The 2016–17
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 136th edition of the oldest recognised
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 ...
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. 736 clubs were accepted into the tournament,
and it began with the extra preliminary round on 6 August 2016, and concluded with the final on 27 May 2017.
The winner qualified for the
2017–18 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
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 ...
were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by
Chelsea.
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 ...
won a record-breaking 13th title following a 2–1 win over Chelsea 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 ...
, winning their third FA Cup in 4 seasons.
The tournament was also notable for the performance of
Lincoln City from
Level 5, who became the first non-league club to reach the quarter-finals since
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...
.
This edition of the FA Cup was the first in which quarter-final matches were played to a result on the day, instead of being subject to replay in case of a draw. However, all four matches were settled without the need for extra time.
Teams
Prize fund
Round and draw dates
The schedule was as follows.
Qualifying rounds
All teams that entered the competition, but 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 ...
or
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 qualifying competition began with the extra preliminary round on 6 August 2016, with the final (fourth) qualifying round played over the weekend of 15 October.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were
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 ...
,
Alfreton Town
Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street.
History
The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...
,
Macclesfield Town,
FC Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League (division), National League, the fifth level of English football league system.
They replac ...
,
Stockport County,
Barrow,
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 ...
,
Lincoln City,
Curzon Ashton,
Spennymoor Town,
Westfields,
Stamford,
Chesham United,
Whitehawk
Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...
,
Sutton United,
Dagenham & Redbridge,
Taunton Town,
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 ...
,
Braintree Town,
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 ...
,
St Albans City,
Brackley Town,
Eastbourne Borough,
Harrow Borough,
Boreham Wood,
Maidstone United,
Kidderminster Harriers,
Solihull Moors,
Dover Athletic,
Merstham
Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 17 miles south of Charing Cross just beyond the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has ...
and
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census.
The town ...
.
Westfields, Stamford and Merstham were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Solihull Moors was also appearing at this stage for the time since the 2007 merger of
Solihull Borough and
Moor Green, who had last featured in the first round in
1997-98 and
2002-03 respectively. Of the others, Curzon Ashton and Eastbourne Borough had last reached the first round in
2008-09, Taunton Town had last done so in
1981-82 and Spennymoor Town had last done so in
1956-57 when the club was still known as ''Evenwood Town''. Defunct rivals
Spennymoor United had last appeared at this stage in
1995-96.
First round proper
The first round draw took place on 17 October 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
BT Sport
TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
. All 40 first round proper ties were played on the weekend of 5 November.
32 teams from the qualifying competition joined the 48 teams from
League One and
League Two to compete in this round. The round included one team from Level 9 still in the competition,
Westfields, who were the lowest-ranked team in this round.
Second round proper
The second round draw took place on 7 November at
Haig Avenue, home of
Southport F.C., immediately prior to the Southport-Fleetwood tie, and was broadcast live on
BT Sport
TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
. The round included one team from Level 7 still in the competition,
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 ...
, who were the lowest-ranked team in this round.
Third round proper
A total of 64 clubs played in the third round; 20 winners of the second round, and 44 teams from
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 ...
and
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...
entering in this round. The draw was held on 5 December 2016 at the
BT Tower
The BT Communications Tower, also known simply as the BT Tower, is a Listed building, grade II listed Radio masts and towers, communications tower in Fitzrovia, London, England, owned by BT Group. It has also been known as the GPO Tower, the P ...
and was broadcast live on
BT Sport
TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
and
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 ...
. The matches were played across the weekend of 6–9 January 2017. The round included five non-league teams, including
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 ...
, who were still the lowest-ranked team in the competition.
Fourth round proper
A total of 32 teams played in the fourth round, all winners of the third round. The draw took place at the
BT Tower
The BT Communications Tower, also known simply as the BT Tower, is a Listed building, grade II listed Radio masts and towers, communications tower in Fitzrovia, London, England, owned by BT Group. It has also been known as the GPO Tower, the P ...
on 9 January 2017. The round included two teams from Level 5 who were still in the competition:
Lincoln City, leading 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 ...
on the night of their third round replay and
Sutton United, fifteenth on the same night and therefore the lowest-ranked team to play in this round.
Fifth round proper
A total of 16 clubs played in the fifth round, all winners of the fourth round. The draw was held on 30 January 2017, and the matches were played across the weekend of 18–20 February 2017. The round included the two teams from
Level 5 that were still in the competition:
Lincoln City and
Sutton United, whose fourth round victories ensured the
first ever fifth round with two non-league sides remaining. Lincoln City were in this round for the first time in 115 years and Sutton United for the first time in their history.
Quarter-finals
A total of eight clubs played in the quarter-finals, all winners of the fifth round. The draw was held on 19 February 2017 at
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...
, home of
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional association football, 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 Ewo ...
, immediately following the Blackburn Rovers v Manchester United match. Matches were played between 11 and 13 March 2017.
In a break from tradition, the FA officially renamed the stage the 'Quarter-finals', the name that had been used colloquially to describe what was previously called the sixth round proper.
Changes to previous rules meant that tied matches would have gone to
extra-time and potentially 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 ...
at this stage rather than to a
replay, and that a fourth
substitute would have been permitted in extra time.
The round included
Lincoln City from
Level 5, who became the first non-league club to reach the quarter-finals since
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...
.
Semi-finals
The four winners of the quarter-finals progressed to the semi-finals. The semi-final draw took place at
Stamford Bridge on 13 March following the quarter-final tie between Chelsea and Manchester United. The semi-finals were played 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 ...
on 22 and 23 April 2017.
Final
Bracket
The following is the bracket which the FA Cup resembled. Numbers in parentheses next to the match score represent the results of a replay, except for the quarter-finals stage onwards. Numbers in parentheses next to the replay score represents the results of a
penalty shoot-out
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 ...
except for the quarter-finals stage onwards.
Top goalscorers
a Theo Robinson moved to
Southend United during the January transfer window with Lincoln still in the cup.
Broadcasting rights
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the BBC and subscription channel BT Sport. 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 under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events.
The following matches were broadcast live on UK television:
Notes
References
External links
The official FA Cup website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 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 ...