1895–96 FA Cup


The 1895-1896 FA Cup was the 25th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. The cup was won by The Wednesday, who defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 in the final of the competition, played at Crystal Palace in London. This was Wednesday's first victory in the FA Cup.
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, four qualifying rounds, three proper rounds, and the semi finals and final.
RoundStart Date
Preliminary RoundSaturday 5 October 1895
First Round QualifyingSaturday 12 October 1895
Second Round QualifyingSaturday 2 November 1895
Third Round QualifyingSaturday 23 November 1895
Fourth Round QualifyingSaturday 14 December 1895
First Round ProperSaturday 1 February 1896
Second Round ProperSaturday 15 February 1896
Third Round ProperSaturday 29 February 1896
Semi-FinalsSaturday 21 March 1896
FinalSaturday 18 April 1896

First round proper

The First Round Proper contained sixteen ties between 32 teams. The 16 First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Notts County, Darwen, Burton Wanderers, Liverpool, Newton Heath and Woolwich Arsenal from the Second Division. The other Second Division sides were entered into the First Qualifying Round. Of those sides, only Grimsby Town, Newcastle United, Crewe Alexandra and Burton Swifts qualified to the FA Cup Proper. Six non-league sides also qualified.
The matches were played on Saturday, 1 February 1896. Two matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Blackpool4-1Burton Swifts1 February 1896
2Chesterfield0-4Newcastle United1 February 1896
3Darwen0-2Grimsby Town1 February 1896
4Burnley6-1Woolwich Arsenal1 February 1896
5Liverpool4-1Millwall Athletic1 February 1896
6Stoke5-0Tottenham Hotspur1 February 1896
7Nottingham Forest0-2Everton1 February 1896
8Blackburn Rovers1-2West Bromwich Albion1 February 1896
9Wolverhampton Wanderers2-2Notts County1 February 1896
ReplayNotts County3-4Wolverhampton Wanderers5 February 1896
10Crewe Alexandra0-4Bolton Wanderers1 February 1896
11Sunderland4-1Preston North End1 February 1896
12Derby County4-2Aston Villa1 February 1896
13Burton Wanderers1-1Sheffield United1 February 1896
ReplaySheffield United1-0Burton Wanderers6 February 1896
14Newton Heath2-1Kettering1 February 1896
15Small Heath1-4Bury1 February 1896
16Southampton St Mary's2-3The Wednesday1 February 1896

Second Round Proper

The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 15 February 1896. There were three replays, played in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Blackpool0-2Bolton Wanderers15 February 1896
2Burnley1-1Stoke15 February 1896
ReplayStoke7-1Burnley20 February 1896
3The Wednesday2-1Sunderland15 February 1896
4Grimsby Town1-1West Bromwich Albion15 February 1896
ReplayWest Bromwich Albion3-0Grimsby Town20 February 1896
5Wolverhampton Wanderers2-0Liverpool15 February 1896
6Everton3-0Sheffield United15 February 1896
7Newton Heath1-1Derby County15 February 1896
ReplayDerby County5-1Newton Heath19 February 1896
8Newcastle United1-3Bury15 February 1896

Third round proper

The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 29 February 1896. There were no replays.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1The Wednesday4-0Everton29 February 1896
2Bolton Wanderers2-0Bury29 February 1896
3Wolverhampton Wanderers3-0Stoke29 February 1896
4Derby County1-0West Bromwich Albion29 February 1896

Semi-Finals

The semi-final matches were both played on Saturday, 21 March 1896. The Wednesday and Wolverhampton Wanderers went on to meet in the final at Crystal Palace.
;Replay
----

Final

The final took place on Saturday, 18 April 1896 at Crystal Palace. Less than 50,000 supporters attended the match. The match finished 2-1 to The Wednesday, through two early goals from Fred Spiksley. Between the two goals, David Black had equalised for Wolves.

Match details