The
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 compet ...
, from this season onwards, began to incorporate a series of qualifying rounds in order to determine qualifiers for the actual Cup competition itself. The qualifying rounds were made up of amateur teams, semi-professional teams, and professional sides not yet associated with
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
. The only game to be played on
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
took place,
Linfield Athletic beating
Cliftonville
Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay.
The original Palm Bay estate was ...
7–0.
became the first
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
team to withdraw from the Cup after drawing
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
in the first qualifying round.
See
1888–89 FA Cup for details of the rounds from the First Round onwards.
First qualifying round
*6 October 1888
# Ashington 0–4 Elswick Rangers
# Chester 2–2 Macclesfield Town – Home team Disqualified
# Dulwich 0–13 London Caledonians
# Kettering 3–4 Newark
# Stoke 1–2 Warwick County
# Maidenhead 4–0 Old Etonians
# Rochester 2–4 Old Harrovians
# Old Wykehamists 1–2 Chatham
# Notts County 4–1 Eckington Works
# Old Foresters 2–0 Schorne College
# Blackburn Olympic W-W Fleetwood Rangers – Walkover Home
# Sheffield Heeley 6–1 Redcar
# Grimsby Town 1–1 Lincoln City
# Clitheroe 3–2 Blackburn Park Road
# Irwell Springs 4–5 Southport Central
# Hurst 0–0 Bolton Wanderers
# Middlesbrough 0–1 Ecclesfield
# Hartford St John's 1–7 Nantwich
# Old Brightonians W-W Hendon (1) – Walkover Home
# Rawtenstall 3–4 Rossendale
# Casuals W-W Hitchin – Walkover Home
# Burton Swifts 1–3 Leek
# Luton Town 4–0 Reading
# Burton Wanderers 3–0 Wednesbury Old Ath.
# Lancing Old Boys 4–0 Millwall Rovers
# Horncastle 2–1 Grantham
# Chesham 4–2 Lyndhurst
# Basford Rovers 3–1 Belper Town (1)
# Crusaders 5–1 Royal Engineers
# Wellington St George's 1–1 Shrewsbury Town
# Newcastle West End 7–2 Bishop Auckland Church Inst.
# Morpeth Harriers 5–0 Whitburn
# Over Wanderers 1–5
Chester St Oswalds – Home team Disqualified
# Great Bridge Unity 0–1 Aston Shakespeare
# Scarborough 2–0 Whitby (1)
# Newcastle East End 3–1 Port Clarence
# Park Grange 1–0 Rotherham Swifts
# Liverpool Stanley 3–0 Workington (1)
# Heywood Central 2–3 Astley Bridge
# Birtley 2–0 Darlington
# Sunderland Albion 8–2 Shankhouse
# Ulster W-W Everton – Walkover Home
# Gorton Villa 2–6 West Manchester
# Beeston St John's 2–0 Notts Olympic
# Doncaster Rovers 1–9 Rotherham Town
# Wrexham 3–0 Davenham
Replay
*13 October 1888
# Bolton Wanderers W-W Hurst – Walkover Home
# Lincoln City 1–1 Grimsby Town
# Shrewsbury Town 2–1 Wellington St George's
*20 October 1888
# South Bank 4–0 Sheffield
2nd Replay
*24 October 1888
# Grimsby Town 3–1 Lincoln City
Second qualifying round
Replays
Third qualifying round
Fourth qualifying round
Replays
Second replay
References
FA Cup Results Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:1888-89 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds
Qualifying
FA Cup qualifying rounds