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Football London
Football London
Sport
Elliott Jackson & Lee Wilmot

FA Cup first round draw: One London team could pocket £36,000 without playing a game

There are 79 teams who will be hoping to be the last name drawn out of the hat when the FA Cup first round draw takes place on Monday evening.

The final qualifying round of the world's greatest domestic cup competition takes place this weekend, with the draw for the first round proper due to be held on Monday.

It is the stage of the competition where the Football League teams enter - League One and League Two sides joining in round one, before the Premier League and Championship sides enter in round three.

But unlike other years, there are only going to be 79 balls in the hat for the first round draw this year.

Bury's expulsion from the English Football League in August means that when the 47 EFL teams enter the competition, there will be an odd number of teams remaining.

Thirty-two non-league outfits will also be in the draw and one of the 79 clubs will receive a bye into the next round.

The Football Association have announced that the last team left to be drawn out of the pot will be given a bye.

And not only that, but they will pocket the prize money too.

The biggest FA Cup shocks of all time

The prize money for those sides that make it past the first round is £36,000 which could make a huge difference to one potentially lucky non-league side if they are awarded a bye into the second round.

They would then be just 90 minutes away from a potentially lucrative clash with a Premier League side.

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