The 1920–21 FA Cup was the 46th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the Football Association Challenge Cup, or

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for short. The large number of clubs entering the tournament from lower down the English football league system meant that the competition started with an extra Preliminary and preliminary rounds prior to six qualifying rounds. The 12 victorious teams from the Sixth round qualifying (from the 466 who contested the qualifying phase) progressed to the first round proper.

Rounds: draw and playing dates and number of teams

Extra preliminary to third qualifying round

The five rounds from the extra preliminary to the third qualifying involved 430 teams from England and Wales. These were arranged into 24 geographically based divisions which thereby created matches against local rival clubs and limited the travelling required. Through a series of knock-out matches one team from each division progressed to the fourth qualifying round. Key to abbreviations in tables below
R=Replay (after first match being a draw)
R2= Second Replay (usually played on a neutral ground)
§=The away club agreed to switch the tie from their home ground
†= result awarded (reason as indicated)

Division 1 (Northumberland / Tyneside / Wearside)

The division comprised 20 teams, of which 8 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 2 (County Durham / Tyneside / Wearside)

The division comprised 18 teams, of which 4 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 3 (County Durham / North Yorkshire / East Riding of Yorkshire)

The division comprised 20 teams, of which 8 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 4 (Cumbria)

The division comprised 14 teams from which 6 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body. Scoring byes Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...

to the first qualifying round for 2 teams: Cleator Moor Celtic and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

Division 5 (Lancashire)

The division comprised 13 teams from which 5 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for 3 teams:

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

, Leyland and

Horwich RMI Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It ...

Division 6 (Lancashire / Cheshire / Derbyshire)

The division comprised 13 teams from which 5 preliminary round ties with drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for 3 teams; Monks Hall,

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

Division 7 (Liverpool / Cheshire / North Wales)

The division comprised 18 teams, of which 4 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 8 (Staffordshire / Shropshire / Birmingham / Worcestershire)

The division comprised 26 teams, of which 20 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 9 (East Riding of Yorkshire / North Lincolnshire)

The division comprised 28 teams, of which 24 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties..

Division 10 (West Riding of Yorkshire)

The division comprised 23 teams, of which 14 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 11 (South Yorkshire / Nottinghamshire)

The division comprised 26 teams, of which 20 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties. This was the only division in which a team drawn into the extra preliminary round won the division – indeed

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

eventually progressed to the Sixth qualifying round.

Division 12 (Derbyshire)

The division comprised 15 teams from which 7 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in a bye to the first qualifying round for Staveley Town.

Division 13 (Nottinghamshire / South Lincolnshire)

The division comprised 18 teams, of which 4 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 14 (Derbyshire / Staffordshire / Leicestershire / Warwickshire)

The division comprised 15 teams from which 7 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in a bye to the first qualifying round for Hinckley United.

Division 15 (South Lincolnshire / Northamptonshire / Bedfordshire)

The division comprised 19 teams, of which 6 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 16 (Norfolk / Suffolk / Cambridgeshire / Essex)

The division comprised 13 teams from which 5 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for 3 teams; Colchester Town, Lynn Town and Cambridge Town.

Division 17 (Essex / East London)

The division comprised 13 teams from which 5 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for three teams: Gnome Athletic, Hoffmanns Athletic and Clapton.

Division 18 (Bedfordshire / Middlesex / North London)

The division comprised 16 teams all included in the 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 19 (Berkshire / Buckinghamshire / Oxfordshire / Middlesex)

The division comprised 12 teams from which 4 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for 4 teams:

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, Windsor & Eton,

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

and

Chesham United Chesham United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. Nicknamed "the Generals", they are currently members of the and play at the Meadow. History The club was established in 1917 by a merger o ...

Division 20 (Surrey / South London)

The division comprised 14 teams from which 6 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for 2 teams:

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Division 21 (Kent / Sussex / South-East London)

The division comprised 20 teams, of which 8 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 22 (Hampshire / Dorset / Isle of Wight)

The division comprised 13 teams from which 5 preliminary round ties were drawn, resulting in

to the first qualifying round for 3 teams:

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

, Portsmouth Amateurs and Bournemouth Tramways.

Division 23 (Gloucestershire / Bristol / Somerset / Wiltshire)

The division comprised 26 teams, of which 20 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Division 24 (South Wales)

The division comprised 17 teams, of which 2 of the generally smaller teams were drawn into the extra preliminary round to reduce the number to 16 teams required for 8 preliminary round ties.

Fourth qualifying round

The 24 teams qualifying from the Divisions were joined in the draw by 24 (generally stronger) teams who entered the competition at this stage. The ties were drawn on a regional basis.

Fifth qualifying round

The draw comprised the 24 victorious teams from the previous round. Ties were on a wider regional basis.

Sixth qualifying round

The 12 victorious teams from the previous round were joined in the draw by 12 teams (mostly from Football League Division 2 and Division 3 South) who entered the competition at this stage. Ties were no longer regionally based.

1920–21 FA Cup

See

1920–21 FA Cup The 1920–21 FA Cup was the 46th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Tottenham Hotspur won the competition, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1� ...

for details of the rounds from the first round proper onwards.

External links

Football Club History Database: FA Cup 1920–21

FA Cup Past Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:1920-21 FA Cup qualifying rounds

Qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

FA Cup qualifying rounds