1970–71 FA Cup
The 1970–71 FA Cup was the 90th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. [Football League Football League First Division|First Division|First Division] champions Arsenal won the competition for the fourth time, beating Liverpool 2–1 in the at Wembley. In doing so, Arsenal were the fourth team to complete a double of League and Cup victories, following Preston North End, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
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.
Qualifying rounds
Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 28 places available in the first round.The winners from the fourth qualifying round were South Shields, Bradford Park Avenue, Scarborough, Rhyl, Bangor City, Great Harwood, Wigan Athletic, Hereford United, Tamworth, Grantham, Boston United, Chelmsford City, Barnet, Oxford City, Wycombe Wanderers, Cheltenham Town, Slough Town, Aveley, Bishop's Stortford, Hendon, Ringmer, Crawley Town, Walton & Hersham, Margate, Wimbledon, Yeovil Town, Minehead and Weymouth.
Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Great Harwood, Aveley, Bishop's Stortford, Ringmer, Crawley Town and Minehead. Of the others, Rhyl had last featured at this stage in 1962–63 and Slough Town had last done so in 1945-46.
The once-mighty Rhyl had qualified for the first round of the FA Cup in a competition-record 15 consecutive seasons up to and including 1962-63. This season the club played in 12 matches across seven rounds of the tournament, defeating Pwllheli & District, Porthmadog, Oswestry Town, [South Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool F.C.|South Liverpool], Hartlepool and Barnsley before going out to Swansea City at Vetch Field in the third round. However, as if to emphasize their recent decline, this season also saw Rhyl's consecutive qualification record finally broken by Hereford United in that club's penultimate non-league season before being voted into the Football League.
Results
First round proper
At this stage the 48 clubs from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions joined the non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To complete this round, four additional non-league clubs were given byes. Macclesfield Town and Telford United were the finalists from the inaugural FA Trophy competition held during the previous season, while Enfield and Dagenham were the finalists from the previous season's FA Amateur Cup.Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 21 November 1970, with the exception of the Great Harwood–Rotherham United match which was played the following Tuesday. Nine matches were drawn, with Scunthorpe United and Tranmere Rovers needing a second replay at Goodison Park to settle their tie.
Second round proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 12 December 1970. Six matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week or the week after. The Lincoln City–Bradford City match required a second replay, which was played on the 21 December.Third round proper
The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled Saturday, 2 January 1971, but ten were played at later dates. Seven matches were drawn and went to replays. Yeovil Town, Rhyl, Wigan Athletic and Barnet were the last non-league clubs left in the competition.Fourth round proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 23 January 1971. Seven matches were drawn, of which one required a second replay.Fifth round proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 13 February 1971 with one fixture and two replays played three or four days later.| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Liverpool | 1–0 | Southampton | 13 February 1971 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 1–1 | Oxford United | 13 February 1971 |
| Replay | Oxford United | 1–3 | Leicester City | 17 February 1971 |
| 3 | Everton | 1–0 | Derby County | 13 February 1971 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2–1 | Nottingham Forest | 13 February 1971 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 1–2 | Arsenal | 13 February 1971 |
| 6 | Hull City | 2–1 | Brentford | 13 February 1971 |
| 7 | Stoke City | 0–0 | Ipswich Town | 13 February 1971 |
| Replay | Ipswich Town | 0–1 | Stoke City | 16 February 1971 |
| 8 | Colchester United | 3–2 | Leeds United | 13 February 1971 |
Sixth round proper
The four sixth round ties were played on the 6 March 1971. There were two replays in the midweek fixtures of the following week.| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Liverpool | 0–0 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 March 1971 |
| Replay | Tottenham Hotspur | 0–1 | Liverpool | 16 March 1971 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 0–0 | Arsenal | 6 March 1971 |
| Replay | Arsenal | 1–0 | Leicester City | 15 March 1971 |
| 3 | Everton | 5–0 | Colchester United | 6 March 1971 |
| 4 | Hull City | 2–3 | Stoke City | 6 March 1971 |