| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | England Wales |
| Defending champions | Bolton Wanderers |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Newcastle United (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Aston Villa |
The1923–24 FA Cup was the 49th season of the world's oldestfootballcup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as theFA Cup.Newcastle United won the competition for the second time, beatingAston Villa 2–0 in thefinal atWembley.
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. Some matches, however, might be rescheduled for other days if there were clashes with games for other competitions or the weather was inclement. 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 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, six qualifying rounds, four proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Extra preliminary round | Saturday 8 September 1923 |
| Preliminary round | Saturday 22 September 1923 |
| First round qualifying | Saturday 6 October 1923 |
| Second round qualifying | Saturday 20 October 1923 |
| Third round qualifying | Saturday 3 November 1923 |
| Fourth round qualifying | Saturday 17 November 1923 |
| Fifth round qualifying | Saturday 1 December 1923 |
| Sixth round qualifying | Saturday 15 December 1923 |
| First round proper | Saturday 12 January 1924 |
| Second round proper | Saturday 2 February 1924 |
| Third round proper | Saturday 23 February 1924 |
| Fourth round proper | Saturday 8 March 1924 |
| Semi-finals | Saturday 29 March 1924 |
| Final | Saturday 26 April 1924 |
37Football League clubs joined the participating non-league teams entering this season's tournament in the qualifying rounds. FourSecond Division sides,Port Vale,Stockport County,Nelson andCoventry City were entered in the fifth qualifying round, with Port Vale losing toWrexham, Nelson losing toWigan Borough and Coventry losing toTranmere Rovers. Stockport progressed to the next round but lost there toNorwich City.
18 Third Division clubs (Darlington,Crewe Alexandra,Accrington Stanley,Walsall,Rotherham County,Grimsby Town,Halifax Town,Chesterfield, Wrexham and Wigan Borough from theNorth, andNorthampton Town,Brentford,Gillingham,Portsmouth,Bristol Rovers,Reading,Merthyr Town and Norwich City from theSouth) were also entered in the fifth qualifying round, with 14 of these winning through to the next round and only four going out at this stage.
Another twelve Third Division clubs (Ashington,Hartlepools United,Barrow,Southport,New Brighton,Rochdale,Lincoln City and Tranmere Rovers from theNorth, andSouthend United,Exeter City,Newport County andAberdare Athletic from theSouth) were entered in the fourth qualifying round. Barrow went out to non-leagueCarlisle United while the others either progressed or lost amongst themselves.
The remaining Third Division clubs,Durham City,Doncaster Rovers andBournemouth & Boscombe Athletic were entered in the preliminary round. Durham needed two replays to see offWest Stanley before losing to Northern Combination outfit Dipton United, while Doncaster and Bournemouth (both newly elected to the Football League this season) withdrew from the competition after being drawn againstFryston Colliery Welfare and Portsea Gas Company respectively.
The eleven League teams ultimately winning through to the first round proper were Grimsby Town, Portsmouth, Accrington Stanley, Northampton Town, Ashington, Exeter City, Norwich City, Aberdare Athletic, Gillingham, Darlington and Halifax Town. The final spot in the main draw went to WelshSouthern League clubLlanelli, who were appearing at that stage for the first time.
Of the 171 clubs entered in the extra preliminary round, the most successful wereHinckley United andFolkestone who progressed to the fifth qualifying round before losing to Grimsby Town and Norwich City respectively.Kent League sideSittingbourne, having entered the competition in the fourth qualifying round, was the only non-league club besides Llanelli to participate in the sixth qualifying round.
40 of the 44 clubs from theFootball League First Division andFootball League Second Division joined the 12 lower-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To bring the number of teams up to 64, amateur sideCorinthian received a bye to the first round as did nine Third Division South sides and two Third Division North sides. These were:
32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 12 January 1924. Seven matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which two went to another replay.
The 16 Second Round matches were played on Saturday, 2 February 1924. Eight matches were drawn, with replays taking place in the following midweek fixture. Three of these then went to a second replay played the following week, and two of these went to a third replay.
The eight Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 23 February 1924. Two matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burnley | 1–0 | Huddersfield Town | 23 February 1924 |
| 2 | Southampton | 0–0 | Liverpool | 23 February 1924 |
| Replay | Liverpool | 2–0 | Southampton | 27 February 1924 |
| 3 | Watford | 0–1 | Newcastle United | 23 February 1924 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 3–0 | Leeds United | 23 February 1924 |
| 5 | West Bromwich Albion | 1–1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 February 1924 |
| Replay | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0–2 | West Bromwich Albion | 27 February 1924 |
| 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1–5 | Manchester City | 23 February 1924 |
| 7 | Crystal Palace | 1–2 | Swindon Town | 23 February 1924 |
| 8 | Cardiff City | 3–0 | Bristol City | 23 February 1924 |
The four Fourth round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 8 March 1924. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Bromwich Albion | 0–2 | Aston Villa | 8 March 1924 |
| 2 | Swindon Town | 1–1 | Burnley | 8 March 1924 |
| Replay | Burnley | 3–1 | Swindon Town | 12 March 1924 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 1–0 | Liverpool | 8 March 1924 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 0–0 | Cardiff City | 8 March 1924 |
| Replay | Cardiff City | 0–1 | Manchester City | 12 March 1924 |
The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 29 March 1924. The matches ended in victories for Newcastle United and Aston Villa, who went on to meet in the final at Wembley.
The 1924 FA Cup Final was contested byNewcastle United andAston Villa atWembley. Newcastle won 2–0, the goals scored byNeil Harris andStan Seymour.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Newcastle United | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Aston Villa |