Tottenham Hotspur is the reigning champions, having defeated Charlton Athletic 4–3 on penalties the previous season,[2] but will not be defending their title after their promotion to the FA WSL 2.
The competition begins with a Determining Round, which consisted of 70 teams in the FA Women's Premier League being drawn in pairs, with Plymouth Argyle being given a bye.
The winners of these 35 games and Plymouth Argyle progress to the next stage of the competition, while the losers qualify for the 2017–18 FA Women's Premier League Plate.
[4] With 36 teams progressing from the determining round, four needs to be eliminated to allow a single-elimination knockout tournament to take place.
The eight second round matches were originally scheduled to be played on Sunday 10 December 2017 before they were all postponed due to severe weather throughout the country.