The qualifying campaign for the 1902–03FA Cup, the thirty-second staging of the world's oldest association football competition, consisted of six rounds of matches, which began on 20 September 1902 with the preliminary round. The Cup was eventually won byBury, who beatDerby County in the final.
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.
| Round | Date | Matches | Number of clubs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary round | 20 September 1902 | 24 | 224→200 |
| First qualifying round | 4 October 1902 | 48 | 200→152 |
| Second qualifying round | 18 October 1902 | 40 | 152→112 |
| Third qualifying round | 1 November 1902 | 40 | 112→72 |
| Fourth qualifying round | 15 November 1902 | 20 | 72→52 |
| Fifth qualifying round | 29 November 1902 | 10 | 52→42 |
| Intermediate round | 13 December 1902 | 10 | 42→32 |
| First round proper | 7 February 1903 | 16 | 32→16 |
| Second round proper | 21 February 1903 | 8 | 16→8 |
| Third round proper | 7 March 1903 | 4 | 8→4 |
| Semi-final | 21 March 1903 | 2 | 4→2 |
| Final | 18 April 1903 | 1 | 2→1 |
| Home team | Score | Away team | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton Town | 6–1 | Fulham | 29 November 1902 |
| 2 | Bishop Auckland | 8–0 | Sunderland Royal Rovers | 29 November 1902 |
| 3 | New Brompton | 4–1 | Ilford | 29 November 1902 |
| 4 | Barnsley | 3–2 | Gainsborough Trinity | 29 November 1902 |
| 5 | Brentford | 2–2 | Shepherd's Bush | 29 November 1902 |
| 5r | Shepherd's Bush | 1–1 | Brentford | 3 December 1902 |
| 5r2 | Shepherd's Bush | 0–1 | Brentford | 8 December 1902 |
| 6 | Glossop | 5–0 | St Helens Recreation | 29 November 1902 |
| 7 | Coventry City | 2–2 | Kidderminster Harriers | 29 November 1902 |
| 7r | Kidderminster Harriers | 4–2 | Coventry City | 1 December 1902 |
| 8 | Whiteheads | 0–9 | Swindon Town | 29 November 1902 |
| 9 | Burton United | 5–1 | Wellingborough Town | 29 November 1902 |
| 10 | Manchester United | 4–1 | Southport Central | 29 November 1902 |