Port Vale travel to Chelsea in The Fa Cup Quarter Final Draw
Port Vale, a League One club that has reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for only the second time in its history, will travel to Stamford Bridge after the draw was made. The Fa Cup Quarter Final Draw also handed Manchester City a home tie with Liverpool and sent Arsenal to St. Mary’s to face Southampton.
Port Vale in The Fa Cup Quarter Final Draw: a League One visit to Stamford Bridge
Port Vale’s reward for beating Sunderland is a quarter-final tie away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a fixture the teams have not played competitively since 1929. Port Vale are the lowest ranked side left in the competition, and that standing frames the scale of their match against Chelsea.
Manchester City v Liverpool and Arsenal v Southampton set by the draw
Manchester City will host Liverpool in what the draw produced as a heavyweight showdown. Record 14-time winners Arsenal were drawn to travel to Southampton, with Arsenal to play at St. Mary’s. Those two ties pair top-flight clubs in fixtures that will test established rivals and visitors alike.
Leeds United, West Ham or Brentford and scheduling for Saturday 4 April 2026 (ET)
The remaining quarter-final pairing will see Leeds United travel to face the winners of the West Ham United v Brentford tie. The draw was made prior to the final fifth-round tie between West Ham and Brentford at the London Stadium, and the quarter-finals are scheduled across the weekend of Saturday 4 April 2026 (ET).
Former FA Cup winners Joe Cole and Joe Hart carried out the draw, which produced four quarter-final fixtures: Southampton v Arsenal, Chelsea v Port Vale, Manchester City v Liverpool, and West Ham United or Brentford v Leeds United. The draw set the path for the last eight as clubs prepare for the weekend in April.
Port Vale’s visit to Chelsea will be read against the narrow fact that this is only Port Vale’s second appearance in the FA Cup quarter-finals. For Manchester City and Liverpool, the draw creates a high-profile encounter. For Arsenal and Southampton, it is an away test at St. Mary’s. For Leeds United there is the uncertainty of facing either West Ham or Brentford depending on the outcome of their tie.
For now, clubs and supporters have the fixtures to prepare for. The final schedule for the quarter-finals will be confirmed in due course following talks with clubs, broadcast partners and local authorities, and the matches are set for the weekend of Saturday 4 April 2026 (ET).
Port Vale’s path now leads to Stamford Bridge, where the club will travel for its second-ever quarter-final in the competition. The confirmed next step is that the final schedule will be agreed in due course, giving Port Vale and the other seven clubs a clear date window in which they will plan for competitive cup ties.
