1903–04 FA Cup

1903–04 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England
Final positions
Champions	Manchester City
Runner-up	Bolton Wanderers
	← 1902–03 1904–05 →

The 1903–04 FA Cup was the 33rd season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Manchester City 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

Intermediate Round

The Intermediate Round featured ten games, played between the ten winners of the Sixth Qualifying Round, and ten teams given byes. 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 non-league Reading, Bristol Rovers and New Brompton.

The other Second Division sides had to gain entry to this round through the earlier qualifying rounds. Burton United and Bradford City were entered at the First Qualifying Round stage, with Bradford going out in the Fourth Qualifying Round. Glossop were entered at the Second Qualifying Round, but a walkover was awarded to their opponents, Heywood. The others, Blackpool, Burnley, Burslem Port Vale, Chesterfield, Gainsborough Trinity, Leicester Fosse, Lincoln City and Stockport County were entered at the Third Qualifying Round stage, with only Gainsborough and Burslem Port Vale reaching the intermediate round from these.

The ten matches were played on 12 December 1903. Four matches went to replays, with two of these going to a second replay and one of these, the Manchester United – Small Heath game, then went to a third replay.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Preston North End	2–1	Darwen	12 December 1903
2	Reading	1–0	Gainsborough Trinity	12 December 1903
3	Grimsby Town	2–0	Barnsley	12 December 1903
4	Burslem Port Vale	3–0	Burton United	12 December 1903
5	Stockton	2–1	Shrewsbury Town	12 December 1903
6	New Brompton	1–1	Bristol City	12 December 1903
Replay	Bristol City	5–2	New Brompton	16 December 1903
7	Brentford	1–1	Plymouth Argyle	12 December 1903
Replay	Plymouth Argyle	4–1	Brentford	16 December 1903
8	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Woolwich Arsenal	12 December 1903
Replay	Woolwich Arsenal	1–1	Bristol Rovers	16 December 1903
Replay	Bristol Rovers	0–1	Woolwich Arsenal	21 December 1903
9	West Ham United	0–1	Fulham	12 December 1903
10	Manchester United	1–1	Small Heath	12 December 1903
Replay	Small Heath	1–1	Manchester United	16 December 1903
Replay	Small Heath	1–1	Manchester United	21 December 1903
Replay	Manchester United	3–1	Small Heath	11 January 1904

First round proper

The First Round Proper contained sixteen 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 Saturday, 6 February 1904. Four matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Bristol City	1–3	Sheffield United	6 February 1904
2	Bury	2–1	Newcastle United	6 February 1904
3	Preston North End	1–0	Grimsby Town	6 February 1904
4	Southampton	3–0	Burslem Port Vale	6 February 1904
5	Stoke	2–3	Aston Villa	6 February 1904
6	Reading	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	6 February 1904
Replay	Bolton Wanderers	3–2	Reading	10 February 1904
7	Notts County	3–3	Manchester United	6 February 1904
Replay	Manchester United	2–1	Notts County	10 February 1904
8	Blackburn Rovers	3–1	Liverpool	6 February 1904
9	West Bromwich Albion	1–1	Nottingham Forest	10 February 1904
Replay	Nottingham Forest	3–1	West Bromwich Albion	13 February 1904
10	Everton	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur	6 February 1904
11	Stockton	1–4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	6 February 1904
12	Woolwich Arsenal	1–0	Fulham	6 February 1904
13	Manchester City	3–2	Sunderland	6 February 1904
14	Portsmouth	2–5	Derby County	6 February 1904
15	Plymouth Argyle	2–2	The Wednesday	6 February 1904
Replay	The Wednesday	2–0	Plymouth Argyle	10 February 1904
16	Millwall Athletic	0–2	Middlesbrough	6 February 1904

Second Round Proper

The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 20 February 1904. There was one replay, between Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers, played in the following midweek fixture, but this was again drawn and went to a second replay the following week.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Bury	1–2	Sheffield United	20 February 1904
2	Preston North End	0–3	Middlesbrough	20 February 1904
3	Blackburn Rovers	3–1	Nottingham Forest	20 February 1904
4	Aston Villa	0–1	Tottenham Hotspur	25 February 1904
5	The Wednesday	6–0	Manchester United	20 February 1904
6	Bolton Wanderers	4–1	Southampton	20 February 1904
7	Derby County	2–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	20 February 1904
Replay	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	Derby County	24 February 1904
Replay	Derby County	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	29 February 1904
8	Woolwich Arsenal	0–2	Manchester City	20 February 1904

Third round proper

The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 5 March 1904. Two matches were drawn and replayed in the following midweek fixture.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Derby County	2–1	Blackburn Rovers	5 March 1904
2	Sheffield United	0–2	Bolton Wanderers	5 March 1904
3	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	The Wednesday	5 March 1904
Replay	The Wednesday	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	9 March 1904
4	Manchester City	0–0	Middlesbrough	5 March 1904
Replay	Middlesbrough	1–3	Manchester City	9 March 1904

Semi-Finals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 19 March 1904.

19 March 1904

15:00

Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Derby County

Molineux, Wolverhampton

19 March 1904

15:00

Manchester City	3–0	The Wednesday

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Final

The Final, the first all-Lancashire final since the start of the competition, took place at Crystal Palace on Saturday 23 April 1904. The 32nd FA Cup final was contested between Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers. Manchester City won 1–0. The goal was scored by Billy Meredith.

Match details

23 April 1904
15:00 GMT

Manchester City	1 – 0	Bolton Wanderers
Meredith 23'	^[1]

Crystal Palace, London

Attendance: 61,374^[2]

Referee: A. J. Barker

Manchester City

Bolton Wanderers ^[3]

References

General

Specific

[1] Match report at fa-cupfinals.co.uk

[2] Sporting Chronicle - 1904 FA Cup Final

[3] FA Cup Final kits, 1900-1909

[1]

[2]

[3]

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