1922–23 FA Cup


The 1922–23 FA Cup was the 48th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. Bolton Wanderers won the competition, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first final to be held at Wembley Stadium, London.
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, six qualifying rounds, four proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.
RoundDate
Extra preliminary roundSaturday 9 September 1922
Preliminary roundSaturday 23 September 1922
First round qualifyingSaturday 7 October 1922
Second round qualifyingSaturday 21 October 1922
Third round qualifyingSaturday 4 November 1922
Fourth round qualifyingSaturday 18 November 1922
Fifth round qualifyingSaturday 2 December 1922
Sixth round qualifyingSaturday 16 December 1922
First round properSaturday 13 January 1923
Second round properSaturday 3 February 1923
Third round properSaturday 24 February 1923
Fourth round properSaturday 10 March 1923
Semi-finalsSaturday 24 March 1923
FinalSaturday 28 April 1923

Qualifying rounds

Of the 35 Football League clubs required to enter this season's tournament in the qualifying rounds, only eight ended up progressing through to the competition proper. Three Second Division sides, Port Vale, Stockport County and Coventry City were entered in the fifth qualifying round, but all three lost at that stage.
Twelve Third Division clubs were entered in the fourth qualifying round, with Crewe and Tranmere going out to non-league opponents and the rest either going on or losing amongst themselves.
A further 20 Third Division sides were entered in the fifth qualifying round, of which 12 moved on to the next stage and eight went out.
The final 12 winners from the sixth qualifying round were Stalybridge Celtic, Aberdare Athletic, Wrexham, Merthyr Town, Charlton Athletic, Norwich City, Wigan Borough and Halifax Town from the Football League, and non-league sides Bath City, Worksop Town, Blyth Spartans and New Brighton. Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Aberdare Athletic, Charlton Athletic, Blyth Spartans, New Brighton, Stalybridge Celtic and Wigan Borough, although Celtic and Borough were emulating the achievements of defunct predecessor outfits Stalybridge Rovers in 1899-1900 and Wigan County in 1897-98.
Wellington St George's was the most successful team from this season's extra preliminary round. In addition to their victory against Tranmere, they secured wins over Shrewsbury Town, Bloxwich Strollers, Darlaston, Oswestry Town and Oakengates Town but went out to Walsall in the fifth qualifying round.

First round proper

41 of 44 clubs from the Football League First and Second Divisions joined the 12 lower-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To bring the number of teams up to 64, nine Third Division South sides and one Third Division North side were given byes to this round. These were:
  • Watford
  • Brighton & Hove Albion
  • Luton Town
  • Swindon Town
  • Queens Park Rangers
  • Millwall
  • Plymouth Argyle
  • Bristol City
  • Portsmouth
  • Bradford Park Avenue
The Football Association also began the custom of awarding leading London amateur club Corinthian a bye to the same stage of the tournament as the Football League First Division sides. Corinthian would receive these byes for a further ten seasons, but the club's members had to ratify a special constitutional amendment for it to do so as its founding document initially prevented it from competing for "any challenge cup or any prize of any description"!
32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 13 January 1923. Twelve matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which three went to another replay, and one match went to a third.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Bristol City5–1Wrexham13 January 1923
2Bury2–1Luton Town13 January 1923
3Liverpool0–0Arsenal13 January 1923
ReplayArsenal1–4Liverpool17 January 1923
4South Shields3–1Halifax Town13 January 1923
5Leicester City4–0Fulham13 January 1923
6Nottingham Forest0–0Sheffield United13 January 1923
ReplaySheffield United0–0Nottingham Forest17 January 1923
ReplayNottingham Forest1–1Sheffield United22 January 1923
ReplaySheffield United1–0Nottingham Forest23 January 1923
7Aston Villa0–1Blackburn Rovers13 January 1923
8The Wednesday3–0New Brighton13 January 1923
9West Bromwich Albion0–0Stalybridge Celtic13 January 1923
ReplayStalybridge Celtic0–2West Bromwich Albion17 January 1923
10Sunderland3–1Burnley13 January 1923
11Derby County2–0Blackpool13 January 1923
12Everton1–1Bradford Park Avenue13 January 1923
ReplayBradford Park Avenue1–0Everton17 January 1923
13Swindon Town0–0Barnsley13 January 1923
ReplayBarnsley2–0Swindon Town18 January 1923
14Newcastle United0–0Southampton13 January 1923
ReplaySouthampton3–1Newcastle United17 January 1923
15Tottenham Hotspur0–0Worksop Town13 January 1923
ReplayTottenham Hotspur9–0Worksop Town15 January 1923
16Manchester City1–2Charlton Athletic13 January 1923
17Queens Park Rangers1–0Crystal Palace13 January 1923
18Portsmouth0–0Leeds United13 January 1923
ReplayLeeds United3–1Portsmouth17 January 1923
19Brighton & Hove Albion1–1Corinthian13 January 1923
ReplayCorinthian1–1Brighton & Hove Albion17 January 1923
ReplayBrighton & Hove Albion1–0Corinthian22 January 1923
20Norwich City0–2Bolton Wanderers13 January 1923
21Plymouth Argyle0–0Notts County13 January 1923
ReplayNotts County0–1Plymouth Argyle17 January 1923
22Bradford City1–1Manchester United13 January 1923
ReplayManchester United2–0Bradford City17 January 1923
23Hull City2–3West Ham United13 January 1923
24Clapton Orient0–2Millwall13 January 1923
25Oldham Athletic0–1Middlesbrough13 January 1923
26Chelsea1–0Rotherham County13 January 1923
27Huddersfield Town2–1Birmingham13 January 1923
28Blyth Spartans0–3Stoke13 January 1923
29Cardiff City1–1Watford13 January 1923
ReplayWatford2–2Cardiff City17 January 1923
ReplayCardiff City2–1Watford22 January 1923
30Merthyr Town0–1Wolverhampton Wanderers13 January 1923
31Aberdare Athletic1–3Preston North End13 January 1923
32Wigan Borough4–1Bath City13 January 1923