1896–97 FA Cup


The 1896-1897 FA Cup was the 26th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. The cup was won by Aston Villa, who defeated Everton 3-2 in the final of the competition, played at Crystal Palace in London. In doing so, Aston Villa became only the second team to have won the Double, as they won the league on the same day as their cup victory.
Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held at neutral venues until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.

Calendar

The format of the FA Cup for the season had a preliminary round, five qualifying rounds, three proper rounds, and the semi finals and final. Each of the Rounds Proper were played on a set date, whereas the Preliminary and Qualifying Round matches were played on several dates over a given period of time.
RoundStart DateEnd Date
Preliminary RoundSaturday 10 October 1896
First Round QualifyingSaturday 10 October 189631 October
Second Round QualifyingSaturday 31 October 189621 November
Third Round QualifyingSaturday 21 November 189612 December
Fourth Round QualifyingSaturday 12 December 18962 January
Fifth Round QualifyingSaturday 2 January 189716 January
First Round ProperSaturday 30 January 1897
Second Round ProperSaturday 13 February 1897
Third Round ProperSaturday 27 February 1897
Semi-FinalsSaturday 20 March 1897
FinalSaturday 10 April 1897

First round proper

The First Round Proper contained 16 ties between 32 teams. The 16 First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Notts County, Small Heath, Burton Wanderers, Grimsby Town, Newcastle United and Manchester City from the Second Division. The other Second Division sides were entered into the Third Qualifying Round. Of those sides, only Newton Heath and Burton Swifts qualified to the FA Cup Proper. Eight non-league sides also qualified.
The matches were played on Saturday, 30 January 1897. One match was drawn, with the replay taking place in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Liverpool4-3Burton Swifts30 January 1897
2Preston North End6-0Manchester City30 January 1897
3Stoke5-2Glossop North End30 January 1897
4Blackburn Rovers2-1Sheffield United30 January 1897
5Aston Villa5-0Newcastle United30 January 1897
6The Wednesday0-1Nottingham Forest30 January 1897
7Grimsby Town0-0Bolton Wanderers30 January 1897
ReplayBolton Wanderers3-3Grimsby Town8 February 1897
ReplayBolton Wanderers3-2Grimsby Town11 February 1897
8Sunderland1-0Burnley30 January 1897
9Derby County8-1Barnsley St Peter's30 January 1897
10Luton Town0-1West Bromwich Albion30 January 1897
11Everton5-2Burton Wanderers30 January 1897
12Newton Heath5-1Kettering30 January 1897
13Stockton0-0Bury30 January 1897
ReplayBury12-1Stockton2 February 1897
14Small Heath1-2Notts County30 January 1897
15Millwall Athletic1-2Wolverhampton Wanderers30 January 1897
16Southampton St Mary's1-1Heanor Town30 January 1897
ReplayHeanor Town0-1Southampton St Mary's3 February 1897

Second Round Proper

The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 13 February 1897. There was one replay, played in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Preston North End2-1Stoke13 February 1897
2Blackburn Rovers2-1Wolverhampton Wanderers13 February 1897
3Aston Villa2-1Notts County13 February 1897
4West Bromwich Albion1-2Liverpool13 February 1897
5Sunderland1-3Nottingham Forest13 February 1897
6Derby County4-1Bolton Wanderers13 February 1897
7Everton3-0Bury13 February 1897
8Southampton St Mary's1-1Newton Heath13 February 1897
ReplayNewton Heath3-1Southampton St Mary's17 February 1897

Third round proper

The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 27 February 1897. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture, of which the Preston North End - Aston Villa match went to a second replay the following week.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Liverpool1-1Nottingham Forest27 February 1897
ReplayNottingham Forest0-1Liverpool3 March 1897
2Preston North End1-1Aston Villa27 February 1897
ReplayAston Villa0-0Preston North End3 March 1897
ReplayAston Villa3-2Preston North End8 March 1897
3Derby County2-0Newton Heath27 February 1897
4Everton2-0Blackburn Rovers27 February 1897

Semi-Finals

The semi-final matches were both played on Saturday, 20 March 1897. Aston Villa and Everton went on to meet in the final at Crystal Palace.
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Final

The final took place on Saturday, 10 April 1897 at Crystal Palace. Just under 66,000 supporters attended the match. John Campbell opened the scoring for Villa after 18 minutes. Villa's lead was maintained for only five minutes before Everton equalised, through a goal from Jack Bell. Everton then went in front after Dickie Boyle scored five minutes later, but that lead only lasted seven minutes, when Fred Wheldon got an equaliser. Jimmy Crabtree put Villa back in front just before half-time, and Villa managed to come through the second half without conceding, meaning they had become only the second team ever to win the Double in England.

Match details