| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | England Wales |
| Defending champions | West Bromwich Albion |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Newcastle United (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Arsenal |
The1931–32 FA Cup was the 57th season of the world's oldestfootballcup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as theFA Cup.Newcastle United won the competition for the third time, beatingArsenal 2–1 inthe final 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.
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Extra preliminary round | Saturday 5 September 1931 |
| Preliminary round | Saturday 19 September 1931 |
| First round qualifying | Saturday 3 October 1931 |
| Second round qualifying | Saturday 17 October 1931 |
| Third round qualifying | Saturday 31 October 1931 |
| Fourth round qualifying | Saturday 13 November 1931 |
| First round proper | Saturday 28 November 1931 |
| Second round proper | Saturday 12 December 1931 |
| Third round proper | Saturday 9 January 1932 |
| Fourth round proper | Saturday 23 January 1932 |
| Fifth round proper | Saturday 13 February 1932 |
| Sixth round proper | Saturday 27 March 1932 |
| Semi-finals | Saturday 12 March 1932 |
| Final | Saturday 23 April 1932 |
Most teams that were not members of theFootball League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 25 places available in the first round.
The 24 winners from the fourth qualifying round wereWest Stanley,Crook Town,Blyth Spartans,Lancaster Town,Darwen,Manchester Central,Yorkshire Amateur,Scunthorpe & Lindsey United,Gainsborough Trinity,Newark Town,Burton Town,Peterborough & Fletton United,Hayes,Enfield,Barnet,Chelmsford,Northfleet United,Folkestone,Tunbridge Wells Rangers,Guildford City,Wimbledon,Metropolitan Police,Nunhead andYeovil & Petter's United.
Due to the uneven number of teams (49) contesting this season's fourth qualifying round,Bath City, having won through to that stage from the preliminary round, received a bye to the first round proper.
Those appearing in the main competition for the first time were Yorkshire Amateur, Burton Town, Enfield, Chelmsford and Metropolitan Police, while Darwen had last featured at this stage in the Intermediate Round ofthe 1903-04 tournament. Additionally, Burton was the first club from that town to qualify for the FA Cup competition proper sinceBurton United in1906-07.
Blyth Spartans became the second club in the competition's history to progress from the extra preliminary round to the second round proper, defeatingShankhouse, Scotswood,Wallsend Boys Club,Walker Celtic,Jarrow,Stockton and Lancaster Town before losing toBournemouth & Boscombe Athletic atDean Court.
At this stage 42 clubs from theFootball League Third Division North andSouth joined the 25non-league clubs that came through the qualifying rounds.Southport andExeter City were givenbyes to the third round. To make up the requisite number of matches, non-leagueAldershot was given a bye to this round.
34 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 28 November 1931. Eight were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which one went to two more replays. Notable in this round is the home win awarded toBurton Town due toWigan Borough folding and resigning fromthe Football League just after the start of the season.
The matches were played on Saturday, 12 December 1931. Three matches were drawn, with replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.
The 44First andSecond Division clubs entered the competition at this stage, along withSouthport,Exeter City and amateur sideCorinthian. The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 9 January 1932. Twelve matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture.
Darwen,Bath City,Burton Town andCrook Town were the last clubs from the qualifying rounds left in the competition, but all remaining non-league sides (includingCorinthian) went out in this round.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 23 January 1932. Three games were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which two went to second replays.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 13 February 1932. There was one replay, between Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday, played in the next midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bury | 3–0 | Stoke City | 13 February 1932 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 1–0 | Grimsby Town | 13 February 1932 |
| 3 | Watford | 1–0 | Bradford Park Avenue | 13 February 1932 |
| 4 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1–1 | Chelsea | 13 February 1932 |
| Replay | Chelsea | 2–0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 17 February 1932 |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 3–1 | Leicester City | 13 February 1932 |
| 6 | Manchester City | 3–0 | Derby County | 13 February 1932 |
| 7 | Portsmouth | 0–2 | Arsenal | 13 February 1932 |
| 8 | Huddersfield Town | 4–0 | Preston North End | 13 February 1932 |
The four Sixth Round ties were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 27 February 1932. There were no replays.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bury | 3–4 | Manchester City | 27 February 1932 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 0–2 | Chelsea | 27 February 1932 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 5–0 | Watford | 27 February 1932 |
| 4 | Huddersfield Town | 0–1 | Arsenal | 27 February 1932 |
The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 12 March 1932. Newcastle United and Arsenal won their matches to meet in the final atWembley.
The1932 FA Cup Final was contested byNewcastle United andArsenal atWembley in what became known as the "Over The Line" final. Newcastle won 2–1, both of their goals scored byJack Allen.
| Newcastle United | 2–1 | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Allen | (Report) | John |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Newcastle United | ![]() Arsenal |