunday 14 November 2021

Second Round proper: Sunday 28 November 2021

Third Round proper: Sunday 12 December 2022

Fourth Round proper: Sunday 30 January 2022

Fifth Round proper: Sunday 27 February 2022

Quarter-final: Sunday 20 March 2022

Semi-final: Sunday 17 April 2022

Final: Sunday 15 May 2022