The 2015–16 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 135th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates, and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. It began with the extra preliminary round on 15 August 2015, and concluded with the final on 21 May 2016. The FA Cup winner qualifies for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Premier League side Arsenal were the two-time defending champions after they beat Aston Villa 4–0 in the previous final on 30 May 2015, but were eliminated by Watford in the sixth round.

The winners were Manchester United, who defeated Crystal Palace 2–1 in the final after extra time for their record-tying 12th title.

Teams Round Clubsremaining Clubsinvolved Winners fromprevious round New entriesthis round Leagues enteringat this round First round proper 124 80 32 48 EFL League OneEFL League Two Second round proper 84 40 40 none none Third round proper 64 64 20 44 Premier LeagueEFL Championship Fourth round proper 32 32 32 none none Fifth round proper 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

Prize fund Round No. of Clubsreceive fund Prize fundper club Extra preliminary round winners 184 £1,500 Preliminary round winners 160 £1,925 First round qualifying winners 116 £3,000 Second round qualifying winners 80 £4,500 Third round qualifying winners 40 £7,500 Fourth round qualifying winners 32 £12,500 First round proper winners 40 £18,000 Second round proper winners 20 £27,000 Third round proper winners 32 £67,500 Fourth round proper winners 16 £90,000 Fifth round proper winners 8 £180,000 Sixth round proper winners 4 £360,000 Semi-Final losers 2 £450,000 Semi-Final winners 2 £900,000 Final runners-up 1 £900,000 Final winner 1 £1,800,000 Total £15,132,000

Round and draw dates The schedule are as follows.

PhaseRoundDraw dateMatch dateQualifying roundsExtra preliminary round3 July 201515 August 2015Preliminary round29 August 2015First round qualifying24 August 201512 September 2015Second round qualifying14 September 201526 September 2015Third round qualifying28 September 201510 October 2015Fourth round qualifying12 October 201524 October 2015Main tournamentFirst round proper26 October 2015, 19:00 GMT7 November 2015Second round proper9 November 2015, 19:00 GMT5 December 2015Third round proper7 December 2015, 19:00 GMT9 January 2016Fourth round proper11 January 2016, 19:15 GMT30 January 2016Fifth round proper31 January 2016, 18:15 GMT20 February 2016Sixth round proper21 February 2016, 18:15 GMT12 March 2016Semi-finals14 March 201623 and 24 April 2016Final21 May 2016

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 Worcester City, AFC Fylde, Gainsborough Trinity, Northwich Victoria, Barwell, Grimsby Town, Salford City, FC Halifax Town, Lincoln City, Stalybridge Celtic, FC United of Manchester, Macclesfield Town, Brackley Town, Altrincham, Stourbridge, Maidenhead United, Basingstoke Town, Whitehawk, Didcot Town, Boreham Wood, Welling United, Chesham United, Dover Athletic, Wealdstone, Staines Town, Eastleigh, Aldershot Town, Forest Green Rovers, Braintree Town, Cheltenham Town, Maidstone United and St Albans City.

Barwell, Salford City, Whitehawk and Didcot Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the other qualifying clubs, Gainsborough Trinity had last featured in the first round in 2007–08, Stalybridge Celtic had last done so in 2003-04 and Chesham United had last done so in 1994-95.

First round proper The first round draw took place on 26 October at 7pm at the club house of the FA Charter Standard Community Club Thackley Juniors F.C. based in Thackley in West Yorkshire, and was broadcast live on BBC Two and BBC Radio 5 Live. The first round proper were played on the weekend of 7 November. The 32 teams from the qualifying competition joined the 48 teams from League One and League Two to compete in this round. The round included two teams from Level 8 still in the competition, Northwich Victoria and Didcot Town, which were the lowest-ranked teams in this round; Northwich Victoria advanced to become the lowest-ranked team in the second round.

Second round proper The second round draw took place on 9 November at Civil Service, based in Chiswick, London, and was broadcast live on BBC Two.

The lowest-ranked side in this round was Northwich Victoria, who competed at level 8 of English football.

Third round proper A total of 64 teams played in this round: 44 teams from Premier League and Football League Championship which entered in this round, and the 20 winners of the previous round. The draw was held on 7 December 2015.

The lowest-ranked team in this round was Eastleigh from the National League (tier 5), the only non-league side remaining in the competition.

Fourth round proper The draw for the fourth round proper was held on 11 January 2016. The fourth round proper was played across the weekend of 30 January 2016.

The three lowest ranked teams in this round were Oxford United, Portsmouth and Carlisle United, who competed in League Two (tier 4).

Fifth round proper The draw for the fifth round proper was held on 31 January 2016. The fifth round proper was played across the weekend of 20 February 2016.

The lowest ranked club in this round was Shrewsbury Town, who competed in League One (tier 3).

Sixth round proper The draw for the sixth round proper (Quarter-finals) was held on 21 February 2016. The sixth round proper was played across the weekend of 12 March 2016. This marked the final year where the sixth round would go into a replay if teams were tied.

The lowest ranked club remaining in this round was Reading, who competed in the League Championship (tier 2).

Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was held on 14 March 2016. The semi-finals were played on 23 and 24 April 2016.

Final

The final took place on 21 May 2016 at Wembley Stadium.

Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Matěj VydraReading62 Macauley BonneColchester United4 Kelechi IheanachoManchester City Ben MarshallBlackburn Rovers Conor WashingtonPeterborough United

Broadcasting rights The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the BBC and subscription channel BT Sport. The BBC held the rights since 2014–15, while BT Sport since 2013–14. The FA Cup Final was required to be broadcast live on UK terrestrial television under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events.

The following matches were broadcast live on UK television: Round Date Teams Kick-off Channels Digital TV First round 6 November Salford City v Notts County 7:55pm BBC iPlayer BBC Two 8 November Didcot Town v Exeter City 12:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 9 November F.C. United of Manchester v Chesterfield 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 First round (Replay) 18 November Bradford City v Aldershot Town 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 19 November Maidenhead United v Port Vale 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Second round 4 December Salford City v Hartlepool United 7:55pm BBC iPlayer BBC Two 6 December Rochdale v Bury 12:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 7 December Grimsby Town v Shrewsbury Town 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Second round (Replay) 15 December Hartlepool United v Salford City 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 16 December Whitehawk v Dagenham & Redbridge 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Third round 8 January Exeter City v Liverpool 7:55pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 9 January Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa 12:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Manchester United v Sheffield United 5:30pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 10 January Oxford United v Swansea City 12:00pm BBC iPlayer BBC Two Wales Chelsea v Scunthorpe United 2:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City 4:00pm BBC iPlayer BBC One Cardiff City v Shrewsbury Town 6:00pm S4C Clic S4C 18 January Newport County v Blackburn Rovers 7:15pm S4C Clic S4C Third round (Replay) 19 January Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 20 January Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur 7:45pm BBC iPlayer BBC One Liverpool v Exeter City 8:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Fourth round 29 January Derby County v Manchester United 7:55pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 30 January Colchester United v Tottenham Hotspur 12:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Liverpool v West Ham United 5:30pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 31 January Carlisle United v Everton 1:30pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Milton Keynes Dons v Chelsea 4:00pm BBC iPlayer BBC One Fourth round (Replay) 9 February West Ham United v Liverpool 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 10 February Peterborough United v West Bromwich Albion 7:45pm BBC iPlayer BBC One Fifth round 20 February Arsenal v Hull City 12:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Bournemouth v Everton 5:15pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 21 February Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United 2:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Chelsea v Manchester City 4:00pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 22 February Shrewsbury Town v Manchester United 7:45pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Fifth round (Replay) 8 March Hull City v Arsenal 7:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Sixth round 11 March Reading v Crystal Palace 7:55pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 12 March Everton v Chelsea 5:30pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 13 March Arsenal v Watford 1:30pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Manchester United v West Ham United 4:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Sixth round (Replay) 13 April West Ham United v Manchester United 7:00pm BBC iPlayer BBC One Semi-finals 23 April Everton v Manchester United 5:15pm BBC iPlayer BBC One 24 April Crystal Palace v Watford 4:00pm BT Sport App BT Sport 2 Final May 21 Crystal Palace v Manchester United 5:30pm BBC iPlayer BBC One BT Sport App BT Sport 2

Welsh language channel S4C broadcast the third-round match between Cardiff City and Shrewsbury Town, and also broadcast the rescheduled third-round match between Newport County and Blackburn Rovers.

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