The 1996–97 FA Cup (known as the FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the FA Cup. The tournament started in August 1996 for clubs from non-league football and the competition proper started in October 1996 for teams from the Premier League and the Football League.
Premier League side Manchester United were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the fourth round by Wimbledon.
The tournament was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley stadium.
Calendar Round Initial Matches New Entries Clubs Preliminary round Saturday 31 August 1996 340 574 → 404 First round qualifying Saturday 14 September 1996 118 404 → 260 Second round qualifying Saturday 28 September 1996 none 260 → 188 Third round qualifying Saturday 12 October 1996 none 188 → 152 Fourth round qualifying Saturday 26 October 1996 20 152 → 124 First round proper Saturday 16 November 1996 52 124 → 84 Second round proper Saturday 7 December 1996 none 84 → 64 Third round proper Saturday 4 January 1997 44 64 → 32 Fourth round proper Saturday 25 January 1997 none 32 → 16 Fifth round proper Saturday 15 February 1997 none 16 → 8 Sixth round proper Saturday 8 March 1997 none 8 → 4 Semi-finals Sunday 13 April 1997 none 4 → 2 Final Saturday 17 May 1997 none 2 → 1
Qualifying rounds Most participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or 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 Kidderminster Harriers, Consett, Stalybridge Celtic, Boston United, Hednesford Town, Newcastle Town, Runcorn, Colwyn Bay, Whitby Town, Southport, Altrincham, Morecambe, Shepshed Dynamo, Merthyr Tydfil, Wisbech Town, Cheltenham Town, Hendon, Bromley, Ashford Town (Kent), St Albans City, Rushden & Diamonds, Welling United, Boreham Wood, Hayes, Farnborough Town, Stevenage Borough, Dagenham & Redbridge and Sudbury Town.
Newcastle Town and Sudbury Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time while, of the others, Hendon had not featured at this stage since 1988–89, Whitby Town had not done so since 1986-87, Shepshed Dynamo had not done so since 1982-83, Boreham Wood had not done so since 1977-78, Bromley since 1976-77, Consett since 1958-59 and Hednesford Town since 1919-20.
In Hednesford Town's only previous appearance in the competition proper, they became one of the first two clubs to participate in nine rounds of one Cup tournament. This season, they featured in eight rounds of the competition - after defeating Wednesfield, Evesham United, Tamworth and Telford United in the qualifying rounds, they accounted for Southport, Blackpool and York City in the main draw before going out to Premier League side Middlesbrough in the fourth round in a match played at Riverside Stadium despite Hednesford being the designated "home" team.
First round proper The 48 teams from the Football League Second and Third Division entered in this round along with the 28 non-league qualifiers and Macclesfield Town, Northwich Victoria, Woking and Enfield who were given byes. The draw for this round included four teams from the various competitions at Step 8 of English football: Whitby Town and Consett from the Northern League First Division, Newcastle Town from the North West Counties League First Division and Wisbech Town from the Eastern Counties League Premier Division. This was a rare season in which more clubs from Step 8 than from Step 7 qualified for the first round.
The matches were played on 16 November 1996. There were thirteen replays, with two ties requiring a penalty shootout to settle them. Sudbury Town's shock penalty shootout win over Brighton & Hove Albion capped off the last FA Cup match ever played at the Goldstone Ground.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Ashford Town (Kent) (6)2–2Dagenham & Redbridge (6)16 November 1996ReplayDagenham & Redbridge1–1Ashford Town (Kent)25 November 1996Ashford Town (Kent) won 4–3 on penalties2Blackpool1–0Wigan Athletic16 November 19963Chester City3–0Stalybridge Celtic (5)16 November 19964Chesterfield1–0Bury16 November 19965Burnley2–1Lincoln City16 November 19966Preston North End4–1Altrincham (5)16 November 19967Wisbech Town (8)1–2St Albans City (6)16 November 19968Woking2–2Millwall15 November 1996ReplayMillwall0–1Woking (5)26 November 19969Gillingham1–0Hereford United16 November 199610Boreham Wood (6)1–1Rushden & Diamonds (5)16 November 1996ReplayRushden & Diamonds2–3Boreham Wood26 November 199611Northwich Victoria (5)2–2Walsall16 November 1996ReplayWalsall3–1Northwich Victoria26 November 199612Macclesfield Town (5)0–2Rochdale16 November 199613Crewe Alexandra4–1Kidderminster Harriers (5)16 November 199614Shrewsbury Town1–1Scarborough16 November 1996ReplayScarborough1–0Shrewsbury Town26 November 199615Wrexham1–1Colwyn Bay (6)16 November 1996ReplayWrexham2–0Colwyn Bay26 November 199616Hednesford Town (5)2–1Southport (5)16 November 199617Stockport County2–1Doncaster Rovers16 November 199618Brentford2–0AFC Bournemouth16 November 199619Bristol Rovers1–2Exeter City16 November 199620Northampton Town0–1Watford17 November 199621Bromley (6)1–3Enfield (6)16 November 199622Plymouth Argyle5–0Fulham16 November 199623Carlisle United6–0Shepshed Dynamo (7)16 November 199624Scunthorpe United4–1Rotherham United16 November 199625Mansfield Town4–0Consett (8)16 November 199626Cardiff City2–0Hendon (6)16 November 199627Runcorn (6)1–4Darlington16 November 199628Torquay United0–1Luton Town16 November 199629Boston United (6)3–0Morecambe (5)16 November 199630Peterborough United0–0Cheltenham Town (6)16 November 1996ReplayCheltenham Town1–3Peterborough United27 November 199631Colchester United1–2Wycombe Wanderers16 November 199632Leyton Orient2–1Merthyr Tydfil (6)16 November 199633Sudbury Town (6)0–0Brighton & Hove Albion16 November 1996ReplayBrighton & Hove Albion1–1Sudbury Town26 November 1996Sudbury Town won 4–3 on penalties34Whitby Town (8)0–0Hull City17 November 1996ReplayHull City8–4Whitby Town26 November 199635Cambridge United3–0Welling United (5)16 November 199636Swansea City1–1Bristol City16 November 1996ReplayBristol City1–0Swansea City26 November 199637Farnborough Town (5)2–2Barnet16 November 1996ReplayBarnet1–0Farnborough Town26 November 199638Hartlepool United0–0York City16 November 1996ReplayYork City3–0Hartlepool United26 November 199639Stevenage Borough (5)2–2Hayes (5)16 November 1996ReplayHayes0–2Stevenage Borough26 November 199640Newcastle Town (8)0–2Notts County17 November 1996
Second round proper
The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were played on 7 December 1996, with four replays and one penalty shootout required. The round included six clubs from Step 6 of the football pyramid: Enfield, St Albans City and Boreham Wood from the Isthmian League Premier Division, Ashford Town (Kent) and Sudbury Town from the Southern League Premier Division and Boston United from the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Similarly to the first round, this was a rare instance in which more teams from Step 6 than from Step 5 qualified for this stage (although all of the Step 5 teams and none of the Step 6 teams progressed through to the next round).
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Enfield (6)1–1Peterborough United7 December 1996ReplayPeterborough United4–1Enfield17 December 19962Blackpool0–1Hednesford Town (5)7 December 19963Chester City1–0Boston United (6)7 December 19964Chesterfield2–0Scarborough7 December 19965Barnet3–3Wycombe Wanderers7 December 1996ReplayWycombe Wanderers3–2Barnet17 December 19966Bristol City9–2St Albans City (6)7 December 19967Preston North End2–3York City7 December 19968Watford5–0Ashford Town (Kent) (6)7 December 19969Walsall1–1Burnley7 December 1996ReplayBurnley1–1Walsall23 December 1996Burnley won 4–2 on penalties10Notts County3–1Rochdale7 December 199611Luton Town2–1Boreham Wood (6)7 December 199612Wrexham2–2Scunthorpe United7 December 1996ReplayScunthorpe United2–3Wrexham17 December 199613Plymouth Argyle4–1Exeter City6 December 199614Hull City1–5Crewe Alexandra7 December 199615Carlisle United1–0Darlington7 December 199616Mansfield Town0–3Stockport County7 December 199617Cardiff City0–2Gillingham7 December 199618Leyton Orient1–2Stevenage Borough (5)7 December 199619Sudbury Town (6)1–3Brentford7 December 199620Cambridge United0–2Woking (5)7 December 1996
Third round proper
The 44 teams from the Premier League and the Football League First Division entered the competition at this stage. Due to adverse weather conditions, the initial matches were played on various dates between 4-21 January 1997. There were nine replays, with no penalty shootouts required. Hednesford Town, Stevenage Borough and Woking from the Football Conference (Step 5) were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Chesterfield (3)2–0Bristol City (3)14 January 19972Liverpool (1)1–0Burnley (3) 4 January 19973Watford (3)2–0Oxford United (2)21 January 19974Reading (2)3–1Southampton (1)4 January 19975Gillingham (3)0–2Derby County (1)21 January 19976Leicester City (1)2–0Southend United (2)15 January 19977Notts County (3)0–0Aston Villa (1)14 January 1997ReplayAston Villa3–0Notts County22 January 19978Nottingham Forest (1)3–0Ipswich Town (2)4 January 19979Blackburn Rovers (1)1–0Port Vale (2)4 January 199710Sheffield Wednesday (1)7–1Grimsby Town (2)4 January 199711Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)1–2Portsmouth (2)4 January 199712Crewe Alexandra (3)1–1Wimbledon (1)14 January 1997ReplayWimbledon2–0Crewe Alexandra21 January 199713Middlesbrough (1)6–0Chester City (4)4 January 199714Luton Town (3)1–1Bolton Wanderers (2)21 January 1997ReplayBolton Wanderers6–2Luton Town25 January 199715Everton (1)3–0Swindon Town (2)5 January 199716Wrexham (3)1–1West Ham United (1)4 January 1997ReplayWest Ham United0–1Wrexham25 January 199717Hednesford Town (5)1–0York City (3)13 January 199718Wycombe Wanderers (3)0–2Bradford City (2)5 January 199719Queens Park Rangers (2)1–1Huddersfield Town (2)4 January 1997ReplayHuddersfield Town1–2Queens Park Rangers14 January 199720Barnsley (2)2–0Oldham Athletic (2)14 January 199721Brentford (3)0–1Manchester City (2)25 January 199722Coventry City (1)1–1Woking (5)25 January 1997ReplayWoking1–2Coventry City4 February 199723Manchester United (1)2–0Tottenham Hotspur (1)5 January 199724Norwich City (2)1–0Sheffield United (2)4 January 199725Plymouth Argyle (3)0–1Peterborough United (3)4 January 199726Carlisle United (4)1–0Tranmere Rovers (2)14 January 199727Crystal Palace (2)2–2Leeds United (1)14 January 1997ReplayLeeds United1–0Crystal Palace25 January 199728Chelsea (1)3–0West Bromwich Albion (2)4 January 199729Charlton Athletic (2)1–1Newcastle United (1)5 January 1997ReplayNewcastle United2–1Charlton Athletic15 January 199730Arsenal (1)1–1Sunderland (1)4 January 1997ReplaySunderland0–2Arsenal15 January 199731Stoke City (2)0–2Stockport County (3)15 January 199732Birmingham City (2)2–0Stevenage Borough (5)4 January 1997
Fourth round proper
The fourth round ties featured the thirty-two winners from the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for Saturday, 25 January 1997, although six matches were played on later dates. There was only one replay. Hednesford Town was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw and was, by this stage, the last non-league club left in the competition.