The 1961–62 FA Cup was the 81st staging of the world's oldest

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as 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 ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

won the competition for the fourth time, beating

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

3–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. In doing so, they became the first team to retain the FA Cup since

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

's victory in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, and the fourth team ever to do so. Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

would be played.

Calendar

First Round Proper

At this stage clubs from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions joined those non-league clubs having come through the qualifying rounds (except Walthamstow Avenue and West Auckland Town , who given byes to this round). Matches were scheduled to be played on 4 November 1961, although three games were not played until the midweek fixture. Nine were drawn and went to replays, with one fixture requiring a second replay.

Second Round Proper

The matches were scheduled for 25 November 1961. Four matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week.

Third Round Proper

The 44 First and

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled for 6 January 1962, with seven matches postponed until later dates. Ten matches were drawn and went to replays, with two of these requiring a second replay.

Fourth Round Proper

The matches were scheduled for 27 January 1962, with three Lancashire-based games postponed until the midweek fixtures. Five matches were drawn and went to replays, which were all played in the following midweek match.

Fifth Round Proper

The matches were scheduled for 17 February 1962. Two matches went to replays in the following mid-week fixtures, with the Liverpool–Preston North End game requiring a second replay (at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

) before the tie was settled.

Sixth Round Proper

The four quarter-final ties were scheduled to be played on 10 March 1962. Two matches went to replays on the 14th before being settled.

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on 31 March 1962 with a replay being required between Burnley and Fulham on 9 April 1962. Tottenham and Burnley came through the semi final round to meet at Wembley.

Replay

Final

The 1962 FA Cup final took place on 5 May 1962 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

and was won by

over

, by a 3–1 scoreline. Due to the lack of passion and excitement, replaced by patience and cautious play, the final was dubbed "The Chessboard Final". Tottenham took to the field as holders, having won the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

in 1961.

References

General
The FA Cup Archive
at TheFA.com
English FA Cup 1961/62
at Soccerbase

at Footballsite Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:1961-62 FA Cup FA Cup seasons Fa Eng