2006–07 FA Cup

The FA Cup 2006–07 was the 126th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition; The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. This season's edition was the first to be entitled "The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON".

The competition started on 18 August 2006 with the first of the record number of 687 teams entering in the Extra Preliminary Round and concluded on 19 May 2007 with the Final, held at the new Wembley Stadium.

For information on the matches played from the Extra Preliminary Round to the final Qualifying Round, see FA Cup 2006-07 Qualifying Rounds.

Chelsea claimed this season's FA Cup with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Manchester United, with Didier Drogba scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of extra-time. Manchester United had played against top-flight opponents in each round, as they had when they won the Cup in 1948.

Calendar

The results below detail the results from the First Round Proper onwards.

First round proper

Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 11 November 2006. The draw was made by Will Greenwood and Neil Back, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking.

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.