1900–01 FA Cup


The 1900–01 FA Cup was the 30th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge 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 was the only occasion since the formation of The Football League in 1888 that a club from outside the League 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.
RoundDate
Preliminary RoundSaturday 22 September 1900
First Round QualifyingSaturday 6 October 1900
Second Round QualifyingSaturday 20 October 1900
Third Round QualifyingSaturday 3 November 1900
Fourth Round QualifyingSaturday 17 November 1900
Fifth Round QualifyingSaturday 8 December 1900
Intermediate RoundSaturday 5 January 1901
First Round ProperSaturday 9 February 1901
Second Round ProperSaturday 23 February 1901
Third Round ProperSaturday 23 March 1901
Semi-FinalsSaturday 6 April 1901
FinalSaturday 20 April 1901

Intermediate Round

The Intermediate Round featured ten games, played between the ten winners of the Fifth Qualifying Round, and ten teams given byes. Football League First Division Liverpool and Stoke, along with Burslem Port Vale, Glossop, Grimsby Town, Newton Heath, New Brighton Tower and Woolwich Arsenal from the Football League Second Division were entered automatically into this round, as were Southern League Division One 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 seven other non-league sides.
The ten matches were played on 5 January 1901. One tie, which was Reading v Bristol City, went to a replay, 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.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Chesterfield3-0Walsall5 January 1901
2Darwen0-2Woolwich Arsenal5 January 1901
3Kettering1-0Crewe Alexandra5 January 1901
4Stoke1-0Glossop5 January 1901
5Reading1-1Bristol City5 January 1901
ReplayBristol City0-0Reading9 January 1901
ReplayReading2-1Bristol City14 January 1901
6Grimsby Town0-1Middlesbrough5 January 1901
7Burslem Port Vale1-3New Brighton Tower5 January 1901
8Luton Town1-2Bristol Rovers5 January 1901
9Newton Heath3-0Portsmouth5 January 1901
10West Ham United0-1Liverpool5 January 1901

First round proper

The First Round Proper contained sixteen ties between 32 teams. The remaining 16 of the 18 Football League First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Small Heath, Burnley and Leicester Fosse from the Football League Second Division, and Southern League Division One 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 teamDate
1Kettering1-1Chesterfield9 February 1901
ReplayChesterfield1-2Kettering13 February 1901
2Southampton1-3Everton9 February 1901
3Stoke1-1Small Heath9 February 1901
ReplaySmall Heath2-1Stoke13 February 1901
4Reading2-0Bristol Rovers9 February 1901
5Notts County2-0Liverpool9 February 1901
6Nottingham Forest5-1Leicester Fosse9 February 1901
7Aston Villa5-0Millwall Athletic9 February 1901
8The Wednesday0-1Bury9 February 1901
9Bolton Wanderers1-0Derby County9 February 1901
10Wolverhampton Wanderers5-1New Brighton Tower9 February 1901
11Middlesbrough3-1Newcastle United9 February 1901
12West Bromwich Albion1-0Manchester City9 February 1901
13Sunderland1-2Sheffield United9 February 1901
14Newton Heath0-0Burnley9 February 1901
ReplayBurnley7-1Newton Heath13 February 1901
15Woolwich Arsenal2-0Blackburn Rovers9 February 1901
16Tottenham Hotspur1-1Preston North End9 February 1901
ReplayPreston 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 teamDate
1Notts County2-3Wolverhampton Wanderers23 February 1901
2Aston Villa0-0Nottingham Forest23 February 1901
ReplayNottingham Forest1-3Aston Villa27 February 1901
3Bolton Wanderers0-1Reading23 February 1901
4Middlesbrough5-0Kettering23 February 1901
5Small Heath1-0Burnley23 February 1901
6Sheffield United2-0Everton23 February 1901
7Woolwich Arsenal0-1West Bromwich Albion23 February 1901
8Tottenham 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 teamDate
1Reading1-1Tottenham Hotspur23 March 1901
ReplayTottenham Hotspur3-0Reading27 March 1901
2Wolverhampton Wanderers0-4Sheffield United23 March 1901
3Middlesbrough0-1West Bromwich Albion23 March 1901
4Small Heath0-0Aston Villa23 March 1901
ReplayAston 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
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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 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 league" side to win the FA Cup since the creation of 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