FA Cup yellow cards: Do suspensions carry over into the Premier League? Rules explained
- Yellow card rules are different across England's competitions
- FA Cup bookings don't carry over into the Premier League
- Red cards treated differently in the world's oldest cup competition
Despite the best intentions of its mystique and magic, the modern history of the FA Cup is deeply intertwined with the Premier League.
Since 2004, there has been just one finalist from outside England's top flight (Cardiff City lost to Portsmouth in 2008). West Ham were the last team below the First Division to win the trophy when they lifted the cup in 1980.
Yet, the rules of these interlinked competitions can be difficult to extract - especially after undergoing excessive tinkering in recent years.
Here's everything you need to know about the rules regarding suspensions in the FA Cup and Premier League.
Do yellow card suspensions carry over into the Premier League?
Since the 2019/20 campaign, yellow cards in English domestic football are contained to the competition they were awarded in. If a player is booked in consecutive FA Cup games they will be suspended for their club's next FA Cup tie. But the same indisciplined individual would be available to play in the Premier League.
The same rule extends across England's domestic competitions. If a player is handed a yellow-card suspension in the Premier League, they will be available for the next cup game, be that in the FA Cup or its Carabao counterpart.
In the past, players could have timed their ban-inducing yellow card so that they could serve their league suspension during a cup tie. This is no longer the case.
In the FA Cup, players need four yellow cards before being suspended providing they play for a team that enters the competition through the qualifying rounds or in the first round. Representatives of clubs that enter in the third round need only two bookings before receiving a suspension.
Players will receive a further ban for every pair of yellows after their original suspension, too - this rule applying across the board for every team.
The cut-off point for such suspensions is the quarter-finals and beyond.
What about red cards?
Red cards are a different matter altogether. If a player is red-carded in an FA Cup tie, that carries over to the Premier League - or whatever domestic competition immediately follows their sending-off.
For example, Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot was sent off for two bookable offences during the 2024/25 FA Cup third round win over Arsenal and was suspended for the subsequent Premier League match against Southampton. However, he was available to play in the Red Devils' fourth round match.
If a player is handed a three-game suspension in the FA Cup, that will be served across the club's next three matches in domestic competition, whatever tournament that may be.
If a player is sent off in the Premier League, then their suspension can be served across the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.
READ THE LATEST FA CUP NEWS, PREVIEWS & RATINGS HERE
feed