2010–11 FA Cup

The 2010–11 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 130th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup.  A total of 806 clubs applied to enter of which 759 were accepted, a slight drop compared to the 762 clubs accepted into the 2009–10 competition. 

The competition commenced on 14 August 2010 with the Extra preliminary round and concluded on 14 May 2011 with the Final, held at Wembley Stadium.  Unusually, this was not the last game of the English domestic season nor the only game played on that day.  Wembley Stadium was also hosting the 2011 Champions League Final on 28 May, forcing the FA Cup Final to be played at least two weeks earlier.  This meant the Final was played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season and, apart from the finalists who were scheduled to play a league match against each other, a full programme of matches was played. 

The defending champions were Chelsea, who retained their title in the 2010 final against Portsmouth, but they lost to Everton in the fourth round.  The tournament winners were Manchester City, who defeated Stoke City in the final with Yaya Touré scoring the only goal of the match in the 74th minute. 
The FA Cup winners are normally entitled to a place in the next season's UEFA Europa League unless they have already qualified for that tournament or for the UEFA Champions League; because Manchester City qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League via their top-four finish in the 2010–11 Premier League, Stoke qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League as runners-up. 

Teams

Calendar
The calendar for the 2010–11 FA Cup, as announced by The Football Association:

Qualifying Rounds

All of the teams that entered the competition, but were not members of the Premier League or The Football League, had to compete in the qualifying rounds. 

First Round Proper
Teams from Leagues One and Two enter at this stage, along with the winners from the Fourth Round Qualifying.  The draw was made on 24 October 2010 with ties to be played on the weekend of 6–7 November 2010 apart from Rochdale vs FC United of Manchester which was the only match played on 5 November 2010.  It was broadcast on ESPN kicking off its FA Cup campaign with the Northern Premier League club shocking their League One counterparts 3–2.  ESPN's next match was on 6 November 2010, where Cambridge United and Huddersfield Town played out a scoreless draw.  ITV1's first coverage was Southport vs Sheffield Wednesday on 7 November 2010 with the League One side trouncing their Conference National opponents 5–2. 

Tipton Town of the Midland Football Alliance and Hythe Town of the Kent League, both from the ninth tier, were the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition at this stage.  Both suffered heavy defeats by league opposition. 

{{footballbox collapsible
|date=6 November 2010
|time=15:00 GMT
|team1=Colchester United (3)
|score=4–3
|report=(Report)
|team2=Bradford City (4)
|goals1=Bond Mooney Wilson 
|goals2=Hanson Syers 
|stadium=Colchester Community Stadium
|attendance=2,736
|referee=Iain Williamson
|stack=yes
}}

Final

Top scorer
 

Media coverage
In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free to air broadcasters for the third consecutive season while ESPN took over the subscription broadcaster package Setanta Sports held. International broadcasters'''

References

External links
 The FA Cup at thefa.com

 
Category:FA Cup seasons
Fa Cup
Fa Cup