The 1978–79 FA Cup was the 98th 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
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
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 ...
3–2, three of the five goals being scored in the last five minutes.
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
Blyth Spartans
Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park.
They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...
,
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
,
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
,
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
,
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 ...
,
Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
,
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 ...
,
Nuneaton Borough,
AP Leamington,
Stafford Rangers,
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system.
The club is known as 'the ...
,
Worksop Town
Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop.
History
Previous clubs
The club claims it w ...
,
Hitchin Town,
Enfield,
March Town United,
Barking
Barking may refer to:
Places
* Barking, London, a town in East London, England
** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980
** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965
** Barking (UK Parliament constituency)
** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...
,
Dagenham
Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross.
It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...
,
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, ...
,
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
*Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
,
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 ...
,
Maidstone United,
Gravesend & Northfleet,
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 ...
,
Hillingdon Borough,
Worcester City
Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...
,
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...
,
Weymouth and
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 ...
.
For the first time since
1910–11, all successful qualifying clubs had appeared in the competition proper before. However, Gravesend & Northfleet had not featured at this stage since
1965-66, Chorley had last done so in
1963-64, Worksop Town had last done so in
1961-62, Worcester City had last done so in
1960-61, March Town United in
1955-56 and Barking in
1928-29.
Maidstone United was the most successful club from this season's qualifying rounds, progressing from the first qualifying round to the third round proper after defeating
Horsham YMCA,
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. ...
,
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...
,
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, ...
,
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 ...
and
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
.
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
then needed a replay to knock them out of the tournament.
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
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
who were given byes. The first round of games were played on 25 November 1978. Replays were played mainly on 28–29 November, with two on 5–6 December.
Second round proper
The second round of games were played on 16 December 1978. Replays took place mainly on 18–19 with one on 28 December and another on 9 January 1979.
Third round proper
Teams from the
Football League First and
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
entered in this round. The third round of games in the FA Cup were intended to be played on 6 January 1979, but only four games were actually played on this date. Twenty more ties were played midweek over 8–10 January with a few more taking place on 15–16 and one on 18 January. Replays were intended for 9–10 January but again took place at various times. One tie, between Wrexham and Stockport County, suffered six postponements before finally being played on 1 February, by which time Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday had played five times, the tie needing a fourth replay before being settled.
Maidstone United 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 ...
were the last non-league clubs left in the competition.
Fourth round proper
The fourth round of games were intended to be played over the weekend 26–27 January 1979, but by this time only eight matches had been played, of which three went to replays. The other games were completed either midweek on 29–31st, or on 5 or 12 February. Replays were played at various times after the initial games.
Fifth round proper
The fifth set of games were played on either 20, 26 or 28 February, or 10 March 1979. Two replays were played on 26 February and 12 March.
Sixth round proper
The sixth round of FA Cup games were played on 10 March 1979, except for the Southampton–Arsenal match which began on 19 March. Holders Ipswich Town were eliminated by Liverpool. There were three replays.
Semi finals
Replay
Final
Television Coverage
The right to show FA Cup games were, as with
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 ...
matches, shared between the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
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
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season.
''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...
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. Occasional highlights of replays would be shown on either the BBC or ITV.
These matches were.
1Footage available on YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
2featured on Sportsnight
''Sportsnight'' was a midweek BBC television sports programme that ran from 1968 until 1997.
Sportsview
''Sportsnight'' was a successor to ''Sportsview'' which started on 8 April 1954. ''Sportsview'' was devised by Paul Fox (TV), Paul Fox, la ...
3featured on Midweek Sports Special
References
External links
FA Cup Results Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:1978-79 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 ...