The 2011–12 FA Cup (also known as The FA Cup with

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...

for sponsorship reasons) was the 131st season 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 c ...

knock-out competition, 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 competi ...

. The closing date for applications was 1 April 2011, and saw 825 clubs apply to enter. On 8 July 2011, the FA announced that 763 clubs had been accepted, which remains, as of 2020-21, the record number of entrants. 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 cont ...

was played on 5 May 2012 at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea won their fourth title in 6 years, and seventh overall, with a 2–1 victory over Liverpool. This is the first season that the tournament is sponsored by

. The defending champions,

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, were defeated 3–2 by their rivals

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the

Third Round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

. The competition was overshadowed by the collapse of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

midfielder

Fabrice Muamba Fabrice Ndala Muamba (born 6 April 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played for Arsenal, Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers as a central midfielder. Born in Zaire, Muamba moved to England at the age of 11 and subsequently ...

during their

Sixth Round Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor si ...

match with

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 ...

. Muamba went into

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

on the pitch and, following failed attempts to resuscitate him, was taken to the

London Chest Hospital The London Chest Hospital, located in Bethnal Green in London, adjacent to Victoria Park, was a hospital with a national reputation for treatment of cardiac and pulmonary disease. Since 1999 it had been run by the Barts Health NHS Trust. It clos ...

, where he went on to recover despite his heart stopping for over 75 minutes. The match was subsequently abandoned. On 27 March the match was replayed, with Tottenham winning 3–1. Muamba attended the final to congratulate Chelsea. The winners of the competition would have earned a place in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. However, since Chelsea went on to win the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, they qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League as the title holders. The FA Cup berth for European qualification was not exercised as runners-up

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

had already won that season's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and

, the fourth-place finishers in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, lost their Champions League spot at the expense of sixth-placed Chelsea, as no association was allowed more than four entrants in the competition at the time and so were compensated by UEFA with a place in the Europa League group stage.

Teams

Calendar

The calendar for the 2011–12 FA Cup, as announced by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

Qualifying rounds

All of the teams that entered the competition and were not members of the

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

had to compete in the qualifying rounds.

First round proper

Teams from Leagues One and

Two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

entered at this stage, along with the winners from the fourth round qualifying. The draw was made on 30 October 2011 and ties were played on the weekend of 12–13 November 2011. Redbridge, from the 8th tier of English football, were the lowest ranked football team to make it through to the first round proper. * Player of the round: Stefan Brown (

AFC Totton Amalgamated Football Club Totton is a football club based in Totton, Hampshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association and is an FA Standard Chartered club. They are currently members of the . History The clu ...

, 38% of the vote).
The other nominees were: Adam Watkins (

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, 24%),

Nahki Wells Nahki Michael Wells (born 1 June 1990) is a Bermudian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Bristol City and the Bermuda national team. Wells began his career in his native Bermuda, playing for Dandy Town Hornets and Berm ...

(

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, 21%),

Jamie Vardy Jamie Richard Vardy (''né'' Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Vardy is known for his prolific goalscoring aided ...

(

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

, 14%) and George Williams (

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. ...

, 3%).

Second round proper

The winners of the

First Round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

matches advanced to this stage. The draw was made on 13 November 2011 with the ties played on the weekend of 3–4 December 2011. Redbridge, from the 8th tier of English football, were the lowest ranked football team to make it to the Second Round Proper. * Player of the Round:

Stuart Nelson Stuart James Nelson (born 17 September 1981) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dover Athletic. Career Born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, Nelson started his career at Cheltenham youth club FC Battledown. He als ...

(

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

, 43% of the vote).
The other nominees were:

Matt Tubbs Matthew Stephen Tubbs (born 15 July 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bashley. Having started his football career, Tubbs joined Salisbury City and quickly made an impact throughout his time at the club, h ...

(

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

, 24%),

Jamie Tolley Jamie Christopher Tolley (born 12 May 1983) is a footballer who plays for Newtown in the Welsh Premier League. Until October 2005 he was a regular in the Wales under-21 team, having made his first appearance aged 18. He is the cousin of former ...

(

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, 17%), Matt Ritchie (

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, 13%) and

Jon Nurse Jonathan David Nurse (born 28 March 1981) is a Barbadian football coach and former professional footballer who is a first-team coach at Southern Football League club Metropolitan Police. Nurse began his career at Sutton United in 2003, spend ...

( Dagenham & Redbridge, 3%).

Third round proper

The winners of the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

matches played alongside all twenty teams from the Barclays Premier League and all twenty four teams from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. The draw was made on 4 December 2011, with the ties scheduled to be played on 6, 7, 8, and 9 January 2012. Salisbury City, from the sixth tier, were the lowest ranked club in the Third Round Proper. * Player of the Round:

Hatem Ben Arfa Hatem Ben Arfa ( ar, حاتم بن عرفة, ; born 7 March 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder. Known for his flair and dribbling ability, he is regarded as a fan favorite with a cult follow ...

(

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 End ...

, 43% of the vote).
The other nominees were: Adrian Cieslewicz (

, 24%),

Matt Phillips Matthew Phillips (born 13 March 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Championship club West Bromwich Albion and the Scotland national team. Born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire to British born father of Barbadian desc ...

(

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, 19%), Matt Ritchie (

, 12%) and Arnaud Mendy (

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

, 3%).

Fourth round proper

The winners of the third round played in this round. The draw was made on 8 January 2012, with the ties scheduled to be played on the weekend of 28–29 January 2012. The lowest ranked clubs that participated in this round were

and

, from the fourth tier. * Player of the Round: Will Buckley (

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, 44% of the vote).
The other nominees were:

Jed Steer Jed John Steer (born 23 September 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Steer joined Villa from his hometown club Norwich City on 1 July 2013, after beginning his playing career with the Canaries. He has also pl ...

(

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, 24%),

Jermaine Beckford Jermaine Paul Alexander Beckford (born 9 December 1983) is an English Football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career as a trainee at Chelsea, and played for Wealdstone, Uxbridge, Leeds United, ...

(

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, 24%),

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball co ...

(

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, 4%) and

(

, 3%).

Fifth round proper

The winners of the fourth round matches progressed to this round. The draw was made live on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

on 29 January 2012, with the ties scheduled to be played on the weekend of 18–19 February 2012.

were the lowest-ranked team in the fifth round for the second season running and the only club remaining from the fourth tier of the English league system. *Player of the Round:

Kieran Richardson Kieran Edward Richardson (born 21 October 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, left-back, or central midfielder. Richardson began his career as a trainee at West Ham United, going on to play senior footba ...

(

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, 60% of the vote).
The other nominees were: Colin Doyle (

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, 19%), Mark Roberts (

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

, 10%),

Curtis Davies Curtis Eugene Davies (born 15 March 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Derby County. Davies began his career at Luton Town, for whom he made his professional debut in 2003. Davies moved to Premier ...

(

, 9%) and

David Nugent David James Nugent (born 2 May 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and is currently a free agent after leaving Preston North End. He started his career in 2002 when he signed his first professional contract with ...

(

, 1%).

Sixth round proper

The draw for the sixth round took place on 19 February 2012 following the match between

and

. Ties were played on the weekend of 17–18 March.

were the lowest-ranked team in the sixth round, and were the only club remaining from the second tier of the English league system. * Player of the Round:

Nikica Jelavić Nikica Jelavić (; born 27 August 1985) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Jelavić began his career with Croatian side Hajduk Split of the Prva HNL in 2002, before moving to Belgian Pro League club Zulte Ware ...

( Everton, 63% of the votes).
The other nominees were:

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ag ...

(Everton 15%),

Stewart Downing Stewart Downing (born 22 July 1984) is an English former professional footballer. He played most of his career as a winger, where he operated predominantly on the left-hand side, though he could play on the right and go inside on to his stronge ...

(

, 12%),

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

(

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, 6%) and

Ádám Bogdán Ádám Bogdán (; born 27 September 1987) is a Hungarian professional footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper for Hungarian club Ferencváros. Bogdán began his career in Hungary at Vasas before spending time on loan at Vecsés. In 2007, he mo ...

(

, 5%)

Semi-finals

Ties were played on the weekend of 14–15 April. All four semi-final teams were from the

, and both semi-finals were local derbies, with a

London derby London Derbies are the various local football derbies between the teams in London, England. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans. ...

between

and

, and a

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is the association football, football matches between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it ...

between

and Everton both played at Wembley Stadium. * Player of the Round:

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

(

, 39% of the votes).
The other nominees were:

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

, 33%),

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

(

, 16%),

Ramires Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...

(

, 6%) and Brad Jones (

, 6%). ----

Final

Top scorers

Correct as of 5 May 2012.

Media coverage

From the first round proper onwards, selected matches from the FA Cup are broadcast live both in the UK and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, while S4C broadcast in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. ESPN broadcast 25 live games including the final while ITV broadcast 17 live games also including the final and the draws for the next round. S4C, in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

. These matches were broadcast live on television in the UK. Welsh language channel S4C broadcast live coverage of selected matches involving a Welsh club, which were two

matches. Their first round proper match at

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

and their third round proper replay at home to

. Those were the only FA Cup matches that S4C broadcast. International broadcasters

References

External links

The FA Cup at thefa.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Cup 2011-12 2011-12 2011–12 domestic association football cups