2008–09 FA Cup


The 2008–09 FA Cup was the 128th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. A record 762 clubs were accepted for the competition; one club, South Normanton Athletic, folded before the fixtures were released, leaving 761 clubs to appear in the draw. Two more clubs, Brierley Hill & Withymoor and Stapenhill, folded after the draws for the early rounds were made, giving their opponents a walk-over.
The competition started on 16 August 2008 with the Extra Preliminary Round and concluded on 30 May 2009 with the Final, held at Wembley Stadium. Because winners Chelsea qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League by finishing 3rd in the 2008–09 Premier League, losing finalists Everton qualified for the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Because Everton also happened to qualify for a Europa League berth by finishing 5th in the Premier League, that berth was awarded to the 6th place team, whose berth was in turn awarded to the 7th place team.
This season's competition saw the beginning of a new television contract for the tournament, with ITV and Setanta Sports taking over the domestic rights from the BBC and Sky Sports.

Calendar

Qualifying Rounds

All of the teams that entered the competition, but were not members of the Premier League or The Football League, had to compete in the qualifying rounds.

First Round Proper

All of the 24 League One and 24 League Two teams entered at this round, along with the winners of the previous round, the fourth qualifying round. These 32 winners came from the following levels:
The draw for the First Round Proper took place on 26 October 2008. The matches were played between 7 and 9 November 2008.

† – After extra time
‡ – Grays' replay with Carlisle was abandoned the first time it was played after 20 minutes because of floodlight failure with Grays leading 1–0.
Blyth Spartans, Droylsden and Histon beat teams from two levels higher. Kettering Town were the fourth non-league team to beat a league club. Curzon Ashton were the only club to beat a team from four levels higher, beating Exeter City.

Second Round Proper

The draw for the Second Round Proper took place on 9 November 2008 and involved the 40 winning teams from the First Round Proper. These were from the following levels:
  • 13 from Level 3
  • 14 from Level 4
  • 7 from Level 5
  • 4 from Level 6
  • 1 from Level 7
  • 1 from Level 8
The draw was conducted by Lawrie Sanchez and Ray Parlour. Matches in the Second Round Proper were played over the weekend of 29 November 2008, with the exception of the match between Crewe Alexandra and Carlisle United, which was played on 2 December, due to the abandonment of the first-round game between Carlisle United and Grays Athletic.
† – After extra time
‡ – Droylsden's first visit to Chesterfield was abandoned at half time due to fog. The first replay, two weeks later, was then abandoned after 70 minutes due to floodlight failure.
6 non-league clubs beat league clubs: Leeds United lost to Histon, while League Two clubs lost to Eastwood Town, Blyth Spartans, Barrow, Forest Green Rovers and Kettering Town.

Third Round Proper

The draw for the Third Round Proper took place on 30 November 2008. The draw was carried out by Sir Trevor Brooking and Ray Clemence at Soho Square. The 20 Premier League and 24 Championship teams enter at this stage, along with the 20 winners of the Second Round Proper. These 20 teams came from the following levels:
  • 9 from Level 3
  • 3 from Level 4
  • 6 from Level 5
  • 1 from Level 6
  • 1 from Level 7
The matches were played between 2 and 5 January 2009, with the exception of the ties between Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Histon and Swansea City, Cheltenham Town and Doncaster Rovers, and Leyton Orient and Sheffield United, which were postponed until 13 January 2009.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1PortsmouthBristol City14,446
replayBristol City'Portsmouth14,302
2Sheffield WednesdayFulham18,377
3Preston North EndLiverpool23,046
4Birmingham CityWolverhampton Wanderers22,232
5West Ham UnitedBarnsley28,869
6MiddlesbroughBarrow25,132
7Hull CityNewcastle United20,557
replayNewcastle United'Hull City31,380
8Hartlepool UnitedStoke City5,367
9ChelseaSouthend United41,090
replaySouthend United'Chelsea11,314
10Manchester CityNottingham Forest31,869
11Cardiff CityReading12,448
12Ipswich TownChesterfield12,524
13Charlton AthleticNorwich City12,615
replayNorwich City'Charlton Athletic13,997
14West Bromwich AlbionPeterborough United18,659
replayPeterborough United'West Bromwich Albion10,735
15Torquay UnitedBlackpool3,654
16Leyton OrientSheffield United4,527
17SouthamptonManchester United31,901
18MillwallCrewe Alexandra5,754
replayCrewe Alexandra'Millwall3,060
19HistonSwansea City2,821
20Forest Green RoversDerby County4,836
21Queens Park RangersBurnley8,896
replayBurnley†Queens Park Rangers3,760
22Leicester CityCrystal Palace15,976
replayCrystal Palace'Leicester City6,023
23Tottenham HotspurWigan Athletic34,040
24Cheltenham TownDoncaster Rovers4,417
replayDoncaster Rovers'Cheltenham Town5,345
25ArsenalPlymouth Argyle59,424
26Kettering TownEastwood Town5,090
27Blyth SpartansBlackburn Rovers3,445
28Macclesfield TownEverton6,008
29WatfordScunthorpe United8,690
30SunderlandBolton Wanderers20,685
31Coventry CityKidderminster Harriers13,652
32GillinghamAston Villa10,107

† – After extra time
Torquay United were the only team to beat a team from 3 levels higher, while Hartlepool United were the only team to beat a team from 2 levels higher.

Fourth Round Proper

The draw for the Fourth Round of the FA Cup was held on 4 January 2009. It comprised teams from the following levels:
  • 15 from the Premier League
  • 13 from the Championship
  • 2 from League One
  • 0 from League Two
  • 2 from the Conference National
The draw was conducted by Roberto Di Matteo and Dave Beasant. Most of the matches were played on the weekend of 24 January 2009.
A technical error during ITV's broadcast of the Everton–Liverpool replay meant that millions of viewers missed Dan Gosling's winner for Everton late in extra time. Coverage of the match was temporarily interrupted by advertisements, only for viewers to see Everton's players celebrating upon the restoration of the feed. ITV received thousands of complaints about the mistake, with many viewers questioning ITV's ability to broadcast live football, especially given their £275 million contract with The Football Association. ITV has subsequently apologised for the error.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1LiverpoolEverton43,524
replayEverton†Liverpool37,918
2Manchester UnitedTottenham Hotspur75,014
3Hull City Millwall18,639
4SunderlandBlackburn Rovers22,634
replayBlackburn Rovers†Sunderland10,112
5Hartlepool UnitedWest Ham United6,849
6Sheffield UnitedCharlton Athletic15,957
7Cardiff CityArsenal20,079
replayArsenal'Cardiff City57,237
8PortsmouthSwansea City17,357
9ChelseaIpswich Town41,137
10Doncaster RoversAston Villa13,517
replayAston Villa'Doncaster Rovers24,203
11West Bromwich AlbionBurnley18,294
replayBurnley'West Bromwich Albion6,635
12Torquay UnitedCoventry City6,018
13Kettering TownFulham5,406
14WatfordCrystal Palace10,006
15Derby CountyNottingham Forest32,035
replayNottingham Forest'Derby County29,001
16Wolverhampton WanderersMiddlesbrough18,013

† – After extra time

Fifth Round Proper

The draw for the Fifth Round Proper was held on 25 January 2009. It comprised ten teams from the Premier League and six from the Championship, and was conducted by Gary Mabbutt and Gary Pallister. The Fifth Round matches were played on the weekend of 14 February 2009, with the exception of the tie between Arsenal and Burnley, after Arsenal's Fourth Round replay with Cardiff City was postponed due to snow. The match was played on 8 March 2009.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Sheffield UnitedHull City22,283
replayHull City'Sheffield United17,239
2WatfordChelsea16,851
3West Ham UnitedMiddlesbrough33,658
replayMiddlesbrough'West Ham United15,602
4Blackburn RoversCoventry City15,053
replayCoventry City'Blackburn Rovers22,793
5Derby CountyManchester United32,103
6Swansea CityFulham16,573
replayFulham'Swansea City12,316
7EvertonAston Villa35,439
8ArsenalBurnley57,454

Sixth Round Proper

The draw for the Sixth Round Proper was held on 15 February 2009. It comprised seven teams from the Premier League and Coventry City from the Championship. It was conducted by Frank McLintock and Graeme Souness. The matches were played on the weekend of 7 March 2009, with the exception of the tie between Arsenal and Hull City, which was played on 17 March.
----
----
----

Semi-Finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 8 March 2009, and was conducted by Bob Wilson and Joe Royle. The semi-final matches were played at Wembley Stadium, on the weekend of 18 April 2009. Unlike the previous rounds, replays were not held if a match ended as a draw; if necessary, extra time was added and a penalty shoot-out was held immediately after the match.
----

Final

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Nicolas AnelkaChelsea4
1 Robin van PersieArsenal4
3 Afonso AlvesMiddlesbrough3
3 Michael BallackChelsea3
3 Didier DrogbaChelsea3
3 EduardoArsenal3
3 Greg HalfordSheffield United3
3 Rob HulseDerby County3
3 Paul IfillCrystal Palace3
3 Andy JohnsonFulham3
3 Frank LampardChelsea3
3 James MilnerAston Villa3
3 Roman PavlyuchenkoTottenham Hotspur3
3 Jason ScotlandSwansea City3
3 Steven ThomsonBurnley3
3 Craig WestcarrKettering Town3

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, ITV regained the free to air broadcasting rights from the BBC who held on to it after seven seasons while Setanta Sports took over the subscription broadcasting rights from Sky Sports who held on to it for 20 seasons.
International broadcasters
CountryBroadcaster
Prime
Setanta Sports
France Télévisions
SKY Italia

OWIKI.org. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.