The 1954–55 FA Cup was the 74th season 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 ...
cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly 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 ...
.
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
won the competition for the sixth time, beating
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
3–1 in
the final at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
.
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. Some matches, however, might be rescheduled for other days if there were clashes with games for other competitions or the weather was inclement. 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 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
Qualifying rounds
Most participating clubs that were not members of the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 30 places available in the first round.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
,
Horden Colliery Welfare,
Blyth Spartans,
Stanley United,
Netherfield (Kendal),
Hyde United,
Rhyl,
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
,
Creswell Colliery,
Selby Town,
Corby Town,
Nuneaton Borough,
Hinckley Athletic,
Boston United,
Kettering Town,
Wellington Town,
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
,
Bedford Town,
Chelmsford City,
Walthamstow Avenue,
Hounslow Town,
Barnet,
Headington United,
Tunbridge Wells United,
Hastings United,
Dorchester Town,
Barnstaple Town,
Newport (IOW),
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...
and
Frome Town.
Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Stanley United, Creswell Colliery, Corby Town, Hinckley Athletic, Hounslow Town, Dorchester Town and Frome Town. However, Tunbridge Wells United was featuring at this stage for the first time in their own right after predecessor outfit ''Tunbridge Wells Rangers'' had last qualified for the main draw in
1938–39 and Hyde United was appearing here for the first time since their record-setting 26-0 loss to
Preston North End in
1887-88.
First round proper
At this stage the 48 clubs from the
Football League Third Division North
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...
and
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
joined the 30
non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. The final two non-league sides in the draw,
Crook Town and
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham.
M ...
, were given byes to this round as the champions and runners-up from the previous season's
FA Amateur Cup
The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status.
History
Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...
.
Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 20 November 1954. Seven were drawn and went to replays, with one of these going to a second replay.
Second round proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 11 December 1954. Four matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week.
Third round proper
The 44
First and
Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 8 January 1955. Ten matches were drawn and went to replays, with three of these requiring a second replay. Notable is tie no. 3, between Bury and Stoke City, which went to ''four'' replays before Stoke won in the final game, with an aggregated score of 9–10.
Fourth round proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 29 January 1955. Four matches were drawn and went to replays, which were all played in the following midweek match. Once again there was a tie which went to four replays, this one being between Doncaster Rovers and Aston Villa. Rovers finally won the fixture in the fifth match with an aggregated score of 6–4.
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham.
M ...
was the last non-league club left in the competition.
Fifth round proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 19 February 1955. Two matches went to replays in the following mid-week fixture, with the Nottingham Forest–Newcastle United match requiring a second replay to settle it in favour of United.
Sixth round proper
The four quarter-final ties were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 12 March 1955. The Newcastle United–Huddersfield Town game went to a replay before United went through.
Semi-finals
The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 26 March 1955, with the Newcastle United–York City match replaying on the 30th. Newcastle and Manchester City won their ties to meet in the final at Wembley.
;Replay
----
Final
The 1955 FA Cup Final was contested by
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
and
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
. Newcastle won 3–1, with goals from
Jackie Milburn in the first minute (after 45 seconds, setting a new record in a final at Wembley, which was held until 1997),
Bobby Mitchell and
George Hannah.
Bobby Johnstone scored City's goal.
Match details
References
;General
The FA Cup Archiveat TheFA.com
at Footballsite
;Specific
{{DEFAULTSORT:1954-55 FA Cup
FA Cup seasons
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 ...