The 1888–89 FA Cup was the 18th edition of the world's oldest

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Qualifying rounds

The new format for the FA Cup saw 22 teams (the four semi-finalists from the previous season and eighteen teams invited by the FA) receiving automatic exemption to the first round proper. The clubs invited did not include

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, Everton,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

and Stoke from the Football League and so those clubs were entered at the first qualifying round stage. Everton withdrew from the competition after being drawn to meet

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in Belfast in their first match, while Stoke became the first League club to be eliminated by non-League opponents when they fell to Warwick County at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

also in the first qualifying round. Ultimately only

successfully progressed to the competition proper after

lost to Linfield Athletic in Belfast in the third qualifying round. The nine non-League clubs progressing from the qualifying rounds were

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, Sheffield Heeley, Chatham,

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, South Shore, Old Brightonians, Linfield Athletic, Sunderland Albion and Small Heath. Additionally, fourteen non-league clubs were exempted until the first round. These were

Old Westminsters The following people were educated at Westminster School in London, and are sometimes listed with OW (Old Westminster) after their name (collectively, OWW). There are over 900 Old Westminsters listed in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...

, Witton,

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

, Swifts,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, Halliwell, The Wednesday, Birmingham St George's,

Walsall Town Swifts Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflec ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, Old Carthusians, Derby Junction, Notts Rangers and Long Eaton Rangers. For information on all matches played from the first qualifying round to the fourth qualifying round, see 1888–89 FA Cup qualifying rounds.

First round proper

Replays

Second round proper

Replay

Second replay

Third round proper

Semi-finals

Replay

Final

References

FA Cup Results Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:FA Cup 1888–89 1888–89 1888–89 in English football cups 1888–89 in Welsh football 1888–89 in Irish association football