The 2016–17 Women's FA Cup was the 47th staging of the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England.

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 ...

were the defending champions, having beaten

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 ...

1–0 in the previous final.

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 ...

won the cup by beating

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 ...

4–1 in the final.

Teams

A total of 254 teams had their entries to the tournament accepted 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 ...

. One hundred and sixty-two teams entered at the first or second round qualifying. Teams that play in the

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...

Division One were given exemption to the Third Round Qualifying, while teams in the Northern and Southern Division entered at the First Round Proper. Teams in the

FA WSL 2 The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2). WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...

were exempted to the Third Round Proper, with teams in the

FA WSL 1 The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

entering at the Fifth Round Proper. The Second Round Qualifying saw eight ties cancelled due to the withdrawal of one of the teams, the First Round Proper saw two ties cancelled due to the resignation of

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...

and

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

before the season started, and the Third Round Proper saw one tie cancelled due to the withdrawal of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

First round qualifying

There were only two first round qualifying matches, both of which were played on 4 September 2016.

Second round qualifying

Eighty matches were scheduled for the second qualifying round. The 160 teams taking part consisted of 158 teams exempted to this stage, plus the two match winners from the previous round. Most matches were played on Sunday 18 September 2016, the only exception being Bishop's Stortford v Bungay Town, which took place on the preceding Saturday.

Third round qualifying

Sixty four matches were scheduled for the third qualifying round. The 128 teams taking part consisted of 48 teams from the

Division One, plus the 80 match winners from the previous round. All 64 matches were played on Sunday 9 October 2016.

Fourth round qualifying

Thirty two matches were scheduled for the fourth qualifying round. Most matches were played on Sunday 13 November 2016, except three which were postponed to the following Sunday due to waterlogged pitches.

First round proper

Twenty eight matches were scheduled for the first round proper. The 56 teams taking part consists of 24 teams exempted to this stage, plus the 32 match winners from the previous round. Most matches were played on Sunday 4 December 2016, the only exception being Southampton Women v

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, 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 ...

, which was postponed to the following Sunday.

Second round proper

Fourteen matches were scheduled for the second round proper. All 14 matches were played on Sunday 8 January 2017.

Third round proper

Twelve matches were scheduled for the third round proper. The 24 teams taking part consists of 10 teams exempted to this stage, plus the 14 match winners from the previous round. All 11 matches that took place were played on Sunday 5 February 2017.

Fourth round proper

Six matches were scheduled for the fourth round proper. All six matches were played on Sunday 19 February 2017.

Fifth round proper

Eight matches were scheduled for the fifth round proper. The 16 teams taking part consists of 10 teams exempted to this stage, plus the six match winners from the previous round. Most matches were played on Sunday 19 March 2017, the only exception being

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, which took place on the preceding Saturday.

Sixth round proper

Four matches were scheduled for the sixth round proper. All four matches were played on Sunday 26 March 2017.

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals were played on Monday 17 April 2017.

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 FA Women's Cup Women's FA Cup seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...