2012–13 FA Cup


The 2012–13 FA Cup was the 132nd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It was sponsored by Budweiser for a second consecutive season, thus the competition name was The FA Cup with Budweiser.
A total of 833 clubs applied to enter, with 758 clubs being accepted into the competition.
The preliminary rounds commenced on 11 August 2012, with the first round proper played on 3 November 2012. The final was played on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic. In what was described as the biggest upset since Wimbledon's win over Liverpool in the 1988 final, Wigan defeated Manchester City 1–0 to claim the trophy for the first time in their history.
As a result, Wigan Athletic participated in the group stage of the following season's UEFA Europa League. Chelsea were the defending champions, having beaten Liverpool 2–1 in last season's final, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Manchester City.
Three days after winning the cup, Wigan made history by becoming the first side to win the cup and be relegated in the same season, after they lost 4–1 to Arsenal.

Schedule

The schedule for the 2012–13 FA Cup, as announced by the Football Association, is as follows:
RoundMain dateNumber of fixturesClubsNew entries this roundPrize money
Extra preliminary round11 August 2012200758 → 558400: 359th–758th£1,000
Preliminary round25 August 2012166558 → 392132: 227th–358th£1,750
First round qualifying8 September 2012116392 → 27666: 161st–226th£3,000
Second round qualifying22 September 201280276 → 19644: 117th–160th£4,500
Third round qualifying6 October 201240196 → 156none£7,500
Fourth round qualifying20 October 201232156 → 12424: 93rd–116th£12,500
First round proper3 November 201240124 → 8448: 45th–92nd£18,000
Second round proper1 December 20122084 → 64none£27,000
Third round proper5 January 20133264 → 3244: 1st–44th£67,500
Fourth round proper26 January 20131632 → 16none£90,000
Fifth round proper16 February 2013816 → 8none£180,000
Sixth round proper9–10 March 201348 → 4none£360,000
Semi-finals13–14 April 201324 → 2none£900,000
Final11 May 201312 → 1noneRunner-up £900,000
Winner £1,800,000

Qualifying rounds

All teams that entered the competition, but were not members of the Premier League or The Football League, competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Alfreton Town, Harrogate Town, Barrow, Guiseley, Hereford United, Kidderminster Harriers, Bradford Park Avenue, Wrexham, AFC Fylde, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town, Altrincham, Stockport County, Nuneaton Town, Mansfield Town, Arlesey Town, Forest Green Rovers, Metropolitan Police, Yate Town, Slough Town, Hastings United, Bromley, Chelmsford City, Luton Town, Boreham Wood, Cambridge City, Dorchester Town, Bishop's Stortford, Gloucester City, Hendon, Ebbsfleet United and Braintree Town.
AFC Fylde and Yate Town were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Slough Town had last featured in the first round in 2004–05, Boreham Wood had last done so in 2003-04, Hastings United had last done so in 2002-03, Metropolitan Police in 1993-94 and Gloucester City in 1989-90.

First round proper

Teams from League One and League Two entered at this stage, along with the winners from the fourth round qualifying.
The draw was made on 21 October 2012 with ties to be played on 2–4 November 2012. Yate Town and Slough Town were the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition, both competing in level 8 of the football league system">association football">football league system.

Second round proper

The draw for this round was made on 4 November 2012 with the ties played on the weekend of 1–2 December 2012.
Hastings United, from the seventh tier of English football, were the lowest-ranked team in the second round proper.
Bradford City accidentally fielded Curtis Good, who was ineligible to play, in a 1–1 draw against Brentford. The team was initially disqualified, and Brentford declared the winners by walkover, but Bradford eventually made a successful appeal to the FA against expulsion and were fined £1,000 instead allowing the replay to go ahead. Brentford would eventually dump Bradford City out of the cup after winning that replay.

Third round proper

Teams from the Premier League and Football League Championship entered at this stage, along with the winners from the second round.
The draw for the third round was made on 2 December 2012, with the ties played on the weekend of 5–6 January 2013.
Luton Town's Alex Lawless won the player of the round award. The results were as follows:
  1. Alex Lawless, Luton Town
  2. Danny Hylton, Aldershot Town
  3. Matthew Barnes-Homer, Macclesfield Town
  4. Liam Bridcutt, Brighton & Hove Albion
  5. Andrea Orlandi, Brighton & Hove Albion
Hastings United remained the lowest-ranked football team in the third round proper, competing in level 7 of the English football league system.

Fourth round proper

The draw for the fourth round took place on 6 January 2013, with Macclesfield Town and Luton Town, both from the Conference National, remaining as the lowest-placed teams still in the competition.

Fifth round proper

The draw for the fifth round took place on 27 January 2013, with Luton Town from the Conference National remaining as the lowest-ranked team still in the Cup.

Sixth round proper

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 17 February 2013, with Barnsley, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers all from the Championship remaining as the lowest-ranked teams.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 10 March 2013, with Millwall from the Championship remaining as the lowest-placed team still in the Cup. The draw was carried out by Edgar Davids and Graeme Le Saux at Wembley Stadium in London.

Final

Manchester City had already qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League based on their league position, therefore Wigan Athletic had already secured a place in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, regardless of whether they won or lost.

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1

Media Coverage

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the free-to-air channel ITV and the subscription channel ESPN. ITV has held the rights since 2008–09, while ESPN gained FA Cup coverage from the 2010–11 season following the collapse of Setanta in the UK. Under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events, the FA Cup Final must be broadcast live on UK terrestrial television.