1903–04 FA Cup

October 2020 1903–04 FA Cup ManCity1904.jpg The Manchester City team following the club's first FA Cup victory England Manchester City(1st title) Bolton Wanderers 1902–03 1904–05 The 1903–04 FA Cup was the 33rd season of the world's oldest association soccer competition, the Soccer Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Manchester City, despite never having advanced past the second round before, won the competition for the first time, beating Bolton Wanderers 1–0 in the final at Crystal Palace, through a goal scored by Billy Meredith. 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 of extra time would be played. Calendar The format of the FA Cup for the season had two preliminary rounds, five qualifying rounds, an intermediate round, three proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final. Round Date Extra Preliminary Round Saturday 12 September 1903 Preliminary Round Saturday 19 September 1903 First Round Qualifying Saturday 4 October 1903 Second Round Qualifying Saturday 17 October 1903 Third Round Qualifying Saturday 31 October 1903 Fourth Round Qualifying Saturday 14 November 1903 Fifth Round Qualifying Saturday 28 November 1903 Intermediate Round Saturday 12 December 1903 First Round Proper Saturday 6 February 1904 Second Round Proper Saturday 20 February 1904 Third Round Proper Saturday 5 March 1904 Semi-finals Saturday 19 March 1904 Final Saturday 23 April 1904 Qualifying rounds This season's competition was notable for the addition of an extra preliminary round to the qualifying stages for the first time. 14 clubs from the south-east of England and 10 clubs from the north-east were required to enter the competition at this stage due to the large number of teams from those areas now seeking to participate in the tournament. The most successful club from this stage was Essex side Leytonstone who progressed to the third qualifying round where they were defeated by Clapton. The 10 clubs to progress through to the Intermediate Round from the fifth qualifying round were Burton United, Gainsborough Trinity and Burslem Port Vale from the Football League Second Division and non-league sides Stockton, Darwen, Shrewsbury Town, Fulham, Brentford, West Ham United and Plymouth Argyle. Fulham and Plymouth Argyle were qualifying for the main competition for the first time, while Shrewsbury Town had only previously featured at this stage in 1887-88 (the season before qualifying rounds were introduced). Intermediate Round The Intermediate Round featured 10 ties played between the winners from the fifth qualifying round and 10 teams given byes. Small Heath from the Football League First Division and Manchester United, Bristol City, Preston North End, Woolwich Arsenal, Barnsley and Grimsby Town from the Second Division were entered automatically into this round, as were Reading, Bristol Rovers and New Brompton from the Southern League. The other Second Division sides had to gain entry to this round through qualifying rounds. Burton United and Bradford City were entered in the first qualifying round, while Glossop was entered in the second qualifying round but withdrew from the competition. Blackpool, Burnley, Burslem Port Vale, Chesterfield, Gainsborough Trinity, Leicester Fosse, Lincoln City and Stockport County were all entered in the third qualifying round. The 10 matches were played on 12 December 1903. Four ties went to replays, with two going to a second replay and one, between Manchester United and Small Heath, to a third replay. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Preston North End2–1Darwen12 December 19032Reading1–0Gainsborough Trinity12 December 19033Grimsby Town2–0Barnsley12 December 19034Burslem Port Vale3–0Burton United12 December 19035Stockton2–1Shrewsbury Town12 December 19036New Brompton1–1Bristol City12 December 1903ReplayBristol City5–2New Brompton16 December 19037Brentford1–1Plymouth Argyle12 December 1903ReplayPlymouth Argyle4–1Brentford16 December 19038Bristol Rovers1–1Woolwich Arsenal12 December 1903ReplayWoolwich Arsenal1–1Bristol Rovers16 December 1903ReplayBristol Rovers0–1Woolwich Arsenal21 December 19039West Ham United0–1Fulham12 December 190310Manchester United1–1Small Heath12 December 1903ReplaySmall Heath1–1Manchester United16 December 1903ReplaySmall Heath1–1Manchester United21 December 1903ReplayManchester United3–1Small Heath11 January 1904 First Round Proper The First Round Proper featured 16 ties between 32 teams. 17 of the 18 First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Bolton Wanderers from the Second Division, and non-league Southampton, Portsmouth, Millwall Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur. They joined the ten teams who won in the Intermediate Round. The matches were played on 6 February 1904. Four matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Bristol City1–3Sheffield United6 February 19042Bury2–1Newcastle United6 February 19043Preston North End1–0Grimsby Town6 February 19044Southampton3–0Burslem Port Vale6 February 19045Stoke2–3Aston Villa6 February 19046Reading1–1Bolton Wanderers6 February 1904ReplayBolton Wanderers3–2Reading10 February 19047Notts County3–3Manchester United6 February 1904ReplayManchester United2–1Notts County10 February 19048Blackburn Rovers3–1Liverpool6 February 19049West Bromwich Albion1–1Nottingham Forest10 February 1904ReplayNottingham Forest3–1West Bromwich Albion13 February 190410Everton1–2Tottenham Hotspur6 February 190411Stockton1–4Wolverhampton Wanderers6 February 190412Woolwich Arsenal1–0Fulham6 February 190413Manchester City3–2Sunderland6 February 190414Portsmouth2–5Derby County6 February 190415Plymouth Argyle2–2The Wednesday6 February 1904ReplayThe Wednesday2–0Plymouth Argyle10 February 190416Millwall Athletic0–2Middlesbrough6 February 1904 Second Round Proper The eight Second Round Proper matches were scheduled for 20 February 1904. There was one replay – between Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers – played in the following midweek, but this was again drawn and went to a second replay a week later. Tottenham were drawn at home to play Aston Villa, the match started on 20 February but abandoned with the score at 1–0 in Villa's favour after crowd trouble. The FA ordered the game to be replayed at Villa Park and fined Tottenham £350.Phil Soar Tottenham Hotspur The Official Illustrated History 1882–1995 1995 Hamlyn 0-600-58706-1 Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Bury1–2Sheffield United20 February 19042Preston North End0–3Middlesbrough20 February 19043Blackburn Rovers3–1Nottingham Forest20 February 19044Aston Villa0–1Tottenham Hotspur25 February 19045The Wednesday6–0Manchester United20 February 19046Bolton Wanderers4–1Southampton20 February 19047Derby County2–2Wolverhampton Wanderers20 February 1904ReplayWolverhampton Wanderers2–2Derby County24 February 1904ReplayDerby County1–0Wolverhampton Wanderers29 February 19048Woolwich Arsenal0–2Manchester City20 February 1904 Third Round Proper The four Third Round Proper matches were scheduled for 5 March 1904. Two matches were drawn and replayed in the following midweek. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Derby County2–1Blackburn Rovers5 March 19042Sheffield United0–2Bolton Wanderers5 March 19043Tottenham Hotspur1–1The Wednesday5 March 1904ReplayThe Wednesday2–0Tottenham Hotspur9 March 19044Manchester City0–0Middlesbrough5 March 1904ReplayMiddlesbrough1–3Manchester City9 March 1904 Semi-finals The semi-final matches were played on 19 March 1904. 19 March 1904 15:00 Bolton Wanderers 1–0 Derby County Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton 19 March 1904 15:00 Manchester City 3–0 The Wednesday Goodison Park, Liverpool Final 1904 FA Cup final The final was the first to be contested by two teams from Lancashire: Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers. It was played at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. Manchester City won the match 1–0, Billy Meredith scoring the only goal. Match details 23 April 1904 15:00 GMT Manchester City 1–0 Bolton Wanderers Match report at fa-cupfinals.co.uk https://web.archive.org/web/20090720114940/https://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1904.html 20 July 2009 Meredith 23 Crystal Palace, London 61,374http://www.sportingchronicle.com/FACUP/1904.html Sporting Chronicle - 1904 FA Cup Final 26 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080521120220/http://www.sportingchronicle.com/FACUP/1904.html 21 May 2008 dead A. J. Barker _2whitestripes 22AAFF 22AAFF 22AAFF FFFFFF 003388 Manchester City FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF 000077 000077 Bolton Wanderershttp://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English_Football_League/FA_Cup_Finals/1900-1909.html FA Cup Final kits, 1900-1909 26 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080925084712/http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English_Football_League/FA_Cup_Finals/1900-1909.html 25 September 2008 dead See also FA Cup Final Results 1872- References General Official site; fixtures and results service at TheFA.com 1903-04 FA Cup at rsssf.com 1903-04 FA Cup at soccerbase.com Specific Association football 1903–04 Category:1903–04 in English men's football cups