1996–97 FA Cup

1996–97 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England; Wales
Defending champions	Manchester United
Final positions
Champions	Chelsea (2nd title)
Runner-up	Middlesbrough
Tournament statistics
Top goal scorer(s)	Ken Charlery; Duane Darby; Bryan Hughes; Fabrizio Ravanelli; (6 goals)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the FA Cup. The tournament started in August 1996 for clubs from non-league football and the competition proper started in October 1996 for teams from the Premier League and the Football League. The tournament was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley stadium.

Calendar

Round	Initial Matches	New Entries	Clubs
Preliminary Round	Saturday 31 August 1996	340	574 → 404
First Round Qualifying	Saturday 14 September 1996	118	404 → 260
Second Round Qualifying	Saturday 28 September 1996	none	260 → 188
Third Round Qualifying	Saturday 12 October 1996	none	188 → 152
Fourth Round Qualifying	Saturday 26 October 1996	20	152 → 124
First Round Proper	Saturday 16 November 1996	52	124 → 84
Second Round Proper	Saturday 7 December 1996	none	84 → 64
Third Round Proper	Saturday 4 January 1997	44	64 → 32
Fourth Round Proper	Saturday 25 January 1997	none	32 → 16
Fifth Round Proper	Saturday 15 February 1997	none	16 → 8
Sixth Round Proper	Saturday 8 March 1997	none	8 → 4
Semi-Finals	Sunday 13 April 1997	none	4 → 2
Final	Saturday 17 May 1997	none	2 → 1

First round proper

The First Round featured those non-league teams who had come through the qualifying rounds and the teams from the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system. The matches were played on 16 November 1996. There were thirteen replays, with two ties requiring a penalty shootout to settle them.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Ashford Town	2–2	Dagenham & Redbridge	16 November 1996
Replay	Dagenham & Redbridge	1–1	Ashford Town	25 November 1996
Ashford Town won 4–3 on penalties
2	Blackpool	1–0	Wigan Athletic	16 November 1996
3	Chester City	3–0	Stalybridge Celtic	16 November 1996
4	Chesterfield	1–0	Bury	16 November 1996
5	Burnley	2–1	Lincoln City	16 November 1996
6	Preston North End	4–1	Altrincham	16 November 1996
7	Wisbech Town	1–2	St Albans City	16 November 1996
8	Woking	2–2	Millwall	15 November 1996
Replay	Millwall	0–1	Woking	26 November 1996
9	Gillingham	1–0	Hereford United	16 November 1996
10	Boreham Wood	1–1	Rushden & Diamonds	16 November 1996
Replay	Rushden & Diamonds	2–3	Boreham Wood	26 November 1996
11	Northwich Victoria	2–2	Walsall	16 November 1996
Replay	Walsall	3–1	Northwich Victoria	26 November 1996
12	Macclesfield Town	0–2	Rochdale	16 November 1996
13	Crewe Alexandra	4–1	Kidderminster Harriers	16 November 1996
14	Shrewsbury Town	1–1	Scarborough	16 November 1996
Replay	Scarborough	1–0	Shrewsbury Town	26 November 1996
15	Wrexham	1–1	Colwyn Bay	16 November 1996
Replay	Wrexham	2–0	Colwyn Bay	26 November 1996
16	Hednesford Town	2–1	Southport	16 November 1996
17	Stockport County	2–1	Doncaster Rovers	16 November 1996
18	Brentford	2–0	Bournemouth	16 November 1996
19	Bristol Rovers	1–2	Exeter City	16 November 1996
20	Northampton Town	0–1	Watford	17 November 1996
21	Bromley	1–3	Enfield	16 November 1996
22	Plymouth Argyle	5–0	Fulham	16 November 1996
23	Carlisle United	6–0	Shepshed Dynamo	16 November 1996
24	Scunthorpe United	4–1	Rotherham United	16 November 1996
25	Mansfield Town	4–0	Consett	16 November 1996
26	Cardiff City	2–0	Hendon	16 November 1996
27	Runcorn	1–4	Darlington	16 November 1996
28	Torquay United	0–1	Luton Town	16 November 1996
29	Boston United	3–0	Morecambe	16 November 1996
30	Peterborough United	0–0	Cheltenham Town	16 November 1996
Replay	Cheltenham Town	1–3	Peterborough United	27 November 1996
31	Colchester United	1–2	Wycombe Wanderers	16 November 1996
32	Leyton Orient	2–1	Merthyr Tydfil	16 November 1996
33	Sudbury Town	0–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	16 November 1996
Replay	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	Sudbury Town	26 November 1996
Sudbury Town won 4–3 on penalties
34	Whitby Town	0–0	Hull City	17 November 1996
Replay	Hull City	8–4	Whitby Town	26 November 1996
35	Cambridge United	3–0	Welling United	16 November 1996
36	Swansea City	1–1	Bristol City	16 November 1996
Replay	Bristol City	1–0	Swansea City	26 November 1996
37	Farnborough Town	2–2	Barnet	16 November 1996
Replay	Barnet	1–0	Farnborough Town	26 November 1996
38	Hartlepool United	0–0	York City	16 November 1996
Replay	York City	3–0	Hartlepool United	26 November 1996
39	Stevenage Borough	2–2	Hayes	16 November 1996
Replay	Hayes	0–2	Stevenage Borough	26 November 1996
40	Newcastle Town	0–2	Notts County	17 November 1996

Second Round Proper

The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were played on 7 December 1996, with four replays and one penalty shootout required.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Enfield	1–1	Peterborough United	7 December 1996
Replay	Peterborough United	4–1	Enfield	17 December 1996
2	Blackpool	0–1	Hednesford Town	7 December 1996
3	Chester City	1–0	Boston United	7 December 1996
4	Chesterfield	2–0	Scarborough	7 December 1996
5	Barnet	3–3	Wycombe Wanderers	7 December 1996
Replay	Wycombe Wanderers	3–2	Barnet	17 December 1996
6	Bristol City	9–2	St Albans City	7 December 1996
7	Preston North End	2–3	York City	7 December 1996
8	Watford	5–0	Ashford Town	7 December 1996
9	Walsall	1–1	Burnley	7 December 1996
Replay	Burnley	1–1	Walsall	23 December 1996
Burnley won 4–2 on penalties
10	Notts County	3–1	Rochdale	7 December 1996
11	Luton Town	2–1	Boreham Wood	7 December 1996
12	Wrexham	2–2	Scunthorpe United	7 December 1996
Replay	Scunthorpe United	2–3	Wrexham	17 December 1996
13	Plymouth Argyle	4–1	Exeter City	6 December 1996
14	Hull City	1–5	Crewe Alexandra	7 December 1996
15	Carlisle United	1–0	Darlington	7 December 1996
16	Mansfield Town	0–3	Stockport County	7 December 1996
17	Cardiff City	0–2	Gillingham	7 December 1996
18	Leyton Orient	1–2	Stevenage Borough	7 December 1996
19	Sudbury Town	1–3	Brentford	7 December 1996
20	Cambridge United	0–2	Woking	7 December 1996

Third round proper

The third round of the season's FA Cup was scheduled for Saturday, 4 January 1997, although fourteen matches were postponed until later dates. This round marked the point at which the teams in the two highest divisions in the English league system, the Premier League and the Football League First Division (now known as the Football League Championship). There were nine replays, with none of these games requiring a penalty shootout to settle it.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Chesterfield	2–0	Bristol City	14 January 1997
2	Liverpool	1–0	Burnley
3	Watford	2–0	Oxford United	21 January 1997
4	Reading	3–1	Southampton	4 January 1997
5	Gillingham	0–2	Derby County	21 January 1997
6	Leicester City	2–0	Southend United	15 January 1997
7	Notts County	0–0	Aston Villa	14 January 1997
Replay	Aston Villa	3–0	Notts County	22 January 1997
8	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Ipswich Town	4 January 1997
9	Blackburn Rovers	1–0	Port Vale	4 January 1997
10	Sheffield Wednesday	7–1	Grimsby Town	4 January 1997
11	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–2	Portsmouth	4 January 1997
12	Crewe Alexandra	1–1	Wimbledon	14 January 1997
Replay	Wimbledon	2–0	Crewe Alexandra	21 January 1997
13	Middlesbrough	6–0	Chester City	4 January 1997
14	Luton Town	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	21 January 1997
Replay	Bolton Wanderers	6–2	Luton Town	25 January 1997
15	Everton	3–0	Swindon Town	5 January 1997
16	Wrexham	1–1	West Ham United	4 January 1997
Replay	West Ham United	0–1	Wrexham	25 January 1997
17	Hednesford Town	1–0	York City	13 January 1997
18	Wycombe Wanderers	0–2	Bradford City	5 January 1997
19	Queens Park Rangers	1–1	Huddersfield Town	4 January 1997
Replay	Huddersfield Town	1–2	Queens Park Rangers	14 January 1997
20	Barnsley	2–0	Oldham Athletic	14 January 1997
21	Brentford	0–1	Manchester City	25 January 1997
22	Coventry City	1–1	Woking	25 January 1997
Replay	Woking	1–2	Coventry City	4 February 1997
23	Manchester United	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	5 January 1997
24	Norwich City	1–0	Sheffield United	4 January 1997
25	Plymouth Argyle	0–1	Peterborough United	4 January 1997
26	Carlisle United	1–0	Tranmere Rovers	14 January 1997
27	Crystal Palace	2–2	Leeds United	14 January 1997
Replay	Leeds United	1–0	Crystal Palace	25 January 1997
28	Chelsea	3–0	West Bromwich Albion	4 January 1997
29	Charlton Athletic	1–1	Newcastle United	5 January 1997
Replay	Newcastle United	2–1	Charlton Athletic	15 January 1997
30	Arsenal	1–1	Sunderland	4 January 1997
Replay	Sunderland	0–2	Arsenal	15 January 1997
31	Stoke City	0–2	Stockport County	15 January 1997
32	Birmingham City	2–0	Stevenage Borough	4 January 1997

Fourth Round Proper

The Fourth Round ties were played with the thirty-two winners of the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for Saturday, 25 January 1997, although six matches were not played that weekend. There was only one replay.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Leicester City	2–1	Norwich City	25 January 1997
2	Blackburn Rovers	1–2	Coventry City	15 February 1997
3	Bolton Wanderers	2–3	Chesterfield	4 February 1997
4	Hednesford Town	2–3	Middlesbrough	25 January 1997
5	Derby County	3–1	Aston Villa	25 January 1997
6	Everton	2–3	Bradford City	25 January 1997
7	Newcastle United	1–2	Nottingham Forest	26 January 1997
8	Manchester City	3–1	Watford	5 February 1997
9	Queens Park Rangers	3–2	Barnsley	25 January 1997
10	Portsmouth	3–0	Reading	25 January 1997
11	Manchester United	1–1	Wimbledon	25 January 1997
Replay	Wimbledon	1–0	Manchester United	4 February 1997
12	Carlisle United	0–2	Sheffield Wednesday	25 January 1997
13	Chelsea	4–2	Liverpool	26 January 1997
14	Arsenal	0–1	Leeds United	4 February 1997
15	Peterborough United	2–4	Wrexham	4 February 1997
16	Birmingham City	3–1	Stockport County	25 January 1997

Fifth Round Proper

The Fifth Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 15 February 1997. There was, again, only one replay.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Chesterfield	1–0	Nottingham Forest	15 February 1997
2	Leicester City	2–2	Chelsea	16 February 1997
Replay	Chelsea	1–0	Leicester City	26 February 1997
3	Derby County	3–2	Coventry City	26 February 1997
4	Manchester City	0–1	Middlesbrough	15 February 1997
5	Bradford City	0–1	Sheffield Wednesday	16 February 1997
6	Wimbledon	2–1	Queens Park Rangers	15 February 1997
7	Leeds United	2–3	Portsmouth	15 February 1997
8	Birmingham City	1–3	Wrexham	15 February 1997

Sixth Round Proper

The sixth round ties were scheduled for the weekend of 8–9 March. No replays were required.

Chesterfield defeated Wrexham 1–0 in a rare "all third-tier" quarter-final clash, while Middlesbrough's 2–0 win at Derby County moved them a step closer to their first-ever FA Cup final.

9 March 1997

11:30 GMT

Chesterfield	1–0	Wrexham
Beaumont 58'	Report

Saltergate, Chesterfield

Attendance: 8,735

Referee: Mike Riley

9 March 1997

13:30 GMT

Portsmouth	1–4	Chelsea
Burton 82'	Report	M. Hughes 25' Wise 43' 86' Zola 56'

Fratton Park, Portsmouth

Attendance: 15,071

Referee: Jeff Winter

9 March 1997

16:10 GMT

Sheffield Wednesday	0–2	Wimbledon
	Report	Earle 74' Holdsworth 90+1'

Hillsborough, Sheffield

Attendance: 25,032

Referee: Roger Dilkes

8 March 1997

15:00 GMT

Derby County	0–2	Middlesbrough
	Report	Juninho 39' Ravanelli 90'

Baseball Ground, Derby

Attendance: 17,567

Referee: Graham Poll

Semi-Finals

The semi-final ties were played at neutral venues on 13 April 1997. Middlesbrough and Chelsea came through their ties (with Middlesbrough requiring a replay against second division side Chesterfield) to reach the final.

Wimbledon, playing the semi-finals for the first time since they were FA Cup winners nine years earlier, had their hopes of FA Cup glory ended by a semi-final defeat at the hands of Chelsea, who had not played in an FA Cup final for 3 years. This came just weeks after Wimbledon had been eliminated from the League Cup semi-finals.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, reached the FA Cup final for the first time in their history, but only after a 3-0 replay win over a Chesterfield side that had given them a serious run for their money in the first match with a 3–3 draw after taking a 2–0 lead and having a goal ruled out despite the ball crossing the line, therefore narrowly missing out on being the first "third tier" side to reach an FA Cup final.

13 April 1997

12:00 BST

Chelsea	3–0	Wimbledon
Hughes 43' 90' Zola 64'	Report

Highbury, London

Attendance: 32,674

Referee: Gerald Ashby

13 April 1997

15:00 BST

Middlesbrough	3–3	Chesterfield
Ravanelli 64' Hignett 70' (pen.) Festa 100'	Report	Morris 54' Dyche 60' (pen.) Hewitt 119'

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 49,640

Referee: David Elleray

Replay

22 April 1997

19:45 BST

Middlesbrough	3–0	Chesterfield
Beck 12' Ravanelli 57' Emerson 89'	Report

Hillsborough, Sheffield

Attendance: 30,339

Referee: David Elleray

Final

The 1997 FA Cup Final took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough. Di Matteo scored the fastest ever goal in FA Cup Final history 43 seconds after kick-off, beating Jackie Milburn's record from the 1954–1955 final of 45 seconds, which was only beaten in 2009 by Everton's Louis Saha (27.9 seconds). Chelsea were attempting to win their first FA Cup final for 27 years, while Middlesbrough were contesting their first ever final. Chelsea took to the field on the back of something of a renaissance under Dutch manager Ruud Gullit, having recorded their best league finish for a decade. Middlesbrough, on the other hand, began the final having been relegated from the Premiership and also been losing finalists in the League Cup.

It was Chelsea's first major trophy for 26 years, while Middlesbrough had never played in an FA Cup final or won a major trophy before.

Match details

17 May 1997

15:00 BST

Chelsea	2–0	Middlesbrough
Di Matteo 1' Newton 83'	Report

Wembley, London

Attendance: 79,160

Referee: Stephen Lodge (South Yorkshire)

Chelsea

Middlesbrough

Media coverage

For the ninth consecutive season in the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters which was their last before ITV took over while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters.^{[citation needed]}

The matches shown live on the BBC were: Manchester United 2–0 Tottenham Hotspur (R3); Chelsea 4–2 Liverpool (R4); Leicester City 2–2 Chelsea (R5); Sheffield Wednesday 0–2 Wimbledon (QF); Chelsea 3–0 Wimbledon (SF) and Chelsea 2–0 Middlesbrough (Final)

References

FA Cup Results 1996-97

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

v t e 1996–97 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '96 '97 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska) Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '96 '97 Finland '96 '97 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '96 '97 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '96 '97 Latvia '96 '97 Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '96 '97 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '96 '97 San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '96 '97 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '96 '97 Finland '96 '97 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '96 '97 Israel Italy Latvia '96 '97 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '96 '97 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
League cups	England Finland '96 '97 France Iceland '96 '97 Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Wales
Supercups	England Germany
UEFA competitions	Champions League (Qualifying, Group stage, knockout stage, Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup