1923–24 FA Cup


The 1923–24 FA Cup was the 49th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Newcastle United won the competition for the second time, beating Aston Villa 2–0 in the final at Wembley.
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 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 8 September 1923
Preliminary roundSaturday 22 September 1923
First round qualifyingSaturday 6 October 1923
Second round qualifyingSaturday 20 October 1923
Third round qualifyingSaturday 3 November 1923
Fourth round qualifyingSaturday 17 November 1923
Fifth round qualifyingSaturday 1 December 1923
Sixth round qualifyingSaturday 15 December 1923
First round properSaturday 12 January 1924
Second round properSaturday 2 February 1924
Third round properSaturday 23 February 1924
Fourth round properSaturday 8 March 1924
Semi-finalsSaturday 29 March 1924
FinalSaturday 26 April 1924

Qualifying rounds

37 Football League clubs joined the participating non-league teams entering this season's tournament in the qualifying rounds. Four Second Division sides, Port Vale, Stockport County, Nelson and Coventry City were entered in the fifth qualifying round, with Port Vale losing to Wrexham, Nelson losing to Wigan Borough and Coventry losing to Tranmere Rovers. Stockport progressed to the next round but lost there to Norwich City.
18 Third Division clubs were also entered in the fifth qualifying round, with 14 of these winning through to the next round and only four going out at this stage.
Another twelve Third Division clubs were entered in the fourth qualifying round. Barrow went out to non-league Carlisle United while the others either progressed or lost amongst themselves.
The remaining Third Division clubs, Durham City, Doncaster Rovers and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic were entered in the preliminary round. Durham needed two replays to see off West Stanley before losing to Northern Combination outfit Dipton United, while Doncaster and Bournemouth withdrew from the competition after being drawn against Fryston Colliery Welfare and Portsea Gas Company respectively.
The eleven League teams ultimately winning through to the first round proper were Grimsby Town, Portsmouth, Accrington Stanley, Northampton Town, Ashington, Exeter City, Norwich City, Aberdare Athletic, Gillingham, Darlington and Halifax Town. The final spot in the main draw went to Welsh Southern League club Llanelli, who were appearing at that stage for the first time.
Of the 171 clubs entered in the extra preliminary round, the most successful were Hinckley United and Folkestone who progressed to the fifth qualifying round before losing to Grimsby Town and Norwich City respectively. Kent League side Sittingbourne, having entered the competition in the fourth qualifying round, was the only non-league club besides Llanelli to participate in the sixth qualifying round.

First round proper

40 of the 44 clubs from the Football League First Division and Football League Second Division joined the 12 lower-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To bring the number of teams up to 64, amateur side Corinthian received a bye to the first round as did nine Third Division South sides and two Third Division North sides. These were:
32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 12 January 1924. Seven matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which two went to another replay.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Ashington1–5Aston Villa12 January 1924
2Blackpool1–0Sheffield United12 January 1924
3Burnley3–2South Shields12 January 1924
4Liverpool2–1Bradford City12 January 1924
5The Wednesday4–1Leicester City12 January 1924
6Wolverhampton Wanderers3–1Darlington12 January 1924
7Middlesbrough0–1Watford12 January 1924
8Derby County2–1Bury12 January 1924
9Everton3–1North End12 January 1924
10Swindon Town4–0Bradford Park Avenue12 January 1924
11Manchester City2–0Nottingham Forest12 January 1924
12Queens Park Rangers1–2Notts County12 January 1924
13Fulham2–0Llanelli12 January 1924
14Accrington Stanley0–0Charlton Athletic12 January 1924
ReplayCharlton Athletic1–0Accrington Stanley17 January 1924
15Barnsley0–0Brighton & Hove Albion12 January 1924
ReplayBrighton & Hove Albion1–0Barnsley16 January 1924
16Northampton Town1–1Halifax Town12 January 1924
ReplayHalifax Town1–1Northampton Town16 January 1924
ReplayHalifax Town4–2Northampton Town21 January 1924
17Portsmouth2–4Newcastle United12 January 1924
18West Ham United5–0Aberdare Athletic12 January 1924
19Manchester United1–0Plymouth Argyle12 January 1924
20Norwich City0–1Bristol City12 January 1924
21Millwall0–1West Bromwich Albion12 January 1924
22Hull City2–2Bolton Wanderers12 January 1924
ReplayBolton Wanderers4–0Hull City16 January 1924
23Oldham Athletic2–1Sunderland12 January 1924
24Crystal Palace2–0Tottenham Hotspur12 January 1924
25Chelsea1–1Southampton12 January 1924
ReplaySouthampton2–0Chelsea16 January 1924
26Exeter City1–0Grimsby Town12 January 1924
27Huddersfield Town1–0Birmingham12 January 1924
28Cardiff City0–0Gillingham12 January 1924
ReplayGillingham0–2Cardiff City16 January 1924
29Swansea Town1–1Clapton Orient12 January 1924
ReplayClapton Orient1–1Swansea Town16 January 1924
ReplaySwansea Town2–1Clapton Orient21 January 1924
30Arsenal4–1Luton Town12 January 1924
31Leeds United1–0Stoke12 January 1924
32Corinthian1–0Blackburn Rovers12 January 1924

Second round proper

The 16 Second Round matches were played on Saturday, 2 February 1924. Eight matches were drawn, with replays taking place in the following midweek fixture. Three of these then went to a second replay played the following week, and two of these went to a third replay.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Burnley0–0Fulham2 February 1924
ReplayFulham0–1Burnley6 February 1924
2Southampton3–1Blackpool2 February 1924
3The Wednesday1–1Bristol City2 February 1924
ReplayBristol City2–0The Wednesday6 February 1924
4Bolton Wanderers1–4Liverpool2 February 1924
5West Bromwich Albion5–0Corinthian2 February 1924
6Derby County2–2Newcastle United2 February 1924
ReplayNewcastle United2–2Derby County6 February 1924
ReplayDerby County2–2Newcastle United11 February 1924
ReplayNewcastle United5–3Derby County12 February 1924
7Swindon Town2–0Oldham Athletic2 February 1924
8Manchester City2–2Halifax Town2 February 1924
ReplayHalifax Town0–0Manchester City6 February 1924
ReplayManchester City3–0Halifax Town11 February 1924
9West Ham United1–1Leeds United2 February 1924
ReplayLeeds United1–0West Ham United6 February 1924
10Brighton & Hove Albion5–2Everton2 February 1924
11Manchester United0–3Huddersfield Town2 February 1924
12Crystal Palace0–0Notts County2 February 1924
ReplayNotts County0–0Crystal Palace6 February 1924
ReplayCrystal Palace0–0Notts County11 February 1924
ReplayCrystal Palace2–1Notts County18 February 1924
13Exeter City0–0Watford2 February 1924
ReplayWatford1–0Exeter City6 February 1924
14Cardiff City1–0Arsenal2 February 1924
15Swansea Town0–2Aston Villa2 February 1924
16Charlton Athletic0–0Wolverhampton Wanderers2 February 1924
ReplayWolverhampton Wanderers1–0Charlton Athletic6 February 1924

Third round proper

The eight Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 23 February 1924. Two matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Burnley1–0Huddersfield Town23 February 1924
2Southampton0–0Liverpool23 February 1924
ReplayLiverpool2–0Southampton27 February 1924
3Watford0–1Newcastle United23 February 1924
4Aston Villa3–0Leeds United23 February 1924
5West Bromwich Albion1–1Wolverhampton Wanderers23 February 1924
ReplayWolverhampton Wanderers0–2West Bromwich Albion27 February 1924
6Brighton & Hove Albion1–5Manchester City23 February 1924
7Crystal Palace1–2Swindon Town23 February 1924
8Cardiff City3–0Bristol City23 February 1924

Fourth round proper

The four Fourth round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 8 March 1924. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1West Bromwich Albion0–2Aston Villa8 March 1924
2Swindon Town1–1Burnley8 March 1924
ReplayBurnley3–1Swindon Town12 March 1924
3Newcastle United1–0Liverpool8 March 1924
4Manchester City0–0Cardiff City8 March 1924
ReplayCardiff City0–1Manchester City12 March 1924

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 29 March 1924. The matches ended in victories for Newcastle United and Aston Villa, who went on to meet in the final at Wembley.
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Final

The 1924 FA Cup Final was contested by Newcastle United and Aston Villa at Wembley. Newcastle won 2–0, the goals scored by Neil Harris and Stan Seymour.