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

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

. The round included one team from Level 7 still in the competition,

, 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

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

and

. The matches were played across the weekend of 6–9 January 2017. The round included five non-league teams, including

, 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

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

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