http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_football_league_system#The_system says there are 648 clubs at Level 9 or higher if you add up the number of clubs in each league. It also says there are 310 clubs at Level 10, for a total of 958 at Level 10 or higher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–10_FA_Cup#Teams says the FA Cup incldues the Top 10 levels and has 762 clubs including preliminary and qualifying rounds. This would make it seem like 114 (762-648) out of the 310 clubs at Level 10 compete in the FA Cup. If that is true, how come only some clubs at the same level can compete and what determines which clubs can compete?
Evan, I found this information at: http://thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/Rules.aspx 5. ELIGIBLE CLUBS a.Participation in the Competition shall be open to: i.all Clubs taking part in a senior League or Competition sanctioned by The Association or an affiliated Association as determined by The Association from time to time. ii.Clubs affiliated to The Football Association of Wales participating in The FA Premier League, The Football League or The FA Challenge Trophy Competition. b.A Club not participating in The FA Premier League or The Football League Competitions must have competed in either The FA Challenge Trophy or the FA Challenge Vase Competitions in the previous season, and must be accepted into a League for the current season which is considered to be acceptable for entry into the Challenge Cup Competition. c.The Council may reject the application of any Club to participate in the Competition at its entire discretion. d.A Club which has been allowed to participate in the Competition may not assign or otherwise transfer the ability/right to participate without the prior written approval of the Council. A request for transfer must be in writing, setting out the details of the intended transferee and the reason for the transfer. The decision whether or not to approve a transfer shall be made by the Council in its absolute discretion. A transfer shall be granted only on condition that the transferee shall be treated for the purposes of these Competition Rules and the Rules of The Association as being the same entity as the transferor. e.If a Club is removed from the League in which it is playing, once it has been accepted into the Competition, The Council has the power to remove the Club from the Competition. f.If any Club when applying to enter the Competition, or at any time during the course of the Competition becomes subject to any of the following insolvency events: i.a manager, receiver or administrative receiver appointed in respect of that Club or any part of its undertaking or assets; ii.an administration order made in respect of that Club; iii.a winding up order made in respect of that Club; or iv.entering into any arrangement with its creditors or some part of them in respect of the payment of its debts or part of them as a company voluntary arrangement under the Insolvency Act 1986 or Scheme of Arrangement under the Companies Act 1985. that Club must notify the Council immediately in writing. The Council will (at its absolute discretion) then decide whether to accept the application and/or allow that Club to continue to compete in the Competition. g.A Club that through the Competition qualifies for a UEFA Competition for the following season must adhere to the rules and licensing requirements of UEFA applicable to that season. h.Clubs must provide, to The Association, when requested by The Association, a declaration from the local safety authority or Police that ties are able to be staged at the capacity stated on the entry form. I think what that means is that if Level 10 clubs Compete in the FA Trophy or FA Vase competitions, they are eligible to compete in the FA Cup in the following season.
Also, some clubs further down the pyramid may be eligible to enter in a given season but decline to do so. As far as I can tell one of the Step 3 clubs has for example (there were only 65 new entires at 1Q), though I can't particularly be bothered to compare division and fixture lists to work out exactly who it was.
The position of the step 6 clubs is also matters when it comes to who is accepted into the competition, it works out to approximately the top ten. There are several clubs who can't compete due to a lack of suitable facilities, notably with their floodlights which are required for the Cup and Vase (ditto the Trophy, but all clubs in the eligible divisions have them except for Mossley where they have recently collapsed). A few teams can't enter because they are reserve teams and it's also possible, like Beckenham recently, they could have received a ban Chris M, there are only 65 teams at step 3 this season (Newcastle Blue Star having folded before the season even started).