| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | England Wales |
| Defending champions | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Tottenham Hotspur (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Leicester City |
The1960–61 FA Cup was the 80th season of the world's oldestfootballcup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as theFA Cup.Tottenham Hotspur won the competition for the third time, beatingLeicester City 2–0 inthe final atWembley. In doing so, they became the first team to win theDouble sinceAston Villa in1897.
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 |
|---|---|
| Preliminary round | Saturday 27 August 1960 |
| First round qualifying | Saturday 10 September 1960 |
| Second round qualifying | Saturday 24 September 1960 |
| Third round qualifying | Saturday 8 October 1960 |
| Fourth round qualifying | Saturday 22 October 1960 |
| First round proper | Saturday 5 November 1960 |
| Second round proper | Saturday 26 November 1960 |
| Third round proper | Saturday 7 January 1961 |
| Fourth round proper | Saturday 28 January 1961 |
| Fifth round proper | Saturday 18 February 1961 |
| Sixth round proper | Saturday 4 March 1961 |
| Semi-finals | Saturday 18 March 1961 |
| Final | Saturday 6 May 1961 |
Most participating clubs that were not members of theFootball League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 30 places available in the first round.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round wereBlyth Spartans,Scarborough,Bishop Auckland,Macclesfield Town,Rhyl,Bangor City,Hereford United,Worcester City,Bridlington Town,Sutton Town,Loughborough United,Kettering Town,Clacton Town,King's Lynn,Chelmsford City,Hitchin Town,Romford,Walthamstow Avenue,Dover,Ashford Town (Kent),Hastings United,Oxford United,Maidenhead United,Wycombe Wanderers,Sutton United,Chichester City,Weymouth,Bridgwater Town,Yeovil Town andBath City.
Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Bridlington Town, Loughborough United, Clacton Town, Dover, Chichester City and Bridgwater Town. Of the others, Romford had last featured at this stage in1949–50, Sutton United in1946-47, Sutton Town in1933-34, and Macclesfield Town and Maidenhead United in1887-88.
Romford was the only non-league side to feature in six rounds of this season's tournament, defeatingWembley,Leytonstone,Hornchurch & Upminster,Enfield and Sutton United before going out toNorthampton Town in the second round.
At this stage the 48 clubs from theFootball League Third andFourth Divisions joined the 30non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To set the number of ties in this round at the requisite 40,Gateshead, who had recently been voted out of the Football League, andHendon, who were the champions from the previous season'sFA Amateur Cup, were given byes directly to this point. Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 5 November 1960. Eleven were drawn and went to replays.
The Crystal Palace-Hitchin Town match was of curious interest as a replay of one of the first-round fixtures from the inaugural tournament of1871–72. It was the first such match in the competition proper sinceClapham Rovers andUpton Park had met in the fourth round of the1880-81 tournament (although Maidenhead United and Marlow had subsequently been drawn together eight times in the qualifying rounds).
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 26 November 1960, with three matches taking place later. Seven matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week. However, the Darlington–Hull City match went to another three replays after this before the match finished in Hull City's favour.
The 44First andSecond Division clubs entered the competition at this stage.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 7 January 1961. Nine matches were drawn and went to replays, with two of these requiring a second replay.Oxford United was the last non-league club left in the competition.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 28 January 1961, with three games postponed until 1 February. Six matches were drawn and went to replays, which were all played in the following midweek match, and one of these was then replayed a second time.Tottenham Hotspur andCrewe Alexandra were drawn together for the second consecutive season in the fourth round, with Tottenham having beaten Crewe 13–2 in a replay the one year earlier.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 18 February 1961. One match went to a replay in the following mid-week fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burnley | 4–0 | Swansea Town | 18 February 1961 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 0–2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 February 1961 |
| 3 | Sheffield United | 2–1 | Blackburn Rovers | 18 February 1961 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 3–1 | Stoke City | 18 February 1961 |
| 5 | Barnsley | 1–0 | Luton Town | 18 February 1961 |
| 6 | Norwich City | 0–1 | Sunderland | 18 February 1961 |
| 7 | Birmingham City | 1–1 | Leicester City | 18 February 1961 |
| Replay | Leicester City | 2–1 | Birmingham City | 22 February 1961 |
| 8 | Leyton Orient | 0–2 | Sheffield Wednesday | 18 February 1961 |
The four sixth round ties were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 4 March 1961. Three of the four matches went to replays in the midweek fixtures before being settled.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leicester City | 0–0 | Barnsley | 4 March 1961 |
| Replay | Barnsley | 1–2 | Leicester City | 8 March 1961 |
| 2 | Sheffield Wednesday | 0–0 | Burnley | 4 March 1961 |
| Replay | Burnley | 2–0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 7 March 1961 |
| 3 | Sunderland | 1–1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 March 1961 |
| Replay | Tottenham Hotspur | 5–0 | Sunderland | 8 March 1961 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 1–3 | Sheffield United | 4 March 1961 |
The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 18 March 1961 with the Leicester City–Sheffield United game requiring two replays. This series of games marked the first time since 1928 that a semi-final had required a second replay, and the first time ever in the FA Cup that a semi-final had failed to produce a goal after a replay. United had the ball in the net throughDerek Pace in the first game and although the player insisted that it hit his shoulder, the referee disallowed for handball.[1] Leicester eventually won the tie and so went on to meet Tottenham in the final at Wembley.
| Leicester City | 2–0 | Sheffield United |
|---|---|---|
Walsh 47'Leek 58' | Report[dead link] |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 3–0 | Burnley |
|---|---|---|
| Smith 25' 50' Jones 89' | Report |
The1961 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1961 atWembley Stadium and was won byTottenham Hotspur who defeatedLeicester City, by a 2–0 scoreline. In doing so, Tottenham became the first team to complete theLeague andFA CupDouble since Aston Villa in1897.
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2–0 | Leicester City |
|---|---|---|
| Smith 66' Dyson 75' |
      Tottenham Hotspur |    Leicester City |