The 1975–76 FA Cup was the 95th staging 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 ...
. 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 ...
saw 2nd tier
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
beat
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
1–0, with the only goal coming from
Bobby Stokes in the 83rd minute of the game.
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 28 places available in the first round.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were
Spennymoor United,
Rossendale United,
Morecambe,
Gateshead United,
Marine,
Winsford United,
Macclesfield Town,
Grantham
Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
,
Nuneaton Town,
Boston United,
Stafford Rangers,
Coventry Sporting,
AP Leamington,
Bedford Town,
Romford
Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...
,
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and
is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...
,
Bishop's Stortford,
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...
,
Wycombe Wanderers,
Tooting & Mitcham United,
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
,
Dover
Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
,
Wealdstone,
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...
,
Walton & Hersham,
Sutton United,
Weymouth and
Yeovil Town.
Coventry Sporting was appearing in the competition proper for the first (and only) time, while Bedford Town was re-appearing at this stage for the first time since
1966–67. Winsford United qualified for the first round for the first time since the
1887-88 tournament, when the club was still known as ''Over Wanderers''.
Tooting & Mitcham United became the first club to participate in eight rounds of one tournament since Gravesend & Northfleet in
1962–63, defeating
St Albans City,
Stevenage Athletic,
Addlestone
Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement.
Geography
Addlesto ...
,
Southall & Ealing Borough, Romford, Leatherhead and
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded as Swindon A ...
before going out to
Bradford City at
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...
.
First round proper
The 48 teams from the
Football League Third and
Fourth Divisions entered in this round along with the 28 non-league clubs from the qualifying rounds and
Matlock Town
Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane.
History
The club was esta ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
who were given byes. The first round of games were played on 22 November 1975. Replays were played mainly on the 24th–26th, with second replays performed one or two weeks after.
Second round proper
The second round of games were played on 13 December 1975. Replays took place on the 15th–17th or the 22nd.
Third round proper
Teams from the
Football League First and
Second Division entered in this round. The third round of games in the FA Cup were mainly played on 3 January 1976, with two matches played two days earlier on
New Year's Day
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
. Replays were mainly played midweek over 6–7 January or the week after but one occurred on the 24th instead. Holders West Ham United were eliminated by Liverpool.
Fourth round proper
The fourth round games were mostly played on 28 January 1976, with three replays and a main match on the 27th and 28th. The Sunderland-Hull City match was postponed until 2 February because of bad weather.
Tooting & Mitcham United was the last non-league club left in the competition.
Fifth round proper
The fifth set of games took place (except for one game) on 14 February 1976. Three games went to a replay which were played on 17–18 February. The Norwich City–Bradford City match and a second replay of the Bolton Wanderers–Newcastle United match were played on 23 February.
Sixth round proper
The sixth round of FA Cup games were played on 6 March 1976. There was one replay on the 9th.
Semi finals
----
Final
TV coverage
The right to show FA Cup games were, as with Football League matches, shared between the BBC and ITV network. All games were shown in a highlights format, except the Final, which was shown live both on BBC1 & ITV. The BBC football highlights programme Match of the Day would show up to three games and the various ITV regional network stations would cover up to one game and show highlights from other games covered elsewhere on the ITV network. No games from Rounds 1 or 2 were shown. Highlights of replays would be shown on either the BBC or ITV.
One Fifth Round tie that was picked to be shown by ITV was postponed This was Norwich City v Bradford City (Anglia & Yorkshire) This was due to a Flu Outbreak in the Bradford City camp
Third Round
''BBC'' West Ham United v Liverpool, Scarborough v Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers v Newcastle United, Newcastle United v Queens Park Rangers (Midweek replay), Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur (Saturday Replay).
''ITV''
Derby County v Everton (ATV & Granada), Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City (LWT), Leicester City v Sheffield United (Yorkshire out of region)'' Other regions showed those three games.''
Fourth Round
''BBC'' Coventry City v Newcastle United, Manchester United v Peterborough United.
''ITV''
''Derby County v Liverpool (ATV & Granada), Leeds United v Crystal Palace (Yorkshire), Norwich City v Luton Town (Anglia), Charlton Athletic v Portsmouth (LWT & Southern), Stoke City v Manchester City (Midweek All regions)''.
Fifth Round
''BBC'' Chelsea v Crystal Palace, Bolton Wanderers v Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United v Bolton Wanderers (Midweek Both replays).
''ITV'' Leicester City v Manchester United (ATV & Granada), Stoke City v Sunderland (Tyne-Tees Out of region), Derby County v Southend United (Anglia & LWT Out of Region).
Sixth Round
''BBC'' Derby County v Newcastle United, Bradford City v Southampton.
''ITV'' Sunderland v Crystal Palace (Tyne-Tees & LWT), Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers (Granada & ATV), Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United (Midweek replay All regions).
Semi-Finals
''BBC'' Derby County v Manchester United.
''ITV'' Crystal Palace v Southampton (All regions).
Final
Manchester United v Southampton covered Live by BBC & ITV.
References
FA Cup Results Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:1975-76 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 ...