Unlike the League Cup, which has three preliminary rounds before reaching the first round, City—being last season's promoted team—had a slight advantage going into the FA Cup.
That's because City was a promoted team. So when the league kicked off in early August, most of the other clubs—those not in the Premier League or Football League—had to fight through the qualifiers first.
Their goal? To grab one of the 28 available spots in the first round.
Once those spots were filled, September marked the start of the First Round Proper, where 48 teams from the Football League Second and Third Divisions joined in. They were matched with the 28 non-league teams that had fought their way through qualifying.
This round even included two clubs from Step 8 of the English football pyramid — one from the Isthmian League Second Division and Wisbech Town from the Eastern Counties League Premier Division.
