The 1900–01 FA Cup was the 30th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). The cup was won by Tottenham Hotspur of the Southern League, who defeated Sheffield United 3–1 in a replay after a 2–2 draw in the first game. This is the only occasion since the formation of The Football League in 1888 that a club from outside the League has won the cup.
Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held at neutral venues until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.
Calendar The format of the FA Cup for the season had a preliminary round, five qualifying rounds, an intermediate round, three proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.
Round Date Preliminary round Saturday 22 September 1900 First round qualifying Saturday 6 October 1900 Second round qualifying Saturday 20 October 1900 Third round qualifying Saturday 3 November 1900 Fourth round qualifying Saturday 17 November 1900 Fifth round qualifying Saturday 8 December 1900 Intermediate Round Saturday 5 January 1901 First round proper Saturday 9 February 1901 Second round proper Saturday 23 February 1901 Third round proper Saturday 23 March 1901 Semi-finals Saturday 6 April 1901 Final Saturday 20 April 1901
Intermediate round
Due to the increasing number of non-league clubs entering the competition at the turn of the 20th century, the Football Association introduced an Intermediate Round to the format to reduce the number of Football League teams commencing in the qualifying rounds.
The Intermediate Round was part of the competition proper and featured ten ties played between the winners from the fifth qualifying round, and ten teams given byes. Liverpool and Stoke from the First Division and Burslem Port Vale, Glossop, Grimsby Town, Newton Heath, New Brighton Tower and Woolwich Arsenal from the Second Division received byes to this round, as did Southern League teams Portsmouth and Bristol City.
The other Second Division sides had to gain entry to this round through the earlier qualifying rounds. Barnsley, Blackpool, Burton Swifts, Chesterfield, Gainsborough Trinity, Lincoln City, Middlesbrough, Stockport County and Walsall were all entered in the third qualifying round. Of these, only Chesterfield, Middlesbrough and Walsall reached the Intermediate Round. They were joined by non-league sides Darwen, Crewe Alexandra, Kettering, Bristol Rovers, Reading, Luton Town and West Ham United. Bristol Rovers and future Cup champions West Ham United were appearing in the competition proper for the first time.
The ten matches were played on 5 January 1901. The Reading v Bristol City tie went to a replay which was played in the following midweek. This rematch again resulted in a draw, so a second replay was played the following week at a neutral venue (Swindon Town's County Ground).
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Chesterfield3–0Walsall5 January 19012Darwen0–2Woolwich Arsenal5 January 19013Kettering1–0Crewe Alexandra5 January 19014Stoke1–0Glossop5 January 19015Reading1–1Bristol City5 January 1901ReplayBristol City0–0Reading9 January 1901ReplayReading2–1Bristol City14 January 19016Grimsby Town0–1Middlesbrough5 January 19017Burslem Port Vale1–3New Brighton Tower5 January 19018Luton Town1–2Bristol Rovers5 January 19019Newton Heath3–0Portsmouth5 January 190110West Ham United0–1Liverpool5 January 1901
First round proper The first round proper contained sixteen ties between 32 teams. The remaining 16 of 18 Football League First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Small Heath, Burnley and Leicester Fosse of the Second Division and Southern League First Division clubs Southampton, Millwall Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur. They joined the ten teams who won in the intermediate round.
The matches were played on Saturday 9 February 1901. Four matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Kettering1–1Chesterfield9 February 1901ReplayChesterfield1–2Kettering13 February 19012Southampton1–3Everton9 February 19013Stoke1–1Small Heath9 February 1901ReplaySmall Heath2–1Stoke13 February 19014Reading2–0Bristol Rovers9 February 19015Notts County2–0Liverpool9 February 19016Nottingham Forest5–1Leicester Fosse9 February 19017Aston Villa5–0Millwall Athletic9 February 19018The Wednesday0–1Bury9 February 19019Bolton Wanderers1–0Derby County9 February 190110Wolverhampton Wanderers5–1New Brighton Tower9 February 190111Middlesbrough3–1Newcastle United9 February 190112West Bromwich Albion1–0Manchester City9 February 190113Sunderland1–2Sheffield United9 February 190114Newton Heath0–0Burnley9 February 1901ReplayBurnley7–1Newton Heath13 February 190115Woolwich Arsenal2–0Blackburn Rovers9 February 190116Tottenham Hotspur1–1Preston North End9 February 1901ReplayPreston North End2–4Tottenham Hotspur13 February 1901
Second round proper The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday 23 February 1901. There was one replay, between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, played in the following midweek.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Notts County2–3Wolverhampton Wanderers23 February 19012Aston Villa0–0Nottingham Forest23 February 1901ReplayNottingham Forest1–3Aston Villa27 February 19013Bolton Wanderers0–1Reading23 February 19014Middlesbrough5–0Kettering23 February 19015Small Heath1–0Burnley23 February 19016Sheffield United2–0Everton23 February 19017Woolwich Arsenal0–1West Bromwich Albion23 February 19018Tottenham Hotspur2–1Bury23 February 1901
Third round proper The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 23 March 1901. Two replays were needed, played in the following midweek.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Reading1–1Tottenham Hotspur23 March 1901ReplayTottenham Hotspur3–0Reading27 March 19012Wolverhampton Wanderers0–4Sheffield United23 March 19013Middlesbrough0–1West Bromwich Albion23 March 19014Small Heath0–0Aston Villa23 March 1901ReplayAston Villa1–0Small Heath27 March 1901
Semi-finals
The semi-final matches were both intended to be played on Saturday 6 April 1901. Sheffield United and Aston Villa played on this date, but drew their tie and had to replay it five days later; this next match finished in a 3–0 win for United. The other game, Tottenham Hotspur against West Bromwich Albion, was delayed until Monday 8 April and finished in a convincing win for Spurs.
Replay
Final
The final took place on Saturday 20 April 1901 at Crystal Palace. Over 110,000 supporters attended the match. Fred Priest opened the scoring for Sheffield United after about 20 minutes. Sandy Brown headed an equalising goal for Spurs shortly afterwards and half time arrived with the score 1–1. Brown put Spurs ahead early in the second half, but, not to be denied, Sheffield United pressed strongly, and Walter Bennett headed an equaliser for the draw.
In the replay, Spurs became the first and only "non- (Football) league" side to win the FA Cup since the creation of the Football League when they beat United 3–1 before an attendance of 20,470 at Burnden Park, Bolton. John Cameron opened the scoring before centre forward Sandy Brown became the first player to score in every round. He netted both goals in the final as well as one in the replay for a total of 15 in the season's competition.
Match details
Replay
References General Official site; fixtures and results service at TheFA.com 1900-01 FA Cup at rsssf.com 1900-01 FA Cup at soccerbase.com Specific