The 1996–97 FA Cup qualifying rounds opened the
116th season of competition in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
for 'The Football Association Challenge Cup' (
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 world's oldest
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
single
knockout competition. A total of 574 clubs were accepted for the competition, down one from the previous season's 575.
The large number of clubs entering the tournament from lower down (
Levels 5 through 8) in the
English football pyramid meant that the competition started with five rounds of preliminary (1) and qualifying (4) knockouts for these
non-League
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...
teams. The 28 winning teams from fourth round qualifying progressed to the
First round proper
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (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, D ...
, where
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 ...
teams tiered at Levels 3 and 4 entered the competition.
Calendar
Preliminary round
Ties
Replays
2nd replays
3rd replay
1st qualifying round
Ties
Replays
2nd replays
2nd qualifying round
Ties
Replays
2nd replays
3rd qualifying round
Ties
Replays
4th qualifying round
The teams that given byes to this round are Kidderminster Harriers, Bromsgrove Rovers, Altrincham, Telford United, Slough Town, Runcorn, Witton Albion , Sutton United, Nuneaton Borough, Hitchin Town, Kingstonian, Gravesend & Northfleet, Ashford Town (Kent), Barrow, Blyth Spartans, Spennymoor United, Colwyn Bay, Newport I O W, Cinderford Town and Bognor Regis Town.
Ties
Replays
2nd replays
1996-97 FA Cup
See
1996-97 FA Cup for details of the rounds from the first round proper onwards.
External links
Football Club History Database: FA Cup 1996-97The FA Cup Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds
Qual
FA Cup qualifying rounds