The 1971–72 FA Cup was the 91st season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Leeds United won the competition for the first time, defeating holders Arsenal 1–0 in the final at Wembley, London.
Several records were set during this FA Cup season. This was the third year in which the losing semi-finalists were required to compete in a "match for third place"; following a goalless 90 minutes, Birmingham City beat Stoke City in a penalty shootout, the first time this method had been used to determine the result of an FA Cup match.
In the first round proper, Ted MacDougall's nine goals for AFC Bournemouth as they beat Margate 11–0 remains the record for goals scored in a match in the FA Cup proper. The fourth qualifying round tie between Alvechurch and Oxford City became the longest FA Cup tie ever, lasting a total of eleven hours before Alvechurch won the fifth replay 1–0.
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 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 Round Date Preliminary round Saturday, 4 September 1971 First qualifying round Saturday, 18 September 1971 Second qualifying round Saturday, 9 October 1971 Third qualifying round Saturday, 23 October 1971 Fourth qualifying round Saturday, 6 November 1971 First round proper Saturday, 20 November 1971 Second round proper Saturday, 11 December 1971 Third round proper Saturday, 15 January 1972 Fourth round proper Saturday, 5 February 1972 Fifth round proper Saturday, 26 February 1972 Sixth round proper Saturday, 18 March 1972 Semi-finals Saturday, 15 April 1972 Final Saturday, 6 May 1972
Qualifying rounds Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 28 places available in the first round.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were South Shields, Blyth Spartans, Scarborough, Bangor City, Ellesmere Port Town, Altrincham, Wigan Athletic, Nuneaton Borough, Rossendale United, Frickley Colliery, Boston United, Hereford United, Redditch United, Kettering Town, Alvechurch, King's Lynn, Maidenhead United, Enfield, Guildford City, Dover, Barnet, Romford, Margate, Basingstoke Town, Witney Town, Bridgwater Town, Crawley Town and Weymouth.
Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Ellesmere Port Town, Redditch United, Alvechurch, Basingstoke Town and Witney Town. Rossendale United was appearing at this stage for the first time since predecessor outfit Rossendale FC had entered the competition in 1887–88. Of the others, Frickley Colliery, Maidenhead United and Bridgwater Town had last qualified for the first round in 1963–64 and Dover had last done so in 1960–61.
Results
First round proper At this stage the 48 clubs from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions joined the non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To complete the round, four additional non-league clubs received byes to this stage. Telford United and Hillingdon Borough were the finalists from the previous season's FA Trophy competition, while Skelmersdale United and Dagenham were the finalists from the previous season's FA Amateur Cup.
Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 20 November 1971, although the Aldershot-Alvechurch match was delayed until 24 November because Alvechurch's fourth qualifying round tie against Oxford City had gone to a fifth replay which took place on 22 November, two days after the date set for the first round ties. Also of particular note, Ted MacDougall set a goalscoring record for the FA Cup proper with nine goals for Third Division AFC Bournemouth as they beat Margate of the Southern League 11–0.
Nine drawn matches in this round were settled by a single replay.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceNotes1Enfield2–0Maidenhead United20 November 1971 2Chester1–1Mansfield Town20 November 1971 ReplayMansfield Town4–3Chester22 November 1971 3Chesterfield3–0Oldham Athletic20 November 1971 10057 4Hartlepool6–1Scarborough20 November 19713,374 5AFC Bournemouth11–0Margate20 November 1971 6Barrow0–2Darlington20 November 1971 7Rochdale1–3Barnsley20 November 1971 8Walsall4–1Dagenham20 November 1971 9Gillingham3–2Plymouth Argyle20 November 1971 10Notts County6–0Newport County20 November 197111,976 11Blackburn Rovers1–1Port Vale20 November 1971 ReplayPort Vale3–1Blackburn Rovers22 November 19715,717 12Bolton Wanderers3–0Bangor City20 November 1971 13Crewe Alexandra0–1Blyth Spartans20 November 1971 14Lincoln City1–2Bury20 November 1971 15Doncaster Rovers1–2Stockport County20 November 1971 16Wrexham5–1Bradford City20 November 1971 17Bristol Rovers3–0Telford United20 November 1971 18Rossendale United1–0Altrincham23 November 19711,769 19King's Lynn0–0Hereford United20 November 1971 ReplayHereford United1–0King's Lynn24 November 19717,758 20Brighton & Hove Albion7–1Hillingdon Borough20 November 1971 21Skelmersdale United0–4Tranmere Rovers20 November 1971 22Southend United1–0Aston Villa20 November 197116,929 23Frickley Colliery2–2Rotherham United20 November 1971 ReplayRotherham United4–0Frickley Colliery23 November 19719,793 24Southport1–3Workington20 November 1971 25Torquay United1–0Nuneaton Borough20 November 1971 26Ellesmere Port Town0–3Boston United20 November 1971 27York City4–2Grimsby Town20 November 1971 28Witney Town0–3Romford20 November 19712,500 29Kettering Town2–4Barnet20 November 1971 30Aldershot4–2Alvechurch24 November 19714,638 31Guildford City0–0Dover20 November 1971 ReplayDover0–2Guildford City24 November 19712,156 32Wigan Athletic2–1Halifax Town20 November 1971 33South Shields3–3Scunthorpe United20 November 1971 ReplayScunthorpe United2–3South Shields29 November 19715,272 34Colchester United1–4Shrewsbury Town20 November 1971 35Basingstoke Town1–5Northampton Town20 November 1971 36Bridgwater Town0–3Reading20 November 1971 37Cambridge United2–1Weymouth20 November 1971 38Crawley Town0–0Exeter City20 November 1971 ReplayExeter City2–0Crawley Town24 November 19713,967 39Redditch United1–1Peterborough United20 November 19714,500 ReplayPeterborough United6–0Redditch United22 November 19715,108 40Swansea City1–1Brentford20 November 1971 ReplayBrentford2–3Swansea City22 November 197115,000Attendance figure sourced from The Times via The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985.
Second round proper The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 11 December 1971. Six matches were drawn, one of which required a second replay.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceNotes1AFC Bournemouth2–0Southend United11 December 197114,643 2Barnet1–4Torquay United11 December 1971 3Reading1–0Aldershot11 December 1971 4Shrewsbury Town2–1Guildford City11 December 1971 5Wrexham4–0Wigan Athletic11 December 1971 6Barnsley0–0Chesterfield11 December 1971 ReplayChesterfield1–0Barnsley15 December 197114,500 7Bristol Rovers3–0Cambridge United11 December 1971 8Rossendale United1–4Bolton Wanderers11 December 197112,000 9Brighton & Hove Albion1–1Walsall11 December 1971 ReplayWalsall2–1Brighton & Hove Albion14 December 19718,014 10Blyth Spartans1–0Stockport County11 December 1971 11Mansfield Town2–2Tranmere Rovers11 December 1971 ReplayTranmere Rovers4–2Mansfield Town15 December 19715,703 12Port Vale1–0Darlington11 December 1971 13Workington1–3Bury11 December 1971 14Hereford United0–0Northampton Town11 December 1971 ReplayNorthampton Town2–2Hereford United14 December 19719,099 2nd replayHereford United2–1Northampton Town20 December 19718,331 15Rotherham United1–1York City11 December 1971 ReplayYork City2–3Rotherham United13 December 197110,010 16Romford0–1Gillingham11 December 19718,405 17Boston United2–1Hartlepool11 December 19714,400 18Peterborough United4–0Enfield11 December 19717,702 19South Shields1–3Notts County11 December 19718,14420Swansea City0–0Exeter City11 December 1971 ReplayExeter City0–1Swansea City15 December 19716,858
Third round proper The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 15 January 1972; the tie between Newcastle United and Hereford United at Newcastle was twice postponed because of a waterlogged pitch on which snow had fallen. Ten matches were drawn, each of which was settled by a single replay. The replay between Hereford and Newcastle, also the subject of several postponements and eventually played on the day scheduled for the fourth round ties, was voted "best FA Cup tie ever" in a 2007 poll hosted in The Observer newspaper. It was the first time a First Division club had been eliminated from the competition by non-league opponents since Sunderland's shock loss to Yeovil Town in 1948–49.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDateAttendanceNotes1Blackpool0–1Chelsea15 January 1972 2Burnley0–1Huddersfield Town15 January 1972 3Bury1–1Rotherham United15 January 1972 ReplayRotherham United2–1Bury24 January 197214,625 4Preston North End4–2Bristol City15 January 1972 5Southampton1–1Manchester United15 January 197230,190 ReplayManchester United4–1Southampton19 January 197250,960 6Watford1–4Notts County15 January 197213,488 7Walsall1–0AFC Bournemouth15 January 1972 8Bolton Wanderers2–1Torquay United15 January 1972 9Wolverhampton Wanderers1–1Leicester City15 January 1972 ReplayLeicester City2–0Wolverhampton Wanderers19 January 197232,060 10West Bromwich Albion1–2Coventry City15 January 1972 11Sunderland3–0Sheffield Wednesday15 January 197225,310 12Derby County2–0Shrewsbury Town15 January 197233,463 13Swindon Town0–2Arsenal15 January 197231,66814Sheffield United1–3Cardiff City15 January 1972 15Newcastle United2–2Hereford United24 January 197239,381 ReplayHereford United2–1Newcastle United5 February 197214,313 16Tottenham Hotspur1–1Carlisle United15 January 197233,702 ReplayCarlisle United1–3Tottenham Hotspur18 January 197221,560 17Manchester City1–1Middlesbrough15 January 197242,620 ReplayMiddlesbrough1–0Manchester City18 January 197237,917 18Queens Park Rangers1–1Fulham15 January 1972 ReplayFulham2–1Queens Park Rangers18 January 197224,181 19West Ham United2–1Luton Town15 January 197232,099 20Norwich City0–3Hull City15 January 1972 21Millwall3–1Nottingham Forest15 January 1972 22Crystal Palace2–2Everton15 January 197232,331 ReplayEverton3–2Crystal Palace18 January 197245,408 23Blyth Spartans2–2Reading15 January 1972 ReplayReading6–1Blyth Spartans19 January 197210,550 24Charlton Athletic0–0Tranmere Rovers15 January 1972 ReplayTranmere Rovers4–2Charlton Athletic17 January 197212,512 25Leeds United4–1Bristol Rovers15 January 197233,565 26Stoke City2–1Chesterfield15 January 1972 26,559 27Boston United0–1Portsmouth15 January 197211,000 28Peterborough United0–2Ipswich Town15 January 197216,973 29Birmingham City3–0Port Vale15 January 197232,937 30Oxford United0–3Liverpool15 January 197218,000 31Orient3–0Wrexham15 January 1972 32Swansea City1–0Gillingham15 January 1972
Fourth round proper The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 5 February 1972; Hereford United, unable to complete their third-round replay until this date, played their match later that week (and the subsequent replay early the following week). Five matches were drawn, of which one required a second replay. After their heroics in the previous round, Hereford was the last non-league club left in the competition.