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Need to know
The FA Cup fourth round includes Manchester City vs Salford City and these are the rules for this year's competition
Manchester City booked their place in the fourth round with a win against Exeter City(Image: Will Cooper/Shutterstock)
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the fourth round of the 2025/26 FA Cup:.
- Replays Abolished: Traditional replays have been entirely removed from the first round proper onwards with the goal of reducing fixture congestion. If a fourth-round tie ends level after 90 minutes, it must be settled on the same day.
- Extra-Time and Penalties: When the score is level at full-time, teams will contest 30 minutes of extra-time. If the match remains deadlocked after extra-time, penalties will decide the winner with five kicks each, followed by sudden death if required.
- Standard Substitution Rules: Teams are allowed to make a maximum of five substitutions during the initial 90 minutes of play. To avoid excessive stoppages, managers have just three windows of opportunity to make these changes, though this doesn't include any subs made during the half-time break.
- Extra-Time Substitution Allowance: If a game goes to extra-time, each side is permitted one additional substitution and one extra window to make that change, increasing the total potential number of substitutes used in a match to six. Teams can also make permanent concussion substitutions if a player sustains a head injury and that concussion sub won't count towards their allocation.
- Goalkeepers Need to Be Careful: A new trial for the 2025/26 season, in place across league and cup competitions, strictly limits goalkeepers to holding the ball for only eight seconds. If a keeper exceeds this time limit, the referee will award a corner kick to the opposing team as a restart.
- VAR not in play: Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will not be used in the fourth round, even if the match is held at a Premier League stadium. The FA decided to remove the technology for this round to ensure a consistent refereeing experience for all participating clubs.
- Goal-line Technology: Unlike VAR, goal-line technology has been active from the third round onwards, but only at the homes of Premier League or Championship clubs. Semi-automated offside technology will also be introduced from the fifth round onwards, but only at matches hosted in Premier League stadiums which already possess the camera setups required, while the fifth round will also be the first with VAR in play.
- Cup-Tied Player Relaxations: New rules for this season now allow a player to represent two different clubs in the FA Cup during the same campaign. This change means a player who featured for one team in an earlier round can still be eligible for their new club following a January transfer.
- READ MORE AHEAD OF THE FA CUP FOURTH ROUND: Man City and Macclesfield discover FA Cup fourth round opponents as draw confirmed
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