| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | England Wales |
| Defending champions | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Manchester United (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Bristol City |
The1908–09 FA Cup was the 38th staging of the world's oldestassociation football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as theFA Cup).Manchester United won the competition for the first time, beatingBristol City 1–0 in thefinal atCrystal Palace, through a goal fromSandy 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 ofextra time would be played.
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 |
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 formerFootball League sideDarwen and future League membersSouthport,Nelson andMacclesfield Town butColne was the most successful club from this stage, progressing to the third qualifying round before losing toAccrington Stanley.
The 12 teams winning through to the competition proper from the fifth qualifying round wereGainsborough Trinity andChesterfield from theFootball League Second Division, along with non-league sidesCarlisle United,Wrexham,Luton Town,Workington,Croydon Common,Hastings & St Leonards United,Lincoln City,Exeter City,Watford andKettering. Exeter City and Croydon Common were making their first appearances in the main draw, while Wrexham had not successfully navigated the qualifying rounds since1888-89 and Workington had not featured in the first round since1887-88. Workington's success also meant that, for the first time, two clubs fromCumberland were featuring in the main FA Cup competition.
37 of the 40 clubs from theFirst andSecond 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:
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Stoke, having resigned from the Football League, was competing in theBirmingham & District League while the rest wereSouthern 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.
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.
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 |
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 |
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.
The final was played on 24 April 1909 atCrystal Palace, and was contested byManchester United andBristol City, both of theFirst Division. Manchester United won by a single goal, scored bySandy Turnbull midway through the first half. This was the first of United's twelveFA Cup titles to date.
![]() Bristol City | ![]() ![]() Manchester United[3] |