You want proper football? Here are the FA Cup first-round ties to look out for

The Guardian · John Brewin · 2026-11-06 14:55 UTC

In today’s Football Daily: The Cup properly runneth over

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY

For the FA Cup, the early rounds are the juice. The first round proper to be played out over the long weekend is looking, well, proper. And on Saturday at 3pm GMT, a proper time, 31 ties will kick off. No VAR, either. At the stage when the bottom two Football League divisions join the competition, focus remains on those non-league clubs fighting for the honour of the pyramid …

Mansfield v Macclesfield

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