The 1994–95 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th staging of 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 ...

. The competition was won by Everton, with a shock victory over

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 ...

, who were strong favourites to retain the title. This tournament was the 50th to be officially held since the six-year suspension due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Everton's Joe Royle would be the last English-born manager to lift the FA Cup until

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

managed

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

to the 2008 victory. As of 2025, this is the most recent major trophy won by Everton. This was the first FA Cup season to bear a title sponsor.

Calendar

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 Spennymoor United,

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Hyde United, Northwich Victoria, Witton Albion, Halifax Town, Slough Town, Chesham United, Enfield, Gresley Rovers, Heybridge Swifts, Chelmsford City, Hitchin Town,

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 " ...

, Aylesbury United, Kettering Town,

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

, Marlow, Tiverton Town, Kingstonian,

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 ...

, Walton & Hersham, Ashford Town (Kent), Newport (IOW) and Bashley. Heybridge Swifts and Bashley were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Hyde United had not featured at this stage since 1983–84, Chesham United and Worthing had not done so since 1982-83, Hitchin Town had not done so since 1978-79, Walton & Hersham had not done so since 1975-76, Ashford Town (Kent) had not done so since 1974-75, Newport (IOW) had not done so since 1958-59 and Gresley Rovers had not done so since 1930-31. Enfield and Aylesbury United both enjoyed runs through seven rounds of the tournament. Enfield defeated

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

, Ruislip Manor, St Albans City, Cardiff City and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

before going out to Leicester City at Filbert Street; while Aylesbury defeated Boreham Wood, Edgware Town, Baldock Town, Moor Green, Newport (IOW) and Kingstonian before going out to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

. Leicester City and QPR were both in the

this season.

First round proper

Port Vale and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

, Kidderminster Harriers and Bath City who were given byes. Tiverton Town, from the Western League Premier Division at Step 8 of English football, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw. The matches were played on 12 November 1994. There were eleven replays, with Bury and Bishop Auckland requiring a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

to settle their tie.

Second round proper

The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were played on 3 December 1994, with five replays and no penalty shootouts required. Bashley, from the Southern League Southern Division at Step 7 of the football pyramid, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

Third round proper

Teams from the

and the

(except Port Vale and

) entered at this stage. Matches were played on the weekend of 7-9 January 1995. Twelve replays were required, with one of those going to penalties to settle the outcome. Enfield, Marlow and Aylesbury United from the Isthmian League Premier Division at Step 6 of the football pyramid were the lowest-ranked teams in the round. Along with Altrincham 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 ...

at Step 5, they were also the last non-league clubs left in the competition.

Fourth round proper

The fourth round featured the thirty-two winning teams from the previous round, and was played on the weekend of 28 January. There were five replays and two penalty shootouts. Second Division sides Wrexham and Swansea City were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw and the last clubs from the First Round left in the competition.

Fifth round proper

The eight fifth round ties were played on the weekend of 18 February, with three replays being required.

Sixth round proper

The sixth round proper, or quarter-finals, ties were scheduled for the weekend of 11 March. The Crystal Palace–Wolverhampton Wanderers match went to a replay 11 days later. Tottenham Hotspur progressed to the semi-finals of a competition that they had to appeal to compete in after being banned for financial irregularities, and their quarter-final victory over Liverpool ended their opposition's hopes of an FA Cup/League Cup double. Wolverhampton Wanderers, the last non-Premiership side in the competition, lost 4–1 at home to Crystal Palace in a replay after a 1–1 draw in the first game. QPR's hopes of instant success under new player-manager Ray Wilkins were ended when they were beaten 2–0 by Manchester United, one of his former clubs. ---- ---- ----

Replay

Semi-finals

Manchester United, also chasing the Premier League title, needed a replay to see off a Crystal Palace side who were battling against relegation. Everton, meanwhile, blew apart a Tottenham side who had started the season banned from the competition for financial irregularities until an appeal saw them reinstated. ----

Replay

Final

The final was contested between Manchester United and Everton at

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 ...

, London on 20 May 1995. Everton won the match 1–0 through a Paul Rideout goal after half an hour. It was the first time in six years that United were left without a major trophy, while Everton had won their first major trophy in eight years.

Media coverage

For the seventh 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: •

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 ...

1-1

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

(R3) •

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

1-4

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

(R4) •

3-1

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

(R5) • Everton 1-0

(QF) •

1-4 Everton (SF) • Everton 1-0

(Final) The matches shown live on

were: • Kettering Town 0-1 Plymouth Argyle (R1) • Preston North End 1-0

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

(R1) •

1-0 Barnet (R1 Replay) •

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

0-0 Scunthorpe United (R2) • Chester City 1-2

(R2) • Scunthorpe United 1-2

(R2 Replay) • Sheffield United 0-2

(R3) •

1-2

(R3 Replay) •

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 ...

0-0

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 ...

(R4) •

1-1

(R4 Replay) •

3-1

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 ...

(R5) •

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, ...

2-6

(R5 Replay) •

2-0

(QF) •

1-4 Crystal Palace (QF Replay) •

2-2 Crystal Palace (SF) • Crystal Palace 0-2

(SF Replay)

External links

BBC FA Cup news1994–95 FA Cup Archive on FA websiteResource detailing results for each team (source for penalty shootout results)
{{DEFAULTSORT:1994-95 FA Cup FA Cup seasons