1896–97 FA Cup

1896–97 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England; Wales
Defending champions	The Wednesday
Final positions
Champions	Aston Villa (3rd title)
Runner-up	Everton
	← 1895–96 1897–98 →

The 1896–97 FA Cup was the 26th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA 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 (and the only team to do this).

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 (for the first time), 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.

Round	Start Date	End Date
Preliminary round	Saturday 10 October 1896
First round qualifying	Saturday 10 October 1896	31 October
Second round qualifying	Saturday 31 October 1896	21 November
Third round qualifying	Saturday 21 November 1896	12 December
Fourth round qualifying	Saturday 12 December 1896	2 January
Fifth round Qualifying	Saturday 2 January 1897	16 January
First round proper	Saturday 30 January 1897
Second round proper	Saturday 13 February 1897
Third round proper	Saturday 27 February 1897
Semi-finals	Saturday 20 March 1897
Final	Saturday 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. Non-league sides Stockton, Barnsley St Peter's, Heanor Town, Glossop North End, Kettering, Luton Town, Millwall Athletic and Southampton St Mary's also qualified, with only Glossop North End appearing at this stage for the first time.

The matches were played on Saturday, 30 January 1897. One match was drawn, with the replay taking place in the following midweek fixture.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Liverpool	4–3	Burton Swifts	30 January 1897
2	Preston North End	6–0	Manchester City	30 January 1897
3	Stoke	5–2	Glossop North End	30 January 1897
4	Blackburn Rovers	2–1	Sheffield United	30 January 1897
5	Aston Villa	5–0	Newcastle United	30 January 1897
6	The Wednesday	0–1	Nottingham Forest	30 January 1897
7	Grimsby Town	0–0	Bolton Wanderers	30 January 1897
Replay	Bolton Wanderers	3–3	Grimsby Town	8 February 1897
Replay	Bolton Wanderers	3–2	Grimsby Town	11 February 1897
8	Sunderland	1–0	Burnley	30 January 1897
9	Derby County	8–1	Barnsley St Peter's	30 January 1897
10	Luton Town	0–1	West Bromwich Albion	30 January 1897
11	Everton	5–2	Burton Wanderers	30 January 1897
12	Newton Heath	5–1	Kettering	30 January 1897
13	Stockton	0–0	Bury	30 January 1897
Replay	Bury	12–1	Stockton	2 February 1897
14	Small Heath	1–2	Notts County	30 January 1897
15	Millwall Athletic	1–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30 January 1897
16	Southampton St Mary's	1–1	Heanor Town	30 January 1897
Replay	Heanor Town	0–1	Southampton St Mary's	3 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 no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Preston North End	2–1	Stoke	13 February 1897
2	Blackburn Rovers	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	13 February 1897
3	Aston Villa	2–1	Notts County	13 February 1897
4	West Bromwich Albion	1–2	Liverpool	13 February 1897
5	Sunderland	1–3	Nottingham Forest	13 February 1897
6	Derby County	4–1	Bolton Wanderers	13 February 1897
7	Everton	3–0	Bury	13 February 1897
8	Southampton St Mary's	1–1	Newton Heath	13 February 1897
Replay	Newton Heath	3–1	Southampton St Mary's	17 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 no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Liverpool	1–1	Nottingham Forest	27 February 1897
Replay	Nottingham Forest	0–1	Liverpool	3 March 1897
2	Preston North End	1–1	Aston Villa	27 February 1897
Replay	Aston Villa	0–0	Preston North End	3 March 1897
Replay	Aston Villa	3–2	Preston North End	8 March 1897
3	Derby County	2–0	Newton Heath	27 February 1897
4	Everton	2–0	Blackburn Rovers	27 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.

20 March 1897

Aston Villa	3–0	Liverpool

Bramall Lane, Sheffield

20 March 1897

Everton	3–2	Derby County

Victoria Ground, Stoke

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.