1976–77 FA Cup
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The 1976–77 FA Cup was the 96th 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 saw
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 ...
beat
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
2–1.


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 Gateshead United, Crook Town, Barrow,
Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...
,
Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
,
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
,
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 ...
,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
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 ...
, Goole Town, Kettering Town, Nuneaton Borough, Chesham United, Dudley Town, Enfield,
Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...
, Hitchin Town,
Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...
, Hillingdon Borough,
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 ...
,
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
, Harwich & Parkeston,
Waterlooville Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, ...
,
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 ...
,
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...
, Tooting & Mitcham United, Weymouth and
Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...
. Droylsden, Boston and Dudley Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Goole Town, Chesham United, Woking and Waterlooville had last featured at this stage in 1968–69; Crook Town had last done so in 1965-66, Harwich & Parkeston in 1963-64, Northwich Victoria in 1961-62 and Bromley in 1951-52. Barrow was appearing in the competition proper for the first time since being voted out of the Football League in 1972. On the other hand, Kettering Town was advancing from the qualifying rounds for a record-setting 29th time (surpassing the previous mark established by Gainsborough Trinity in 1966–67). Northwich Victoria participated in eight rounds of the tournament, defeating Nantwich Town, Witton Albion,
Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...
, Burton Albion,
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 ...
,
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
and
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
before going out in the fourth round to
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...
at the Drill Field.


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
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 ...
, Stafford Rangers,
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
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 ...
who were given byes. The first round of games were played on 20 November 1976. Replays were played mainly on 22–24 November, with some postponed until 29 November, 2 December or 6 December.


Second round proper

The second round of games were mainly played on 11 December 1976, with some taking place midweek over 14–15 December and one on 20th. Replays took place on 14th or 21st.
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
's initial match against
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
on 11 December was abandoned after 20 minutes due to heavy fog with Peterborough leading 1–0.


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 played on 8 January 1977. Replays were mainly played midweek over 10–12 January or the week after but one occurred on 24th instead.


Fourth round proper

The fourth round of games were played on 29 January 1977. Four games required a replay, played midweek on 1–2 February.
Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
was the last non-league club left in the competition.


Fifth round proper

The fifth set of games took place on 26 February 1977. One game went to a replay which was played on 8 March. Holders Southampton were eliminated by Manchester United in a rematch of the previous season's final.


Sixth round proper

The sixth round of FA Cup games were played on 19 March 1977. There were no replays.


Semi-finals


Semi-final 1


Replay


Semi-final 2


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 and 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. The BBC were only able to cover one of the three planned Fifth round ties due to a cameraman strike. Third round ''BBC'': Southampton v Chelsea, Cardiff City v Tottenham Hotspur, Blackpool v Derby County, Derby County v Blackpool (Midweek replay) ''ITV'': Leeds United v Norwich City (Yorkshire & Anglia), Wimbledon v Middlesbrough (LWT & Tyne-Tees), Everton v Stoke City (Granada), Leicester v Aston Villa (ATV), Chelsea v Southampton (Midweek replay All regions) Fourth round ''BBC'': Colchester United v Derby County, Cardiff City v Wrexham, Manchester United v Queens Park Rangers, Derby County v Colchester United (Midweek Replay) ''ITV'': Swindon Town v Everton (HTV & Granada), Arsenal v Coventry City (LWT), Ipswich Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers (Anglia), Birmingham City v Leeds United (ATV & Yorkshire) Fifth round ''BBC'': Leeds United v Manchester City, Manchester United v Southampton (Midweek Replay) ''ITV'': Southampton v Manchester United (Southern & LWT), Middlesbrough v Arsenal (Tyne-Tees & Yorkshire), Liverpool v Oldham Athletic (Granada), Aston Villa v Port Vale (ATV) Sixth round ''BBC'': Manchester United v Aston Villa, Everton v Derby County ''ITV'': Liverpool v Middlesbrough (Granada & Tyne-Tees), Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leeds United (ATV & Yorkshire) ''All ITV regions showed these two games'' Semi-finals ''BBC'': Everton v Liverpool, Everton v Liverpool (Midweek replay) ''ITV'': Leeds United v Manchester United Shown in all ITV regions Final Liverpool v Manchester United Shown live by both BBC & ITV


References


FA Cup Results Archive




{{DEFAULTSORT:1976-77 FA Cup 1976–77 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 ...