1911–12 FA Cup

1911–12 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England
Defending champions	Bradford City
Final positions
Champions	Barnsley (1st title)
Runner-up	West Bromwich Albion
	← 1910–11 1912–13 →

The 1911–12 FA Cup was the 41st season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Barnsley won the competition for the first time, beating West Bromwich Albion 1–0 after extra time in the replay of the final at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, through a goal from Harry Tufnell. The first match, held at Crystal Palace, London, was a 0–0 draw.

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 two preliminary rounds, five qualifying rounds, four proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.

Round	Date
Extra preliminary round	Saturday 9 September 1911
Preliminary round	Saturday 16 September 1911
First round qualifying	Saturday 30 September 1911
Second round qualifying	Saturday 14 October 1911
Third round qualifying	Saturday 4 November 1911
Fourth round qualifying	Saturday 18 November 1911
Fifth round qualifying	Saturday 2 December 1911
First round proper	Saturday 13 January 1912
Second round proper	Saturday 3 February 1912
Third round proper	Saturday 24 February 1912
Fourth round proper	Saturday 9 March 1912
Semi-finals	Saturday 30 March 1912
Final	Saturday 20 April 1912

Qualifying rounds

The Football Association restructured the preliminary rounds of this year's Cup competition to even out the number of clubs entering the tournament at these stages. The extra preliminary round contained more than 100 teams (112) for the first time, while a further 114 clubs joined the 56 winners at the preliminary stage. Crook Town became the first club to progress from the extra preliminary round to the fifth qualifying round, defeating Seaham Villa, Seaham Harbour, Stanley United, West Stanley, Wingate Albion Comrades and Newcastle City along the way before bowing out to Lincoln City.

The 12 winners from the fifth qualifying round were Gainsborough Trinity and Stockport County from the Football League Second Division along with non-league sides Watford, Reading, Walsall, Crewe Alexandra, Lincoln City, Southport Central, Croydon Common, Brentford, Darlington and Sutton Junction (who were appearing in the main draw for the first time and who had realised this accomplishment more than 20 years before their fierce crosstown rivals Sutton Town).

First round proper

37 of the 40 clubs from the First and Second divisions joined the 12 clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. The other three sides (Gainsborough, Stockport and Grimsby Town) were entered in the fourth qualifying round. Grimsby lost their one and only match, also to Lincoln City.

Fifteen Southern League sides also received byes to the first round to bring the total number of teams up to 64. These were:

Brighton & Hove Albion

Coventry City

32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 13 January 1912. Eight matches were drawn and went to replays on various dates between 16-25 January. One of these matches went to a second replay, which was also played on 25 January.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Birmingham	0–0	Barnsley	13 January 1912
Replay	Barnsley	3–0	Birmingham	22 January 1912
2	Darlington	2–1	Brighton & Hove Albion	13 January 1912
3	Bury	2–1	Millwall Athletic	13 January 1912
4	Liverpool	1–0	Leyton	13 January 1912
5	Preston North End	0–1	Manchester City	13 January 1912
6	Southampton	0–2	Coventry City	13 January 1912
7	Watford	0–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	13 January 1912
Replay	Wolverhampton Wanderers	10–0	Watford	24 January 1912
8	Nottingham Forest	0–1	Bradford Park Avenue	13 January 1912
9	Blackburn Rovers	4–1	Norwich City	13 January 1912
10	Aston Villa	6–0	Walsall	13 January 1912
11	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Woolwich Arsenal	13 January 1912
12	Southport Central	0–2	Reading	13 January 1912
13	Crewe Alexandra	1–1	Blackpool	13 January 1912
Replay	Blackpool	2–2	Crewe Alexandra	22 January 1912
Replay	Crewe Alexandra	1–2	Blackpool	25 January 1912
14	Middlesbrough	0–0	The Wednesday	13 January 1912
Replay	The Wednesday	1–2	Middlesbrough	25 January 1912
15	West Bromwich Albion	3–0	Tottenham Hotspur	13 January 1912
16	Sunderland	3–1	Plymouth Argyle	13 January 1912
17	Derby County	3–0	Newcastle United	13 January 1912
18	Lincoln City	2–0	Stockport County	13 January 1912
19	Luton Town	2–4	Notts County	13 January 1912
20	Swindon Town	5–0	Sutton Junction	13 January 1912
21	Queens Park Rangers	0–0	Bradford City	13 January 1912
Replay	Bradford City	4–0	Queens Park Rangers	18 January 1912
22	Fulham	2–1	Burnley	13 January 1912
23	Brentford	0–0	Crystal Palace	13 January 1912
Replay	Crystal Palace	4–0	Brentford	17 January 1912
24	Bristol Rovers	1–2	Portsmouth	13 January 1912
25	Northampton Town	1–0	Bristol City	13 January 1912
26	West Ham United	2–1	Gainsborough Trinity	13 January 1912
27	Manchester United	3–1	Huddersfield Town	13 January 1912
28	Leeds City	1–0	Glossop	13 January 1912
29	Clapton Orient	1–2	Everton	13 January 1912
30	Oldham Athletic	1–1	Hull City	13 January 1912
Replay	Hull City	0–1	Oldham Athletic	16 January 1912
31	Chelsea	1–0	Sheffield United	13 January 1912
32	Croydon Common	2–2	Leicester Fosse	13 January 1912
Replay	Leicester Fosse	6–1	Croydon Common	22 January 1912

Second round proper

The sixteen second-round matches were played on Saturday, 3 February 1912. Five matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Darlington	1–1	Northampton Town	3 February 1912
Replay	Northampton Town	2–0	Darlington	8 February 1912
2	Aston Villa	1–1	Reading	3 February 1912
Replay	Reading	1–0	Aston Villa	7 February 1912
3	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Blackpool	3 February 1912
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Lincoln City	3 February 1912
5	Middlesbrough	1–1	West Ham United	3 February 1912
Replay	West Ham United	2–1	Middlesbrough	8 February 1912
6	Derby County	1–2	Blackburn Rovers	3 February 1912
7	Everton	1–1	Bury	3 February 1912
Replay	Everton	6–0	Bury	8 February 1912
8	Swindon Town	2–0	Notts County	3 February 1912
9	Manchester City	0–1	Oldham Athletic	3 February 1912
10	Fulham	3–0	Liverpool	3 February 1912
11	Barnsley	1–0	Leicester Fosse	3 February 1912
12	Coventry City	1–5	Manchester United	3 February 1912
13	Bradford City	2–0	Chelsea	3 February 1912
14	Leeds City	0–1	West Bromwich Albion	3 February 1912
15	Crystal Palace	0–0	Sunderland	3 February 1912
Replay	Sunderland	1–0	Crystal Palace	7 February 1912
16	Bradford Park Avenue	2–0	Portsmouth	3 February 1912

Third round proper

The eight third-round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 24 February 1912. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Reading	1–1	Manchester United	24 February 1912
Replay	Manchester United	3–0	Reading	29 February 1912
2	Blackburn Rovers	3–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	24 February 1912
3	Bolton Wanderers	1–2	Barnsley	24 February 1912
4	Sunderland	1–2	West Bromwich Albion	24 February 1912
5	Fulham	2–1	Northampton Town	24 February 1912
6	West Ham United	1–1	Swindon Town	24 February 1912
Replay	Swindon Town	4–0	West Ham United	28 February 1912
7	Oldham Athletic	0–2	Everton	24 February 1912
8	Bradford Park Avenue	0–1	Bradford City	24 February 1912

Fourth round proper

The four quarter final matches were scheduled for Saturday, 9 March 1912. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture. One of these went to a second replay the following week, and this then went to a third replay three days after that.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	West Bromwich Albion	3–0	Fulham	9 March 1912
2	Swindon Town	2–1	Everton	9 March 1912
3	Barnsley	0–0	Bradford City	9 March 1912
Replay	Bradford City	0–0	Barnsley	13 March 1912
Replay	Barnsley	0–0	Bradford City	18 March 1912
Replay	Barnsley	3–2	Bradford City	21 March 1912
4	Manchester United	1–1	Blackburn Rovers	9 March 1912
Replay	Blackburn Rovers	4–2	Manchester United	14 March 1912

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 30 March 1912. Both matches went to replays, which West Bromwich Albion and Barnsley won, going on to meet each other in the final.

30 March 1912

15:00

West Bromwich Albion	0–0	Blackburn Rovers

Anfield, Liverpool

Replay

3 April 1912

19:45

West Bromwich Albion	1–0	Blackburn Rovers

Hillsborough, Sheffield

30 March 1912

15:00

Barnsley	0–0	Swindon Town

Stamford Bridge, London

Replay

3 April 1912

19:45

Barnsley	1–0	Swindon Town

Meadow Lane, Nottingham

Final

The Final was contested by Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion. It took two matches to determine a winner. The first took place at Crystal Palace on 20 April 1912 and the second on 24 April at Bramall Lane. Barnsley won the replay 1–0 after extra time, through a single goal from Harry Tufnell.