2005–06 FA Cup
The 2005–06 FA Cup was the 125th staging of the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup.
The competition began on 20 August 2005, with the lowest-ranked of the 674 entrants competing in the Extra preliminary round. For the top 44 clubs, the FA Cup began in the third round in January.
Ties are all single-legged and take place at the stadium of the club drawn first. If scores are level at the end of a match, it is replayed at the away club's stadium, usually 10 days later. If the scores are still level, extra-time and penalties are used to determine a winner. However, from the semi-finals onwards, the ties take place at a neutral stadium, and there are no replays. That is to say, extra-time and penalties are played if necessary to determine a winner in a single match.
At the special request of football team|England national team] manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, the quarter-finals were held on weeknights. This action was made to ensure that the season finishes as early as possible, allowing players a full month's rest before the 2006 World Cup finals.
The semi-finals were staged at neutral venues and, like the final, would not be replayed in the event of a draw.
The Football Association had hoped to stage the final at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium, London on 13 May 2006, but due to the uncertainty of the new stadium being completed in time, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final, which was contested between Liverpool and West Ham United.
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 Harrogate Town, Tamworth, Southport, Burscough, Chasetown, Northwich Victoria, York City, Leamington, Worcester City, Hednesford Town, Burton Albion, Halifax Town, Morecambe, Hereford United, Braintree Town, Kettering Town, Burnham, Welling United, Aldershot Town, Histon, Grays Athletic, Nuneaton Borough, Stevenage Borough, Woking, Chippenham Town, Merthyr Tydfil, Cambridge City, Folkestone Invicta, Ramsgate, Dagenham & Redbridge, Weymouth and Eastbourne Borough.
Chasetown, Braintree Town, Burnham, Eastbourne Borough and Folkestone Invicta were appearing in the competition proper for the first time, with Invicta being the first club from Folkestone to feature at this stage since Folkestone F.C. in FA Cup|1982-83]. Of the others, Weymouth had last qualified for the first round in 1985–86, Leamington had last done so in 1983-84, Burscough had last done so in 1980-81, Ramsgate had last done so in 1955-56 and Chippenham Town had last done so in 1951-52.
First round proper
All ties took place on the weekend of Saturday 5 November 2005. Replays, played in the week of 14 November 2005, are shown in italics. Ties are shown in order of the draw.Step 9 sides Chasetown and Leamington, from the Midland Alliance, were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.
Second round proper
The 40 clubs to have made it through the first round, play off to reduce the number of remaining clubs to 20.All ties took place between Friday 2 and Sunday 4 December 2005. Replays took place on 13 December. Ties are shown in order of the draw.
Burscough, from the Northern Premier League Premier Division, was the lowest-ranked team in the round.
Third round proper
The 20 clubs to have made it through Round Two meet the 24 clubs from the Football League Championship and the 20 Premier League clubs, including holders Arsenal.All ties took place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 January 2006. Replays took place on 17 and 18 January, and are shown in italics. Ties are shown in order of the draw.
One of the most significant games of the round, if not the entire competition, was the goalless draw between Premier League giants Manchester United and Conference National underdogs Burton Albion in the first match at the Pirelli Stadium. However, United were in no mood for unpleasant surprises in the replay at Old Trafford and easily overcame Albion 5-0.
Conference North sides Northwich Victoria and Nuneaton Borough were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.
Fourth round proper
This round featured the 32 clubs to have made it through Round Three.All ties took place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 January 2006. Replays took place on 7 and 8 February, and are shown in italics. Ties are shown in order of the draw.
League Two sides Cheltenham Town and Leyton Orient were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance |
| 1 | Stoke City | 2–1 | Walsall | 8,834 |
| 2 | Cheltenham Town | 0–2 | Newcastle United | 7,022 |
| 3 | Coventry City | 1–1 | Middlesbrough | 28,120 |
| replay | Middlesbrough | 1–0 | Coventry City | 14,131 |
| 4 | Reading | 1–1 | Birmingham City | 23,762 |
| replay | Birmingham City | 2–1 | Reading | 16,644 |
| 5 | Portsmouth | 1–2 | Liverpool | 17,247 |
| 6 | Leicester City | 0–1 | Southampton | 20,427 |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 1–0 | Arsenal | 13,326 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 3–1 | Port Vale | 30,434 |
| 9 | Brentford | 2–1 | Sunderland | 11,698 |
| 10 | Manchester City | 1–0 | Wigan Athletic | 30,811 |
| 11 | Everton | 1–1 | Chelsea | 29,742 |
| replay | Chelsea | 4–1 | Everton | 39,301 |
| 12 | Preston North End | 1–1 | Crystal Palace | 9,489 |
| replay | Crystal Palace | 1–2 | Preston North End | 7,356 |
| 13 | West Ham United | 4–2 | Blackburn Rovers | 23,700 |
| 14 | Colchester United | 3–1 | Derby County | 5,933 |
| 15 | Charlton Athletic | 2–1 | Leyton Orient | 22,029 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0–3 | Manchester United | 28,333 |
Fifth round proper
Initial matches were played on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February 2006. Replays are shown in italics, and took place on 14 and 15 March. Ties are shown in order of the draw. All eight ties were won by Premier League clubs, with League One sides Colchester United and Brentford being the lowest-ranked teams participating.Liverpool's 1-0 win over Manchester United ended their arch rivals' hopes of an FA Cup/League Cup double, as well as ending Liverpool's 85-year wait for a win over Manchester United in an FA Cup tie.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance |
| 1 | Preston North End | 0–2 | Middlesbrough | 19,877 |
| 2 | Newcastle United | 1–0 | Southampton | 40,975 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 1–1 | Manchester City | 23,847 |
| replay | Manchester City | 2–1 | Aston Villa | 33,006 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 3–1 | Colchester United | 41,810 |
| 5 | Charlton Athletic | 3–1 | Brentford | 22,098 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 1–0 | Manchester United | 44,039 |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 0–0 | West Ham United | 17,120 |
| replay | West Ham United | 2–1 | Bolton Wanderers | 24,685 |
| 8 | Stoke City | 0–1 | Birmingham City | 18,768 |
Sixth round proper
The most significant game of the round was undoubtedly Liverpool's 7-0 win at Birmingham City, one of the biggest ever scorelines in an FA Cup quarter-final tie.This was a rare occurrence in which all eight quarter-finalists were members of the top flight.
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Semi-finals
Chelsea's hopes of the league title and FA Cup double were ended as they lost 2–1 to Liverpool, while Middlesbrough's defeat to West Ham United ended their hopes of an FA Cup/UEFA Cup double.West Ham's victory meant that they would be contesting their first FA Cup final for 26 years, with this victory coming just five days after the death of John Lyall, manager of the West Ham side that had won the cup that year.
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