The 1993–94 FA Cup was the 113th staging of the world and England's oldest cup competition, the Football Association Cup or FA Cup. The competition overall was won by

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 ...

for the first time since

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, with a 4–0 thrashing of Chelsea.

Qualifying rounds

Most participating clubs that were not members of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 Witton Albion, Macclesfield Town,

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

, Gretna, Knowsley United, Telford United, Leek Town,

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...

, Marine, Enfield, Slough Town, Cambridge City, Nuneaton Borough, Kettering Town, VS Rugby, Marlow,

Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning " ...

, Bromsgrove Rovers,

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

, Gravesend & Northfleet,

Molesey Molesey is a suburban district comprising two large villages, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England. Molesey is within the Greater London Built-up Area, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames ...

, Bath City, Metropolitan Police, Carshalton Athletic, Farnborough Town,

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

and

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

. Yeading and Molesey were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Stalybridge Celtic and Metropolitan Police had not featured at this stage since 1984–85, Gravesend & Northfleet had last done so in 1980-81, Knowsley United had last done so in 1969-70 (when the club had been known as ''Kirkby Town''), Cambridge City had last done so in 1966-67 and Weston-super-Mare had last done so in 1961-62. Bromsgrove Rovers competed in seven rounds of this season's tournament, defeating Gresley Rovers, Bedworth United, Solihull Borough and

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

to qualify for the main draw. They then saw off

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and Yeovil Town before going out to First Division

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in the third round.

First round proper

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

from the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

entered in this round along with the 46

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 ...

and Third Division teams, the 28 non-league clubs from the qualifying rounds and Halifax Town,

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 ...

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 ...

and Yeovil Town who were given byes. Metropolitan Police, from the Isthmian League Second Division at Step 8 of English football, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw. The first round matches were played on the weekend beginning 13 November 1993.

Second round proper

The second round matches were played on the weekend beginning 4 December 1993. The round featured three teams from Step 6 of the football pyramid: Nuneaton Borough and Crawley Town from the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and e ...

, and Sutton United from the

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

Third round proper

Teams from the

and First Division (except

and

) entered in this round. Sutton United was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw. The third round matches were played on the weekend beginning 8 January 1994.

Fourth round proper

The fourth round matches were played on the weekend beginning 29 January 1994. Kidderminster Harriers, from the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

(Step 5) was the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

Fifth round proper

The fifth round matches were played on the weekend beginning 19 February 1994. Kidderminster Harriers was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw and the last non-league club in the competition. Harriers would go on to win the Football Conference championship, but they were to be controversially denied promotion to the Third Division after the Football League introduced new stadium tenure and capacity regulations in the wake of the demise of Maidstone United during the previous season. Harriers' ground, Aggborough was deemed to be of insufficient capacity to host Football League fixtures.

Sixth round proper

Oldham Athletic reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the second time in five seasons, where they would meet their opponents from 1990 – Manchester United. Luton reached their first semi-final since 1988 at the expense of West Ham United, where they would take on Chelsea. ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The semi-final paired

leaders Manchester United with relegation-threatened Oldham Athletic - a repeat of the 1990 semi-final.

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

was the venue for this match, which was still goalless after 90 minutes. Oldham took the lead in extra time through Neil Pointon, and held their lead the 119th minute, when a late equaliser by

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

forced a replay. The two sides met at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

for the replay, which United won 4–1 to end their opposition's hopes of a first-ever FA Cup final, and move closer to winning the double. The other semi-final paired Premier League side Chelsea with Division One side Luton Town, with both sides looking for glory in the cup after disappointing league campaigns. Like the other semi-final the following day, this match was played at Wembley. Chelsea went through with Gavin Peacock scoring twice in a 2–0 win, to reach their first FA Cup final for 24 years.

Replay

FA Cup Final

Two penalties by

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French former professional footballer who is currently an actor. In his football career Eric Cantona was a physically strong, hard-working and tenacious player. He combined technical skill a ...

as well as late goals by

and

Brian McClair Brian John McClair (born 8 December 1963) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a forward from 1980 to 1998, notable for his near 11-year spell at Manchester United where he won 14 trophies includi ...

gave Manchester United a 4–0 triumph over Chelsea after the deadlock was still unbroken at half-time, and saw them become only the sixth club in history to win The Double.

Media coverage

For the sixth consecutive season in the United Kingdom, 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 ...

were the free to air broadcasters while

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

were the subscription broadcasters. The matches shown live on the

were: •

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

0-1

(R3) •

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

0-2

(R4) •

1-0

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

(R5) • Chelsea 1-0

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

(QF) •

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 ...

1-1

(SF) • Chelsea 0-4

(Final) The matches shown live on

were: • Halifax Town 2-1

(R1) • Yeovil Town 1-0

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

(R1) •

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 ...

2-0

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 ...

(R1 Replay) • Lincoln City 1-3

(R2) • Bath City 2-1

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

(R2) • Nuneaton Borough 0-1

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

(R2 Replay) •

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

0-1

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 ...

(R3) •

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 ...

0-2

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

(R3 Replay) •

2-2

(R4) •

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 ...

2-0

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 ...

(R4 Replay) •

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 ...

0-3

(R5) •

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

1-2

(R5 Replay) •

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

0-0

(QF) •

3-2

(QF Replay) • Chelsea 2-0

(SF) •

4-1

(SF Replay)

Notes and references

External links

FA Cup 1993–1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:1993-94 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 ...