The FA Vase second round proper draw was made on Monday, confirming 64 ties for Saturday, October 31st, 2026, with all matches due to kick off at 3pm. It is the next step on the non-league route towards Wembley, and it leaves 128 clubs with a place in the competition still very much alive.
That is the sort of draw day that matters at this level. The first round has already trimmed the field, and the second round proper now gives the surviving clubs a clear target, a new opponent and a prize to play for, with £900 available to each winning side and £275 for those beaten.
Boldon CA and Lye Town set the tone
The weekend before the draw had already produced some of the human detail that makes the FA Vase such an important competition for smaller clubs. Lye Town and Boldon Community Association both progressed through the first round, while Boldon CA edged Jarrow thanks to James Fairley’s 25th-minute free-kick. The Flyers also booked their place after beating Anstey Town 2-1.
Those results mattered because they showed exactly what is at stake in the competition: one moment, one set-piece, one disciplined performance can carry a club deeper into the Vase. Now the draw has turned those first-round successes into a full second-round map, with 64 fixtures set and the path to Wembley continuing to narrow.
What the draw means next
The second round proper is not just another date in the calendar. For the clubs involved, it is the next chance to keep a Wembley run going, and for those drawn at home it is a valuable opportunity to use familiar surroundings to push on. For others, it means a difficult away day and a test of whether first-round momentum can be carried forward.
With every tie scheduled for the same afternoon, the emphasis now shifts from the draw room to the pitch. By 3pm on October 31, the competition will move one step closer to deciding which clubs can keep dreaming of the later rounds, and which will have to wait another year for another run at the FA Vase.
