The1996–97 FA Cup (known asThe FA Cup sponsored byLittlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of theFA Cup. The tournament started in August 1996 for clubs from non-league football and the competition proper started in October 1996 for teams from thePremier League and theFootball League.

Premier League sideManchester United were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the fourth round byWimbledon.

The tournament was won byChelsea with a 2–0 victory overMiddlesbrough in the final atWembley stadium.

Most participating clubs that were not members of thePremier League orFootball League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 28 places available in the first round.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round wereKidderminster Harriers,Consett,Stalybridge Celtic,Boston United,Hednesford Town,Newcastle Town,Runcorn,Colwyn Bay,Whitby Town,Southport,Altrincham,Morecambe,Shepshed Dynamo,Merthyr Tydfil,Wisbech Town,Cheltenham Town,Hendon,Bromley,Ashford Town (Kent),St Albans City,Rushden & Diamonds,Welling United,Boreham Wood,Hayes,Farnborough Town,Stevenage Borough,Dagenham & Redbridge andSudbury Town.

Newcastle Town and Sudbury Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time while, of the others, Hendon had not featured at this stage since1988–89, Whitby Town had not done so since1986-87, Shepshed Dynamo had not done so since1982-83, Boreham Wood had not done so since1977-78, Bromley since1976-77, Consett since1958-59 and Hednesford Town since1919-20.

In Hednesford Town's only previous appearance in the competition proper, they became one of the first two clubs to participate in nine rounds of one Cup tournament. This season, they featured in eight rounds of the competition - after defeatingWednesfield,Evesham United,Tamworth andTelford United in the qualifying rounds, they accounted for Southport,Blackpool andYork City in the main draw before going out toPremier League sideMiddlesbrough in the fourth round in a match played atRiverside Stadium despite Hednesford being the designated "home" team.

The 48 teams from theFootball League Second andThird Division entered in this round along with the 28 non-league qualifiers andMacclesfield Town,Northwich Victoria,Woking andEnfield who were given byes. The draw for this round included four teams from the various competitions at Step 8 of English football: Whitby Town and Consett from theNorthern League First Division, Newcastle Town from theNorth West Counties League First Division and Wisbech Town from theEastern Counties League Premier Division. This was a rare season in which more clubs from Step 8 than from Step 7 qualified for the first round.

The matches were played on 16 November 1996. There were thirteen replays, with two ties requiring a penalty shootout to settle them.Sudbury Town's shock penalty shootout win overBrighton & Hove Albion capped off the last FA Cup match ever played at theGoldstone Ground.

The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were played on 7 December 1996, with four replays and one penalty shootout required. The round included six clubs from Step 6 of the football pyramid: Enfield, St Albans City and Boreham Wood from theIsthmian League Premier Division, Ashford Town (Kent) and Sudbury Town from theSouthern League Premier Division and Boston United from theNorthern Premier League Premier Division. Similarly to the first round, this was a rare instance in which more teams from Step 6 than from Step 5 qualified for this stage (although all of the Step 5 teams and none of the Step 6 teams progressed through to the next round).

The 44 teams from thePremier League and theFootball League First Division entered the competition at this stage. Due to adverse weather conditions, the initial matches were played on various dates between 4-21 January 1997. There were nine replays, with no penalty shootouts required. Hednesford Town, Stevenage Borough and Woking from theFootball Conference (Step 5) were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

The fourth round ties featured the thirty-two winners from the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for Saturday, 25 January 1997, although six matches were played on later dates. There was only one replay. Hednesford Town was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw and was, by this stage, the last non-league club left in the competition.

The fifth-round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 15 February 1997. There was, again, only one replay. Chesterfield and Wrexham, from theSecond Division, were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

The sixth round ties were scheduled for the weekend of 8–9 March. No replays were required.

Chesterfield defeated Wrexham 1–0 in a rare "all-Third Tier" quarter-final clash, while Middlesbrough's 2–0 win at Derby County moved them a step closer to their first-ever FA Cup final.

9 March 1997

11:30GMT

Chesterfield	1–0	Wrexham
Beaumont 58'	Report

Saltergate,Chesterfield

Attendance: 8,735

Referee:Mike Riley

9 March 1997

13:30GMT

Portsmouth	1–4	Chelsea
Burton 82'	Report	M. Hughes 25' Wise 43' 86' Zola 56'

Fratton Park,Portsmouth

Attendance: 15,071

Referee:Jeff Winter

9 March 1997

16:10GMT

Sheffield Wednesday	0–2	Wimbledon
	Report	Earle 74' Holdsworth 90+1'

Hillsborough,Sheffield

Attendance: 25,032

Referee:Roger Dilkes

8 March 1997

15:00GMT

Derby County	0–2	Middlesbrough
	Report	Juninho 39' Ravanelli 90'

Baseball Ground,Derby

Attendance: 17,567

Referee:Graham Poll

The semi-final ties were played at neutral venues on 13 April 1997. Middlesbrough and Chelsea came through their ties (with Middlesbrough requiring a replay againstSecond Division side Chesterfield) to reach the final.

Wimbledon, playing the semi-finals for the first time since they were FA Cup winners nine years earlier, had their hopes of FA Cup glory ended by a semi-final defeat at the hands of Chelsea. This came just weeks after Wimbledon had been eliminated from the League Cup semi-finals.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, reached the FA Cup final for the first time in their history, but only after a 3–0 replay win over a Chesterfield side that had given them a serious run for their money in the first match. Chesterfield narrowly missed out on becoming the first third-tier side to reach the FA Cup final after an exciting match ended in a 3–3 draw. TheSpireites took a 2–0 lead in the second half and had a goal controversially ruled out despite the ball appearing to cross the line (video evidence is inconclusive), which would have seen them go 3–1 up.^[1]

13 April 1997

12:00BST

Chelsea	3–0	Wimbledon
Hughes 43' 90' Zola 64'	Report

Highbury,London

Attendance: 32,674

Referee:Gerald Ashby

13 April 1997

15:00BST

Middlesbrough	3–3	Chesterfield
Ravanelli 64' Hignett 70' (pen.) Festa 100'	Report	Morris 54' Dyche 60' (pen.) Hewitt 119'

Old Trafford,Manchester

Attendance: 49,640

Referee:David Elleray

Replay

22 April 1997

19:45BST

Chesterfield	0–3	Middlesbrough
	Report	Beck 12' Ravanelli 57' Emerson 89'

Hillsborough,Sheffield

Attendance: 30,339

Referee:David Elleray

The 1997 FA Cup Final took place on 17 May 1997 atWembley Stadium. Chelsea were attempting to win the FA Cup for the first time in 27 years, while Middlesbrough were contesting their first ever FA Cup final, having only just competed in their first ever League Cup final one month earlier.^[2] Chelsea took to the field on the back of something of arenaissance underDutch managerRuud Gullit, having recorded their best league finish for a decade. Middlesbrough, on the other hand, began the final having beenrelegated from the Premier League and had also been losing finalists in theLeague Cup.

Chelsea beatMiddlesbrough 2–0, withRoberto Di Matteo scoring the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history, 43 seconds after kick-off. This beatJackie Milburn's record from the1955 FA Cup Final, who scored after 45 seconds. Di Matteo's record was then beaten in2009 (coincidentally against Chelsea) byEverton'sLouis Saha (27.9 seconds).Eddie Newton scored theBlues' second goal in the 83rd minute to clinch the match and give Chelsea their first major trophy in 26 years.

17 May 1997

15:00BST

Chelsea	2–0	Middlesbrough
Di Matteo 1' Newton 83'	Report

Wembley,London

Attendance: 79,160

Referee:Stephen Lodge (South Yorkshire)

For the ninth consecutive season in the United Kingdom, theBBC were the free to air broadcasters which was their last beforeITV took over whileSky Sports were the subscription broadcasters.^{[citation needed]}

The matches shown live on theBBC were:

•Manchester United 2-0Tottenham Hotspur (R3)

•Chelsea 4-2Liverpool (R4)

•Leicester City 2-2Chelsea (R5)

•Sheffield Wednesday 0-2Wimbledon (QF)

•Chelsea 3-0Wimbledon (SF)

•Chelsea 2-0Middlesbrough (Final)

The matches shown live onSky Sports were:

•Woking 2-2Millwall (R1)

•Northampton Town 0-1Watford (R1)

•Millwall 0-1Woking (R1 Replay)

•Plymouth Argyle 4-1Exeter City (R2)

•Cardiff City 0-2Gillingham (R2)

•Wycombe Wanderers 3-2Barnet (R2 Replay)

•Charlton Athletic 1-1Newcastle United (R3)

•Sunderland 0-2Arsenal (R3 Replay)

•Newcastle United 1-2Nottingham Forest (R4)

•Wimbledon 1-0Manchester United (R4 Replay)

•Bradford City 0-1Sheffield Wednesday (R5)

•Chelsea 1-0Leicester City (R5 Replay)

•Portsmouth 1-4Chelsea (QF)

•Middlesbrough 3-3Chesterfield (SF)

•Chesterfield 0-3Middlesbrough (SF Replay)

• FA Cup Results 1996-97

• 1996–97 FA Cup
• FA Cup seasons
• 1996–97 in English football cups

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