# 1908–09 FA Cup

The 1908–09 FA Cup was the 38th staging of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Manchester United won the competition for the first time, beating Bristol City 1–0 in the final at Crystal Palace, through a goal from Sandy Turnbull.
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 two preliminary rounds, five qualifying rounds, four proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.
| Round | Date |
| Extra preliminary round | Saturday 12 September 1908 |
| Preliminary round | Saturday 19 September 1908 |
| First qualifying round | Saturday 3 October 1908 |
| Second qualifying round | Saturday 17 October 1908 |
| Third qualifying round | Saturday 7 November 1908 |
| Fourth qualifying round | Saturday 21 November 1908 |
| Fifth qualifying round | Saturday 5 December 1908 |
| First round proper | Saturday 16 January 1909 |
| Second round | Saturday 6 February 1909 |
| Third round | Saturday 20 February 1909 |
| Fourth round | Saturday 6 March 1909 |
| Semifinals | Saturday 27 March 1909 |
| Final | Saturday 24 April 1909 |

## Qualifying rounds

An extra preliminary round of seven ties, featuring 14 clubs from the north-west of England, was required at the beginning of this year's tournament to accommodate the growing popularity of association football in that region. The round included former Football League side Darwen and future League members Southport, Nelson and Macclesfield Town but Colne was the most successful club from this stage, progressing to the third qualifying round before losing to Accrington Stanley.
The 12 teams winning through to the competition proper from the fifth qualifying round were Gainsborough Trinity and Chesterfield from the Football League Second Division, along with non-league sides Carlisle United, Wrexham, Luton Town, Workington, Croydon Common, Hastings & St Leonards United, Lincoln City, Exeter City, Watford and Kettering. Exeter City and Croydon Common were making their first appearances in the main draw, while Wrexham had not successfully navigated the qualifying rounds since 1888-89 and Workington had not featured in the first round since 1887-88. Workington's success also meant that, for the first time, two clubs from Cumberland were featuring in the main FA Cup competition.

## First round proper

37 of the 40 clubs from the First and Second divisions joined the 12 clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. Of the League sides not given byes to this stage, Bradford Park Avenue was entered in the fourth qualifying round, but lost to Croydon Common in the fifth qualifying round, while Chesterfield and Gainsborough Trinity were entered in the fifth qualifying round.
Fifteen other non-league sides were given byes to the first round to bring the total number of teams up to 64. These were:
* Southampton
* Millwall Athletic
* Queens Park Rangers
* Crystal Palace
* Swindon Town
* Plymouth Argyle
* Reading
* Portsmouth
* Northampton Town
* Bristol Rovers
* Norwich City
* West Ham United
* Brighton & Hove Albion
* Stoke
* Brentford
Stoke, having resigned from the Football League, was competing in the Birmingham & District League while the rest were Southern League First Division members.
32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 16 January 1909, except for one game which was played three days later. Ten matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which one went to a second replay.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Birmingham | 2–5 | Portsmouth | 16 January 1909 |
| 2 | Blackpool | 2–0 | Hastings & St Leonards United | 16 January 1909 |
| 3 | Chesterfield | 0–2 | Glossop | 16 January 1909 |
| 4 | Bristol City | 1–1 | Southampton | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Southampton | 0–2 | Bristol City | 20 January 1909 |
| 5 | Bury | 8–0 | Kettering | 16 January 1909 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 5–1 | Lincoln City | 16 January 1909 |
| 7 | Preston North End | 1–0 | Middlesbrough | 16 January 1909 |
| 8 | Watford | 1–1 | Leicester Fosse | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Leicester Fosse | 3–1 | Watford | 20 January 1909 |
| 9 | Notts County | 0–1 | Blackburn Rovers | 16 January 1909 |
| 10 | Nottingham Forest | 2–0 | Aston Villa | 16 January 1909 |
| 11 | The Wednesday | 5–0 | Stoke | 16 January 1909 |
| 12 | Grimsby Town | 0–2 | Stockport County | 16 January 1909 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2–2 | Crystal Palace | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Crystal Palace | 4–2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 January 1909 |
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 3–1 | Bolton Wanderers | 16 January 1909 |
| 15 | Luton Town | 1–2 | Millwall Athletic | 16 January 1909 |
| 16 | Everton | 3–1 | Barnsley | 16 January 1909 |
| 17 | Wrexham | 1–1 | Exeter City | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Exeter City | 2–1 | Wrexham | 20 January 1909 |
| 18 | Sheffield United | 2–3 | Sunderland | 16 January 1909 |
| 19 | Newcastle United | 5–0 | Clapton Orient | 16 January 1909 |
| 20 | Manchester City | 3–4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 January 1909 |
| 21 | Queens Park Rangers | 0–0 | West Ham United | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | West Ham United | 1–0 | Queens Park Rangers | 20 January 1909 |
| 22 | Fulham | 4–1 | Carlisle United | 16 January 1909 |
| 23 | Brentford | 2–0 | Gainsborough Trinity | 16 January 1909 |
| 24 | Bristol Rovers | 1–4 | Burnley | 16 January 1909 |
| 25 | Northampton Town | 1–1 | Derby County | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Derby County | 4–2 | Northampton Town | 20 January 1909 |
| 26 | Manchester United | 1–0 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 16 January 1909 |
| 27 | Norwich City | 0–0 | Reading | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Reading | 1–1 | Norwich City | 20 January 1909 |
| Replay | Norwich City | 3–2 | Reading | 25 January 1909 |
| 28 | Plymouth Argyle | 1–0 | Swindon Town | 16 January 1909 |
| 29 | Bradford City | 2–0 | Workington | 19 January 1909 |
| 30 | Hull City | 1–1 | Chelsea | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Chelsea | 1–0 | Hull City | 20 January 1909 |
| 31 | Oldham Athletic | 1–1 | Leeds City | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Leeds City | 2–0 | Oldham Athletic | 20 January 1909 |
| 32 | Croydon Common | 1–1 | Woolwich Arsenal | 16 January 1909 |
| Replay | Woolwich Arsenal | 2–0 | Croydon Common | 20 January 1909 |

## Second round proper

The sixteen second round matches were played on Saturday, 6 February 1909. Six matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Bristol City | 2–2 | Bury | 6 February 1909 |
| Replay | Bury | 0–1 | Bristol City | 10 February 1909 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 2–3 | Norwich City | 6 February 1909 |
| 3 | Preston North End | 1–2 | Sunderland | 6 February 1909 |
| 4 | Nottingham Forest | 1–0 | Brentford | 6 February 1909 |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers | 2–1 | Chelsea | 6 February 1909 |
| 6 | West Bromwich Albion | 1–2 | Bradford City | 6 February 1909 |
| 7 | Leicester Fosse | 0–2 | Derby County | 6 February 1909 |
| 8 | Woolwich Arsenal | 1–1 | Millwall Athletic | 6 February 1909 |
| Replay | Millwall Athletic | 1–0 | Woolwich Arsenal | 10 February 1909 |
| 9 | Stockport County | 1–1 | Glossop | 6 February 1909 |
| Replay | Glossop | 1–0 | Stockport County | 9 February 1909 |
| 10 | Newcastle United | 2–1 | Blackpool | 6 February 1909 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1–0 | Fulham | 6 February 1909 |
| 12 | Portsmouth | 2–2 | The Wednesday | 6 February 1909 |
| Replay | The Wednesday | 3–0 | Portsmouth | 11 February 1909 |
| 13 | Manchester United | 1–0 | Everton | 6 February 1909 |
| 14 | Plymouth Argyle | 2–0 | Exeter City | 6 February 1909 |
| 15 | Leeds City | 1–1 | West Ham United | 6 February 1909 |
| Replay | West Ham United | 2–1 | Leeds City | 11 February 1909 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | 0–0 | Burnley | 6 February 1909 |
| Replay | Burnley | 9–0 | Crystal Palace | 10 February 1909 |

## Third round proper

The eight third-round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 20 February 1909. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Bristol City | 2–0 | Norwich City | 20 February 1909 |
| 2 | Nottingham Forest | 3–1 | Millwall Athletic | 20 February 1909 |
| 3 | The Wednesday | 0–1 | Glossop | 20 February 1909 |
| 4 | Derby County | 1–0 | Plymouth Argyle | 20 February 1909 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0–0 | Burnley | 20 February 1909 |
| Replay | Burnley | 3–1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 February 1909 |
| 6 | West Ham United | 0–0 | Newcastle United | 20 February 1909 |
| Replay | Newcastle United | 2–1 | West Ham United | 24 February 1909 |
| 7 | Manchester United | 6–1 | Blackburn Rovers | 20 February 1909 |
| 8 | Bradford City | 0–1 | Sunderland | 20 February 1909 |

## Fourth round proper

The four quarter final matches were scheduled for Saturday, 6 March 1909, although only two games were played on this date. The Burnley–Manchester United (the game was played 5 March and was abandoned for bad weather conditions after 72 minutes at 1-0 for Burnley) and Derby County–Nottingham Forest ties were played instead four and seven days later, respectively. The other two games were drawn, and replayed on 10 March.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Burnley | abandoned | Manchester United | 5 March 1909 |
| Replay | Burnley | 2–3 | Manchester United | 10 March 1909 |
| 2 | Derby County | 3–0 | Nottingham Forest | 13 March 1909 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 2–2 | Sunderland | 6 March 1909 |
| Replay | Sunderland | 0–3 | Newcastle United | 10 March 1909 |
| 4 | Glossop | 0–0 | Bristol City | 6 March 1909 |
| Replay | Bristol City | 1–0 | Glossop | 10 March 1909 |

## Semifinals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 27 March 1909. Bristol City and Derby County drew their match, and went on to replay it four days later. Bristol City won this tie, and so went on to meet the other semi-final winner, Manchester United, in the final.

### Replay
## Final

The final was played on 24 April 1909 at Crystal Palace, and was contested by Manchester United and Bristol City, both of the First Division. Manchester United won by a single goal, scored by Sandy Turnbull midway through the first half. This was the first of United's twelve FA Cup titles to date.

### Match details

| Bristol City | Manchester United |