The 2012–13 FA Cup (known as the FA Cup with Budweiser for sponsorship reasons) was the 132nd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world.
A total of 833 clubs applied to enter, with 758 clubs being accepted into the competition. The preliminary rounds commenced on 11 August 2012, with the first round proper played on 3 November 2012. The final was played on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic. In what was described as the biggest upset since Wimbledon's win over Liverpool in the 1988 final, Wigan defeated Manchester City 1–0 to claim the trophy for the first time in their history.
As a result, Wigan Athletic participated in the group stage of the following season's UEFA Europa League. Chelsea were the defending champions, having beaten Liverpool 2–1 in last season's final, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Manchester City.
Three days after winning the cup, Wigan made history by becoming the first side to win the cup and be relegated in the same season, after they lost 4–1 to Arsenal.
Teams Round Clubsremaining Clubsinvolved Winners fromprevious round New entriesthis round Leagues enteringat this round First round 124 80 32 48 EFL League OneEFL League Two Second round 84 40 40 none none Third round 64 64 20 44 Premier LeagueEFL Championship Fourth round 32 32 32 none none Fifth round 16 16 16 none none Quarter-finals 8 8 8 none none Semi-finals 4 4 4 none none Final 2 2 2 none none
Schedule The schedule for the 2012–13 FA Cup, as announced by the Football Association, is as follows:
Round Main date Number of fixtures Clubs New entries this round Prize money Extra preliminary round 11 August 2012 200 758 → 558 400: 359th–758th £1,000 Preliminary round 25 August 2012 166 558 → 392 132: 227th–358th £1,750 First round qualifying 8 September 2012 116 392 → 276 66: 161st–226th £3,000 Second round qualifying 22 September 2012 80 276 → 196 44: 117th–160th £4,500 Third round qualifying 6 October 2012 40 196 → 156 none £7,500 Fourth round qualifying 20 October 2012 32 156 → 124 24: 93rd–116th £12,500 First round proper 3 November 2012 40 124 → 84 48: 45th–92nd £18,000 Second round proper 1 December 2012 20 84 → 64 none £27,000 Third round proper 5 January 2013 32 64 → 32 44: 1st–44th £67,500 Fourth round proper 26 January 2013 16 32 → 16 none £90,000 Fifth round proper 16 February 2013 8 16 → 8 none £180,000 Sixth round proper 9–10 March 2013 4 8 → 4 none £360,000 Semi-finals 13–14 April 2013 2 4 → 2 none £900,000 Final 11 May 2013 1 2 → 1 none Runner-up £900,000Winner £1,800,000
Qualifying rounds All teams that entered the competition, but were not members of the Premier League or The Football League, competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Alfreton Town, Harrogate Town, Barrow, Guiseley, Hereford United, Kidderminster Harriers, Bradford Park Avenue, Wrexham, AFC Fylde, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town, Altrincham, Stockport County, Nuneaton Town, Mansfield Town, Arlesey Town, Forest Green Rovers, Metropolitan Police, Yate Town, Slough Town, Hastings United, Bromley, Chelmsford City, Luton Town, Boreham Wood, Cambridge City, Dorchester Town, Bishop's Stortford, Gloucester City, Hendon, Ebbsfleet United and Braintree Town.
AFC Fylde and Yate Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Slough Town had last featured in the first round in 2004–05, Boreham Wood had last done so in 2003-04, Hastings United had last done so in 2002-03, Metropolitan Police in 1993-94 and Gloucester City in 1989-90.
First round proper Teams from League One and League Two entered at this stage, along with the winners from the fourth round qualifying.
The draw was made on 21 October 2012 with ties to be played on 2–4 November 2012. Yate Town and Slough Town were the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition, both competing in level 8 of the English football league system.
Second round proper The draw for this round was made on 4 November 2012 with the ties played on the weekend of 1–2 December 2012.
Hastings United, from the seventh tier of English football, were the lowest-ranked team in the second round proper.
Bradford City accidentally fielded Curtis Good, who was ineligible to play, in a 1–1 draw against Brentford. The team was initially disqualified, and Brentford declared the winners by walkover, but Bradford eventually made a successful appeal to the FA against expulsion and were fined £1,000 instead allowing the replay to go ahead. Brentford would eventually dump Bradford City out of the cup after winning that replay.
Third round proper Teams from the Premier League and Football League Championship entered at this stage, along with the winners from the second round.
The draw for the third round was made on 2 December 2012, with the ties played on the weekend of 5–6 January 2013.
Luton Town's Alex Lawless won the player of the round award. The results were as follows: Alex Lawless, Luton Town Danny Hylton, Aldershot Town Matthew Barnes-Homer, Macclesfield Town Liam Bridcutt, Brighton & Hove Albion Andrea Orlandi, Brighton & Hove Albion
Hastings United remained the lowest-ranked football team in the third round proper, competing in level 7 of the English football league system.
Fourth round proper The draw for the fourth round took place on 6 January 2013, with Macclesfield Town and Luton Town, both from the Conference National (Step 5), remaining as the lowest-placed teams still in the competition.
Fifth round proper The draw for the fifth round took place on 27 January 2013, with Luton Town from the Conference National (5) remaining as the lowest-ranked team still in the Cup.
Sixth round proper The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 17 February 2013, with Barnsley, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers all from the Championship remaining as the lowest-ranked teams.
Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals took place on 10 March 2013, with Millwall from the Championship (2) remaining as the lowest-placed team still in the Cup. The draw was carried out by Edgar Davids and Graeme Le Saux at Wembley Stadium in London.
Final
Manchester City had already qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League based on their league position, therefore Wigan Athletic had already secured a place in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, regardless of whether they won or lost.
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Danny HyltonAldershot Town82 Carlos TevezManchester City53 Demba BaChelsea4 Barry CorrSouthend United Dean CoxLeyton Orient Clayton DonaldsonBrentford Will HatfieldAccrington Stanley Javier HernándezManchester United Dave MooneyLeyton Orient Scott RendellLuton Town Matt SmithOldham Athletic Marvin SordellBolton Wanderers
Media Coverage The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the free-to-air channel ITV and the subscription channel ESPN. ITV has held the rights since 2008–09, while ESPN gained FA Cup coverage from the 2010–11 season following the collapse of Setanta in the UK. Under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events, the FA Cup Final must be broadcast live on UK terrestrial television.
Round Date Teams Kick-off Channels Digital TV First Round 2 November Cambridge City vs Milton Keynes Dons 19:30 ESPN 4 November Dorchester Town vs Plymouth Argyle 16:30 ESPN 13 November Braintree Town vs Tranmere Rovers 19:45 ITV Hub ITV4 First Round (Replay) 12 November AFC Wimbledon vs York City 19:45 ESPN 15 November Altrincham vs Burton Albion 19:45 ESPN Second Round 2 December Milton Keynes Dons vs AFC Wimbledon 12:30 ITV Hub ITV1 Alfreton Town vs Leyton Orient 15:15 ESPN 3 December Cheltenham Town vs Hereford United 19:45 ESPN Second Round (Replay) 12 December Mansfield Town vs Lincoln City 19:45 ESPN 13 December Hastings United vs Harrogate Town 19:45 ESPN Third Round 5 January Brighton & Hove Albion vs Newcastle United 12:30 ITV Hub ITV1 West Ham United vs Manchester United 17:15 ITV Hub ITV1 6 January Swansea City vs Arsenal 13:30 ESPN Mansfield Town vs Liverpool 16:00 ESPN 7 January Cheltenham Town vs Everton 19:45 ESPN Third Round (Replay) 16 January Arsenal vs Swansea City 19:30 ESPN Manchester United vs West Ham United 20:05 ITV Hub ITV Fourth Round 26 January Stoke City vs Manchester City 12:45 ITV Hub ITV Manchester United vs Fulham 16:30 ESPN 27 January Brentford vs Chelsea 12:00 ESPN Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur 14:00 ESPN Oldham Athletic vs Liverpool 16:00 ITV Hub ITV Fourth Round (Replay) 12 February Leicester City vs Huddersfield Town 19:30 ESPN 17 February Chelsea vs Brentford 12:00 ITV Hub ITV Fifth Round 16 February Luton Town vs Millwall 12:45 ESPN Oldham Athletic vs Everton 18:00 ITV Hub ITV 17 February Manchester City vs Leeds United 14:00 ESPN Huddersfield Town vs Wigan Athletic 15:55 ITV Hub ITV 18 February Manchester United vs Reading 20:00 ESPN Fifth Round (Replay) 26 February Everton v Oldham Athletic 19:45 ITV Hub ITV Sixth Round 9 March Everton vs Wigan Athletic 12:45 ITV Hub ITV Manchester City vs Barnsley 17:30 ESPN 10 March Millwall vs Blackburn Rovers 14:00 ESPN Manchester United vs Chelsea 16:30 ITV Hub ITV Sixth Round (Replay) 13 March Blackburn Rovers vs Millwall 19:30 ESPN 1 April Chelsea vs Manchester United 12:30 ITV Hub ITV Semi-Finals 13 April Millwall vs Wigan Athletic 17:15 ESPN 14 April Chelsea v Manchester City 16:00 ITV Hub ITV Final 11 May Manchester City v Wigan Athletic 17:15 ITV Hub ITV ESPN
Notes
References
External links
The FA Cup at thefa.com