The 2015–16

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 ...

(also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 135th edition of the oldest recognised

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tournament in the world. It was sponsored by

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...

, and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. It began with the extra preliminary round on 15 August 2015, and concluded with the final on 21 May 2016. The FA Cup winner qualifies for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage.

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 ...

side

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were the two-time defending champions after they beat

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 ...

4–0 in the previous final on 30 May 2015, but were eliminated by

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 ...

in the sixth round. The winners were

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 defeated Crystal Palace 2–1 in 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 ...

after extra time for their record-tying 12th title.

Teams

Prize fund

Round and draw dates

The schedule are as follows.

Qualifying rounds

All teams that entered the competition, but were not members of the

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper. The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Worcester City, AFC Fylde, Gainsborough Trinity, Northwich Victoria, Barwell,

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, Salford City, FC Halifax Town, Lincoln City, Stalybridge Celtic, FC United of Manchester, Macclesfield Town, Brackley Town,

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 ...

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

, Maidenhead United, Basingstoke Town, Whitehawk, Didcot Town, Boreham Wood, Welling United, Chesham United, Dover Athletic, Wealdstone, Staines Town, Eastleigh, Aldershot Town, Forest Green Rovers, Braintree Town, Cheltenham Town, Maidstone United and St Albans City. Barwell, Salford City, Whitehawk and Didcot Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the other qualifying clubs, Gainsborough Trinity had last featured in the first round in 2007–08, Stalybridge Celtic had last done so in 2003-04 and Chesham United had last done so in 1994-95.

First round proper

The first round draw took place on 26 October at 7pm at the club house of the FA Charter Standard Community Club Thackley Juniors F.C. based in Thackley in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, and was broadcast live on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

. The first round proper were played on the weekend of 7 November. The 32 teams from the qualifying competition joined the 48 teams from League One and League Two to compete in this round. The round included two teams from Level 8 still in the competition, Northwich Victoria and Didcot Town, which were the lowest-ranked teams in this round; Northwich Victoria advanced to become the lowest-ranked team in the second round.

Second round proper

The second round draw took place on 9 November at

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, based in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

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, and was broadcast live on BBC Two. The lowest-ranked side in this round was Northwich Victoria, who competed at level 8 of English football.

Third round proper

A total of 64 teams played in this round: 44 teams from

and

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

which entered in this round, and the 20 winners of the previous round. The draw was held on 7 December 2015. The lowest-ranked team in this round was Eastleigh from the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(tier 5), the only non-league side remaining in the competition.

Fourth round proper

The draw for the fourth round proper was held on 11 January 2016. The fourth round proper was played across the weekend of 30 January 2016. The three lowest ranked teams in this round were

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

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 ...

and Carlisle United, who competed in League Two (tier 4).

Fifth round proper

The draw for the fifth round proper was held on 31 January 2016. The fifth round proper was played across the weekend of 20 February 2016. The lowest ranked club in this round was Shrewsbury Town, who competed in League One (tier 3).

Sixth round proper

The draw for the sixth round proper (Quarter-finals) was held on 21 February 2016. The sixth round proper was played across the weekend of 12 March 2016. This marked the final year where the sixth round would go into a replay if teams were tied. The lowest ranked club remaining in this round was

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, who competed in the League Championship (tier 2).

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 14 March 2016. The semi-finals were played on 23 and 24 April 2016.

Final

The final took place on 21 May 2016 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 ...

Top goalscorers

Broadcasting rights

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by 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 subscription channel

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. The BBC held the rights since 2014–15, while BT Sport since 2013–14. The FA Cup Final was required to be broadcast live on UK

terrestrial television Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...

under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events. The following matches were broadcast live on UK television: Welsh language channel

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

broadcast the third-round match between Cardiff City and Shrewsbury Town, and also broadcast the rescheduled third-round match between Newport County and Blackburn Rovers.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 FA Cup FA Cup seasons