The 1990–91 FA Cup was the 110th season of the world's oldest knockout

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 ...

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.

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 after coming from 1–0 behind in the final against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

to win 2–1 and take the trophy. It gave Tottenham their eighth victory in nine

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

s and their first since their wins in 1981 and 1982.

First round proper

Teams from the Football League Third and Fourth Division entered in this round plus four non-league teams were given byes to this round: Barrow, Leek Town,

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

. The first round of games were played over the weekend 17–18 November 1990, with replays being played on 20–21 November.

Second round proper

The second round of games were played either over the weekend 7–8 December 1990, with replays being played on 11–12 December; or they were played in the midweek, from 10–12 December, with replays being played on 17 December.

Third round proper

Teams from the Football League 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 ...

entered in this round. The third round of games in the FA Cup were played over the weekend 5–7 January 1991, with replays being played on 8, 9, 16, 21 and 28 January. Of the three non-league sides remaining in the competition,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

defeated Second Division opponents

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

4–2.

Fourth round proper

The fourth round of games were mainly played over the weekend 26–27 January 1991, with replays being played on 29–30 January. The Arsenal-Leeds United game ended in a draw three times, with the two extra replays being played on 13 and 16 February. Because Nottingham Forest did not finish their third round tie until 28 January, their fourth round match was not played until 13 February with a replay on 18 February.

Fifth round proper

The fifth set of games were mainly played over the weekend 16–18 February 1991, with replays being played on 20 February. The

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is the football matches between Everton and Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it is the longest running top-flight derby in England ...

went to an extra replay played on 27 February, the last FA Cup tie to go to multiple replays before a rule change the following season limited ties to one replay.

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

resigned as Liverpool's manager between the two replays. Because Nottingham Forest did not win their fourth round tie until 18 February, their fifth round match was not played until 25 February with a replay on 4 March. Similarly, Arsenal were late beating Leeds United in the previous round and so played Shrewsbury Town on 27 February.

Sixth round proper

---- ---- ----

Semi-Finals

Tottenham's 3–1 triumph over Arsenal, marked by a

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...

goal from 35 yards, ended their opposition's chances of the double. Nottingham Forest beat West Ham United 4–0 to reach their first FA Cup final for 32 years and give

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

the chance of winning his first FA Cup to add to the two European Cups, one league title and four League Cups that he had already won with them. ----

Final

An own goal by

Des Walker Desmond Sinclair Walker (born 26 November 1965) is an English football coach and former player, who played as a defender. At club level he played in seven cup finals for Nottingham Forest at Wembley, winning five of them. He was Forest's play ...

in extra time gave

their eighth FA Cup triumph, a record at the time.

went off with a knee injury in the opening 15 minutes, and

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...

had a first-half penalty saved by

goalkeeper

Mark Crossley Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably for Notti ...

Media coverage

For the third consecutive season in the United Kingdom, the

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