1871–72 FA Cup

The 1871–72 Football Association Challenge Cup was the first staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup, usually known in the modern era as the FA Cup, the oldest association football competition in the world. Fifteen of the association's fifty member clubs entered the first competition, although three withdrew without playing a game. In the final, held at Kennington Oval in London on 16 March 1872, Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers by a single goal, scored by Morton Betts, who was playing under the pseudonym A.H. Chequer.

The leading Scottish club Queen's Park entered the competition and managed to reach the semi-finals without having to play a match, due to a combination of an inability to agree venue, opponents withdrawing from the competition and byes. After holding Wanderers to a draw in the semi-final, however, they could not afford to return to London for a replay and were themselves forced to withdraw, giving their opponents a walkover into the final. At the time the competition also employed a rule which stated that, in the event of a drawn match, both teams could be put through to the next round at the organising committee's discretion, which occurred on two occasions.

FA Cup

The FA Cup is an annual knockout cup competition in English football; first held in 1871–72, it is the oldest association football competition in the world. It is organised by and named after the Football Association, its official name being The Football Association Challenge Cup. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is also known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, known as the FA Women's Cup.

The competition is open to any eligible club down to Level 10 of the English football league system, i.e. all 92 professional clubs (the Premier League and the three levels of the The Football League), as well as several hundred "non-league" teams in Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12. The tournament is unseeded, although a system of byes based on league level ensures most competitors enter at progressively later stages. Played over 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and final, the first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, followed by six rounds of the Competition Proper, where 32 qualifiers meet professional sides for the first time.

2002–03 FA Cup

The 2002–03 FA Cup was the 122nd staging of the world's oldest cup competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 1–0 victory in the final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff against Southampton, courtesy of a Robert Pirès goal.

Calendar

Early rounds

First Round Proper

At this stage the 48 Second and Third Division clubs joined the 32 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds.

The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 16 November 2002, with replays in the week commencing 25 November.

Second Round Proper

The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 7 December 2002, with replays in the week commencing 16 December.

Third Round Proper

This round was the first in which Division 1 and Premier League (top-flight) teams entered the competition. The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 4 January 2003, with replays in the week commencing 13 January.

Shrewsbury, who ended the season with relegation from the Football League, achieved the biggest upset of the round (if not the whole competition), with a surprise 2-1 win over an Everton side who were pushing for a place in Europe and featuring a 17-year-old striker called Wayne Rooney - one of the most promising young players in the game.

1984–85 FA Cup

The FA Cup 1984–85 was the 104th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The competition was won by Manchester United, who defeated Everton 1–0 at Wembley, thus denying Everton the double on top of the European Cup Winners' Cup that Everton had already won. The final was also notable for seeing the first sending off, with Kevin Moran obtaining the unwanted distinction.

For information on the matches played from the Preliminary Round to the Fourth Qualifying Round, see 1984–85 FA Cup Qualifying rounds.

First round proper

The first round of games were played over the weekend 17–19 November 1984. Replays were played on 19th-20th, except that for Swindon Town and Dagenham, which was played on 26th.

Second round proper

The second round of games were played over 7–8 December 1984, with replays being played on 11th, 12th and 17th.

Third round proper

Most of the third round of games in the FA Cup were played over the weekend 4–6 January 1985, with the exception of the Gillingham-Cardiff City match. Replays took place at various times over the period 8–28 January, however. The FA ordered the Leicester and Burton Albion game to be replayed behind closed doors after the Burton Albion goalkeeper had been struck by a bottle in the first game which had ended in a 6–1 win for Leicester.