The 2020–21 Women's FA Cup was the 51st staging of the Women's FA Cup, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England. Manchester City were the defending champions, having beaten Everton 3–1 in the previous final. The draw was split regionally until the fourth round proper. Teams A total of 376 teams had their entries to the tournament accepted by The Football Association, an increase of 76 from the previous year. 174 teams from outside the top four divisions will enter at the extra preliminary round with another 109 joining in the preliminary round. The 47 teams that play in the FA Women's National League Division One (tier 4) are given exemption to the second round qualifying, while teams in the Northern and Southern Premier Divisions (tier 3) enter at the second round proper. Teams in the FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship (tiers 1 and 2) are exempted to the fourth round proper. Extra preliminary round As a result of 376 teams entering the competition, 174 teams were drawn into an extra preliminary round, which were played on Sunday 6 September 2020. Preliminary round 98 matches were scheduled for the preliminary round on Sunday 20 September 2020, made up of the 87 winning teams from the extra preliminary round plus the 109 teams that were granted a bye into the preliminary round. First round qualifying 49 matches were scheduled for the first round qualifying on Sunday 4 October 2020, made up of the 98 winning teams from the preliminary round and did not include the introduction of any new teams. Second round qualifying 48 matches were scheduled for the second round qualifying on Sunday 18 October 2020, made up of the 49 winning teams from the first round qualifying and included the introduction of 47 teams from the fourth-tier FA Women's National League Division One. Third round qualifying 24 matches were scheduled for the third round qualifying on Sunday 1 November 2020, made up of the 48 winning teams from the second round qualifying and did not include the introduction of any new teams. First round proper Twelve matches were scheduled for the first round proper, pending a fixture date due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The round was eventually scheduled for Sunday 13 December 2020. The round was made up of the 24 winners from the previous round and did not include