The 1914–15 FA Cup was the 44th season of 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the

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 ...

), and the last to be held before the cancellation of all football competitions due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Sheffield United won the competition for the third time, beating Chelsea 3–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held at neutral venues until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

would be played.

Calendar

The format of the FA Cup for the season had two preliminary rounds, six qualifying rounds, four proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.

Qualifying rounds

Despite the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

re-introducing a sixth qualifying round in this season's competition, the early stages of the tournament were decimated by withdrawals and forfeits caused by wartime travel restrictions and the significant loss of playing personnel to front lines in Europe. In the final wash-up, more than 90 ties across the extra preliminary, preliminary and first qualifying rounds were not contested and recorded as walkovers or forfeits. Ultimately, the 12 winning teams from the sixth qualifying round were

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 ...

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

and Lincoln City from the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

, along with non-league sides Swansea Town, Bristol Rovers,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, Croydon Common, Merthyr Town,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

, Goole Town and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. Goole Town was appearing in the competition proper for the first time, while Nottingham Forest was required to participate in the qualifying rounds for the first time. Glossop was competing as a Football League team for the last time, being voted out of the Second Division at the end of the season, while Croydon Common would be the only club from the Football League or the Southern League First Division to be wound up before the resumption of full competitive football in 1919. A former Football League member in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

was the most successful club from the extra preliminary round, defeating Willenhall Pickwick, Cannock Town, Hednesford Town, Cradley Heath St Luke's, Stoke and

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 ...

before going out to Shrewsbury Town in the fifth qualifying round.

First round proper

36 of the 40 clubs from the First and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

divisions joined the 12 clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. The other four sides, Lincoln City, Nottingham Forest, Glossop and

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English f ...

were entered in the sixth qualifying round, with only Leicester going out at that stage after losing to Swansea Town. Sixteen Southern League sides were given byes to the First Round to bring the total number of teams up to 64. These were: 32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 9 January 1915. Six matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture.

Second round proper

The 16 Second Round matches were played on Saturday, 30 January 1915. Three matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following weekend fixture. One of these was again drawn, and a second replay was played, again at the following Saturday.

Third round proper

The eight Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 20 February 1915. There were two replays, played the following week, of which one went to a second replay in the following midweek fixture.

Fourth round proper

The four Fourth round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 6 March 1915. There were two replays, played a week later.

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 27 March 1915. Sheffield United and Chelsea won and went on to meet in the final. ----

Final

The final took place on 24 April 1915 and was contested by Sheffield United and Chelsea. It was the last

final to be staged before competitive football was abandoned in Britain because of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The match was moved from its pre-war location of Crystal Palace in south

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to avoid disruption to travel in and around London.

Match details

References

;General
Official site; fixtures and results service
at TheFA.com
1914-15 FA Cup at soccerbase.com
;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:FA Cup 1914–15 1914–15 1914–15 in English football cups