The 2006–07 FA Cup (known as the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 126th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. This season's edition was the first to be 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, the first to be held at the new Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea defeated Manchester United 1–0 in the final, 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.
This was the last FA Cup (to date) at which the semi-finals were played at neutral club venues; since 2008 all FA Cup semi-finals have been played at Wembley Stadium.
Calendar Round Date Fixtures Clubs Byes/Exemptions Prize money Extra preliminary round 19 August 2006 129 687 → 558 none £500 Preliminary round 2 September 2006 166 558 → 392 203: 227th–429th £1,000 First round qualifying 16 September 2006 116 392 → 276 66: 161st–226th £2,250 Second round qualifying 30 September 2006 80 276 → 196 44: 117th–160th £3,750 Third round qualifying 14 October 2006 40 196 → 156 none £5,000 Fourth round qualifying 28 October 2006 32 156 → 124 24: 93rd–116th £10,000 First round proper 11 November 2006 40 124 → 84 48: 45th–92nd £16,000 Second round proper 2 December 2006 20 84 → 64 none £24,000 Third round proper 6 January 2007 32 64 → 32 44: 1st–44th £40,000 Fourth round proper 27 January 2007 16 32 → 16 none £60,000 Fifth round proper 17 February 2007 8 16 → 8 none £120,000 Sixth round proper 10 March 2007 4 8 → 4 none £300,000 Semi-finals 14 April 2007 2 4 → 2 none £900,000 Final 19 May 2007 1 2 → 1 none £1,000,000
Qualifying rounds All participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Barrow, Stafford Rangers, Tamworth, Gainsborough Trinity, King's Lynn, York City, Fleetwood Town, Rushden & Diamonds, Burton Albion, Northwich Victoria, Farsley Celtic, Kettering Town, Morecambe, Kidderminster Harriers, Basingstoke Town, Lewes, Bishop's Stortford, Weymouth, Maidenhead United, Stevenage Borough, Woking, Clevedon Town, Newport County, Oxford United, Yeading, Aldershot Town, Exeter City, Leatherhead, Chelmsford City, Bromley, Salisbury City and Havant & Waterlooville.
Clevedon Town was appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Basingstoke Town had last featured at this stage in 1998–99, King's Lynn had last done so in 1997-98, Bromley had last done so in 1996-97, Fleetwood Town in 1990-91, Leatherhead in 1980-81, Farsley Celtic in 1974-75 and Maidenhead United in 1971-72.
First round proper Football League clubs from League One and League Two entered the competition at this stage. The draw was made by Will Greenwood and Neil Back, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking. Step 8 side Leatherhead, of the Isthmian League First Division South, was the lowest-ranked team in the round.
Matches were played on weekend of Saturday, 11 November 2006. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1AFC Bournemouth (3)4–0Boston United (4)4,2632Wycombe Wanderers (4)2–1Oxford United (5)6,2793Peterborough United (4)3–0Rotherham United (3)4,2814Torquay United (4)2–1Leatherhead (8)2,2185Morecambe (5)2–1Kidderminster Harriers (5)1,6736Tranmere Rovers (3)4–2Woking (5)4,5917Salisbury City (6)3–0Fleetwood Town (7)2,6848Chelmsford City (7)1–1Aldershot Town (5)2,838replayAldershot Town (5)2–0Chelmsford City (7)2,7319Weymouth (5)2–2Bury (4)2,503replayBury (4)4–3Weymouth (5)2,23110Nottingham Forest (3)5–0Yeading (6)7,70411Stafford Rangers (5)1–1Maidenhead United (7)1,526replayMaidenhead United (7)0–2Stafford Rangers (5)1,93412Shrewsbury Town (4)0–0Hereford United (4)5,574replayHereford United (4)2–0Shrewsbury Town (4)4,22413Northampton Town (3)0–0Grimsby Town (4)4,092replayGrimsby Town (4)0–2Northampton Town (3)2,65714Wrexham (4)1–0Stevenage Borough (5)2,86315Chesterfield (3)0–1Basingstoke Town (6)3,53916Gainsborough Trinity (6)1–3Barnet (4)1,91417Lewes (6)1–4Darlington (4)2,00018Clevedon Town (7)1–4Chester City (4)2,26119Barrow (6)2–3Bristol Rovers (4)2,93920Rushden & Diamonds (5)3–1Yeovil Town (3)2,53021Burton Albion (5)1–2Tamworth (5)4,15022Farsley Celtic (6)0–0Milton Keynes Dons (4)2,200replayMilton Keynes Dons (4)2–0Farsley Celtic (6)2,67623Brentford (3)0–1Doncaster Rovers (3)3,60724Gillingham (3)4–1Bromley (7)5,54725York City (5)0–1Bristol City (3)3,52526Bishop's Stortford (6)3–5King's Lynn (7)1,75027Exeter City (5)1–2Stockport County (4)4,45428Newport County (6)1–3Swansea City (3)4,66029Kettering Town (6)3–4Oldham Athletic (3)3,48130Rochdale (4)1–1Hartlepool United (4)2,098replayHartlepool United (4)0–0Rochdale (4)2,788Hartlepool United won 4–2 on penalties31Brighton & Hove Albion (3)8–0Northwich Victoria (5)4,48732Mansfield Town (4)1–0Accrington Stanley (4)3,90933Cheltenham Town (3)0–0Scunthorpe United (3)2,721replayScunthorpe United (3)2–0Cheltenham Town (3)3,07434Macclesfield Town (4)0–0Walsall (4)2,018replayWalsall (4)0–1Macclesfield Town (4)3,11435Bradford City (3)4–0Crewe Alexandra (3)3,48336Leyton Orient (3)2–1Notts County (4)3,01137Swindon Town (4)3–1Carlisle United (3)4,93838Huddersfield Town (3)0–1Blackpool (3)6,59739Havant & Waterlooville (6)1–2Millwall (3)5,793(played at Portsmouth)40Port Vale (3)2–1Lincoln City (4)3,884
Second round proper Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 2 December 2006. The draw was made on 12 November by Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One. King's Lynn, from the Southern League Premier Division at Step 7, was the lowest-ranked team in the round.
As mentioned below, Bury defeated Chester City 3–1 at the Deva Stadium but it was soon revealed that Bury had fielded an ineligible player, resulting in them being expelled from the competition and Chester City being reinstated. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Milton Keynes Dons (4)0–2Blackpool (3)3,8372Scunthorpe United (3)0–2Wrexham (4)5,0543Brighton & Hove Albion (3)3–0Stafford Rangers (5)5,7414Bristol City (3)4–3Gillingham (3)5,6635Hereford United (4)4–0Port Vale (3)4,0766Macclesfield Town (4)2–1Hartlepool United (4)1,9927Stockport County (4)2–1Wycombe Wanderers (4)3,8218Bury (4)2–2Chester City (4)3,428replayChester City (4)1–3Bury (4)2,810Bury expelled for fielding an ineligible player; Chester City progress9Barnet (4)4–1Northampton Town (3)2,78610Tranmere Rovers (3)1–2Peterborough United (4)6,30811King's Lynn (7)0–2Oldham Athletic (3)5,44412Darlington (4)1–3Swansea City (3)4,18313Salisbury City (6)1–1Nottingham Forest (3)3,100replayNottingham Forest (3)2–0Salisbury City (6)6,17714Torquay United (4)1–1Leyton Orient (3)2,392replayLeyton Orient (3)1–2Torquay United (4)2,38415Bristol Rovers (4)1–1AFC Bournemouth (3)6,252replayAFC Bournemouth (3)0–1Bristol Rovers (4)4,15316Bradford City (3)0–0Millwall (3)4,346replayMillwall (3)0–0Bradford City (3)3,220Millwall win 1 – 0 after extra time17Swindon Town (4)1–0Morecambe (5)5,94218Mansfield Town (4)1–1Doncaster Rovers (3)4,837replayDoncaster Rovers (3)2–0Mansfield Town (4)5,33819Aldershot Town (5)1–1Basingstoke Town (6)4,525replayBasingstoke Town (6)1–3Aldershot Town (5)3,30020Rushden & Diamonds (5)1–2Tamworth (5)2,815
Third round proper This round marks the point at which the Premier League and Football League Championship teams entered the competition. The draw was made on 3 December 2006 by Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One. Conference National (Step 5) sides Aldershot Town and Tamworth were the lowest-ranked teams in the round and the last non-league clubs left in the competition.
Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 6 January 2007 with replays taking place during the week of 16 and 17 January (with the exception of the Luton – QPR replay, which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch).
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Blackpool (3)4–2Aldershot Town (5)6,3552Barnet (4)2–1Colchester United (2)3,0753Sheffield United (1)0–3Swansea City (3)15,8964Reading (1)3–2Burnley (2)11,5145Portsmouth (1)2–1Wigan Athletic (1)14,3366Doncaster Rovers (3)0–4Bolton Wanderers (1)14,2977West Ham United (1)3–0Brighton & Hove Albion (3)32,8748Leicester City (2)2–2Fulham (1)15,499replayFulham (1)4–3Leicester City (2)11,2229Derby County (2)3–1Wrexham (4)15,60910Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)2–2Oldham Athletic (3)14,524replayOldham Athletic (3)0–2Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)9,62811Chester City (4)0–0Ipswich Town (2)4,330replayIpswich Town (2)1–0Chester City (4)11,73212Manchester United (1)2–1Aston Villa (1)74,92413Sheffield Wednesday (2)1–1Manchester City (1)28,487replayManchester City (1)2–1Sheffield Wednesday (2)25,62114Tamworth (5)1–4Norwich City (2)3,16515Nottingham Forest (3)2–0Charlton Athletic (1)19,01716Cardiff City (2)0–0Tottenham Hotspur (1)20,376replayTottenham Hotspur (1)4–0Cardiff City (2)27,64117Preston North End (2)1–0Sunderland (2)10,31818Liverpool (1)1–3Arsenal (1)43,61919Bristol Rovers (4)1–0Hereford United (4)8,97820Watford (1)4–1Stockport County (4)11,74521Crystal Palace (2)2–1Swindon Town (4)10,23822Bristol City (3)3–3Coventry City (2)13,336replayCoventry City (2)0–2Bristol City (3)13,05523Peterborough United (4)1–1Plymouth Argyle (2)6,255replayPlymouth Argyle (2)2–1Peterborough United (4)9,97324Queens Park Rangers (2)2–2Luton Town (2)10,064replayLuton Town (2)1–0Queens Park Rangers (2)7,49425Southend United (2)1–1Barnsley (2)5,485replayBarnsley (2)0–2Southend United (2)4,94426West Bromwich Albion (2)3–1Leeds United (2)16,95727Hull City (2)1–1Middlesbrough (1)17,520replayMiddlesbrough (1)4–3Hull City (2)16,70228Birmingham City (2)2–2Newcastle United (1)16,444replayNewcastle United (1)1–5Birmingham City (2)26,09929Torquay United (4)0–2Southampton (2)5,39630Everton (1)1–4Blackburn Rovers (1)24,42631Chelsea (1)6–1Macclesfield Town (4)41,43432Stoke City (2)2–0Millwall (3)8,024
Fourth round proper Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 27 January 2007. The draw was made on 8 January by Hope Powell and Faye White, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC Two and Sky Sports News. League Two sides Barnet and Bristol Rovers were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Arsenal (1)1–1Bolton Wanderers (1)59,778replayBolton Wanderers (1)1–1Arsenal (1)21,088Arsenal win 3 – 1 after extra time2West Ham United (1)0–1Watford (1)31,1683Bristol City (3)2–2Middlesbrough (1)19,008replayMiddlesbrough (1)1–1Bristol City (3)26,3282 – 2 after extra time – Middlesbrough win 5 – 4 on penalties4Chelsea (1)3–0Nottingham Forest (3)41,5165Ipswich Town (2)1–0Swansea City (3)16,6356Tottenham Hotspur (1)3–1Southend United (2)33,4067Barnet (4)0–2Plymouth Argyle (2)5,2048Birmingham City (2)2–3Reading (1)20,0419Derby County (2)1–0Bristol Rovers (4)25,03310Manchester City (1)3–1Southampton (2)26,49611Crystal Palace (2)0–2Preston North End (2)8,42212Manchester United (1)2–1Portsmouth (1)71,13713Blackpool (3)1–1Norwich City (2)9,491replayNorwich City (2)1–1Blackpool (3)19,120Norwich City win 3 – 2 after extra time14Luton Town (2)0–4Blackburn Rovers (1)5,88715Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)0–3West Bromwich Albion (2)28,10716Fulham (1)3–0Stoke City (2)11,059
Fifth round proper Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 17 February 2007. The draw took place on Monday, 29 January 2007 and was made by Darren Campbell and Roger Black, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC Two and Sky Sports News. The round featured ten clubs from the Premier League and six from the Football League Championship.