2006–07 FA Cup
The 2006–07 FA Cup was the 126th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. This season's edition was the first to be sponsored by E.ON.
The competition started on 18 August 2006 with the first of the record number of 687 teams entering in the Extra preliminary round and concluded on 19 May 2007 with the final, the first to be held at the new Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea claimed this season's FA Cup with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Manchester United, with Didier Drogba scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of extra-time. Manchester United had played against top-flight opponents in each round, as they had when they won the Cup in 1948.
This was the last FA Cup at which the semi-finals were played at neutral club venues; since 2008 all FA Cup semi-finals have been played at Wembley Stadium.
Qualifying rounds
All participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Barrow, Stafford Rangers, Tamworth, Gainsborough Trinity, King's Lynn, York City, Fleetwood Town, Rushden & Diamonds, Burton Albion, Northwich Victoria, Farsley Celtic, Kettering Town, Morecambe, Kidderminster Harriers, Basingstoke Town, Lewes, Bishop's Stortford, Weymouth, Maidenhead United, Stevenage Borough, Woking, Clevedon Town, Newport County, Oxford United, Yeading, Aldershot Town, Exeter City, Leatherhead, Chelmsford City, Bromley, Salisbury City and Havant & Waterlooville.
Clevedon Town was appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Basingstoke Town had last featured at this stage in 1998–99, King's Lynn had last done so in 1997-98, Bromley had last done so in 1996-97, Fleetwood Town in 1990-91, Leatherhead in 1980-81, Farsley Celtic in 1974-75 and Maidenhead United in 1971-72.
First round proper
Football League clubs from League One and League Two entered the competition at this stage. The draw was made by Will Greenwood and Neil Back, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking. Step 8 side Leatherhead, of the Isthmian League First Division South, was the lowest-ranked team in the round.Matches were played on weekend of Saturday, 11 November 2006.
Second round proper
Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 2 December 2006. The draw was made on 12 November by Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One. King's Lynn, from the Southern League Premier Division at Step 7, was the lowest-ranked team in the round.As mentioned below, Bury defeated Chester City 3–1 at the Deva Stadium but it was soon revealed that Bury had fielded an ineligible player, resulting in them being expelled from the competition and Chester City being reinstated.
Third round proper
This round marks the point at which the Premier League and Football League Championship teams entered the competition. The draw was made on 3 December 2006 by Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One. Conference National sides Aldershot Town and Tamworth were the lowest-ranked teams in the round and the last non-league clubs left in the competition.Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 6 January 2007 with replays taking place during the week of 16 and 17 January.
Fourth round proper
Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 27 January 2007. The draw was made on 8 January by Hope Powell and Faye White, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC Two and Sky Sports News. League Two sides Barnet and Bristol Rovers were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.Fifth round proper
Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 17 February 2007. The draw took place on Monday, 29 January 2007 and was made by Darren Campbell and Roger Black, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC Two and Sky Sports News. The round featured ten clubs from the Premier League and six from the Football League Championship.Sixth round proper
Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 10 March 2007. The draw for the round, also known as the quarter-finals, took place on Monday, 19 February 2007 at 1:30pm GMT. The draw was made by Steve McClaren and Terry Venables, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking and televised live on BBC Two. This was the last round in which matches were held on the home grounds of one of the teams. The only non-Premier League team to reach the quarter-finals this season were Plymouth Argyle.Semi-finals
Unlike earlier rounds, matches were played on neutral grounds on the weekend of Saturday, 14 April 2007. There would be no replays even if the matches were drawn; instead, extra time would decide winners immediately thereafter. Only if extra time did not decide the winners, a penalty shootout would decide winners. The draw for the semi-finals took place on Monday, 12 March 2007 at 1:30pm GMT. The draw was made by Ray Clemence, and adjudicated by Trevor Brooking.Final
The 126th FA Cup final was played at the new Wembley Stadium and it was the first FA Cup Final to be played in London since 2000. Similarly to the semi-finals, there would be no replay even if the match was drawn; instead, extra time would be used to decide the winners. If extra time failed to separate the two sides, the match would go to penalties. Chelsea's victory ended Manchester United's hopes of becoming the only English club to win the double four times, and in doing so, completed their own cup-double.- Assistant Referees:
- *Peter Kirkup
- *Dave Bryan
- Fourth official: Howard Webb
