Following their historic run to the Fourth Qualifying Round last season, which saw Whitstable finish top scorers in the competition with 24 goals, before finally being knocked out at National League Wealdstone, the 2026-27 draw was eagerly awaited.

The draw has given Whitstable a home tie, with the potential of another should they manage to progress. All of the opponents, and potential opponents, play in the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division (Step 5).

Roffey are the visitors in the Extra Preliminary Round. They are based in Horsham and finished in 10th place last season.

The winners of this tie will be at home to Forest Row or Newhaven, two weeks later.

After winning promotion, Forest Row played at Step 5 for the first time in the 2025-26 season when they also entered into a ground share at Three Bridges. They achieved a 14th place finish.

Newhaven finished a few points outside the play off positions in 8th. Whitstable did host the East Sussex club in an FA Cup tie in August 2019 that ended 3-1 in favour of the Oystermen.

The Isuzu FA Trophy
336 clubs entered

Preliminary Round (Saturday 15th August - winners receive £1,500, losers £400)
Whitstable Town have a bye.

First Round Qualifying (Saturday 29th August - winners receive £1,500, losers £400)
AFC Portchester v Whitstable Town

There are no replays in this competition and ties will be decided by penalty kicks if the scores are level after 90 minutes.

This season sees Whitstable return to the FA Trophy as a result of their promotion back to the Isthmian League after four years away. The last couple of those seasons obviously created some fantastic FA Vase memories, winning at Wembley in May 2025, before a dramatic penalty shootout loss to eventual runners up Cockfosters in a last 16 tie denied them a possible repeat trip to the National Stadium.

Whitstable’s best performance in the FA Trophy was in the 2013-14 season when they reached the Second Round (last 32), knocking out Sittingbourne, Potters Bar, Hythe Town, Carshalton Athletic and Hendon before losing 2-1 to Ebbsfleet United at the Belmont Ground.

In the latest draw, Whitstable were not drawn to play in the 16 Preliminary Round ties, so will enter the competition in the First Round Qualifying.

AFC Portchester are new opponents for the Oystermen. They finished in 5th place in the Isthmian South Central Division last season to reach the play offs, but lost to Westfield in the semi-final, 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Portchester is in the district of Fareham, Hampshire, a few miles from Portsmouth.

The FA Youth Cup
540 clubs entered

Extra Preliminary Round (week commencing 17th August)
Whitstable Town have a bye.

Preliminary Round (week commencing 31st August)
Whitstable Town v Sutton Athletic

If the scores are level after 90 minutes, penalties will decide the winners.

To be eligible for this competition in the 2026-27 season, a player must have been born on or after 1 September 2008 and before 1 September 2011.

Further Information
Full details of all the draws are available on the FA website.
https://www.thefa.com/competitions