2010–11 FA Cup

2010–11 FA Cup
Country  England
 Wales
Teams 759
Champions Manchester City (5th title)
Runners-up Stoke City
Top goal scorer(s) Mathieu Manset
Scott McGleish
(6 goals)

The 2010–11 FA Cup was the 130th season of the world's oldest association football knock-out competition; The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. A total of 806 clubs applied to enter of which 759 were accepted,[1] a slight drop compared to the 762 clubs accepted into the 2009–10 competition.

The competition commenced on 14 August 2010 with the Extra preliminary round and concluded on 14 May 2011 with the Final, held at Wembley Stadium.[2] Unusually, this was not the last game of the English domestic season nor the only game played on that day. Wembley Stadium was also hosting the 2011 Champions League Final on 28 May, forcing the FA Cup Final to be played at least two weeks earlier. This meant the Final was played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season and, apart from the finalists who were scheduled to play a league match against each other, a full programme of matches was played.

The defending champions were Chelsea, who retained their title in the 2010 final against Portsmouth, but they lost to Everton in the fourth round. The tournament winners were Manchester City, who defeated Stoke City in the final with Yaya Touré scoring the only goal of the match in the 74th minute.[3] The FA Cup winners are normally entitled to a place in the next season's UEFA Europa League unless they have already qualified for that tournament or for the UEFA Champions League; because Manchester City qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League via their top-four finish in the 2010–11 Premier League, Stoke qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League as runners-up.[4]

Teams

Round Clubs
remaining 		Clubs
involved 		Winners from
previous round 		New entries
this round 		Leagues entering at this round
Extra Preliminary Round 759 402 none 402 Levels 9 and 10 in football league pyramid
Preliminary Round 558 332 201 131 Northern Premier League Division One North
Northern Premier League Division One South

Southern Football League Division One Central
Southern Football League Division One South & West
Isthmian League Division One North
Isthmian League Division One South

First Round Qualifying 392 232 166 66 Northern Premier League Premier Division
Southern Football League Premier Division
Isthmian League Premier Division
Second Round Qualifying 276 160 116 44 Conference North
Conference South
Third Round Qualifying 196 80 80 none none
Fourth Round Qualifying 156 64 40 24 Conference National
First Round Proper 124 80 32 48 Football League One
Football League Two
Second Round Proper 84 40 40 none none
Third Round Proper 64 64 20 44 Premier League
Football League Championship
Fourth Round Proper 32 32 32 none none
Fifth Round Proper 16 16 16 none none
Sixth Round Proper 8 8 8 none none
Semi-Finals 4 4 4 none none
Final 2 2 2 none none

Calendar

The calendar for the 2010–11 FA Cup, as announced by The Football Association:[2]

Round Main date Number of fixtures Clubs New entries this round Prize money Player of the Round
Extra Preliminary Round 14 August 2010 201 759 → 558 402: 358th–759th £750 n/a
Preliminary Round 28 August 2010 166 558 → 392 131: 227th–357th £1,500 n/a
First Round Qualifying 11 September 2010 116 392 → 276 66: 161st–226th £3,000 Sam Styles (Oxhey Jets)[5]
Second Round Qualifying 25 September 2010 80 276 → 196 44: 117th–160th £4,500 Sam Higgins (Chelmsford City)[6]
Third Round Qualifying 9 October 2010 40 196 → 156 none £7,500 Justin Marsden (Nuneaton Town)[7]
Fourth Round Qualifying 23 October 2010 32 156 → 124 24: 93rd–116th £12,500 Amari Morgan-Smith (Luton Town)[8]
First round proper 6 November 2010 40 124 → 84 48: 45th–92nd £18,000 Jake Cottrell (FC United of Manchester)[9]
Second round proper 27 November 2010 20 84 → 64 none £27,000 Sam Ashton (FC United of Manchester)[10]
Third round proper 8 January 2011 32 64 → 32 44: 1st–44th £67,500 Kasper Schmeichel (Leeds United)[11]
Fourth round proper 29 January 2011 16 32 → 16 none £90,000 Neal Bishop (Notts County)[12]
Fifth round proper 19 February 2011 8 16 → 8 none £180,000 Matthew Mills (Reading F.C.)
Sixth round proper 12–13 March 2011 4 8 → 4 none £360,000 Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers F.C.)[13]
Semi-Finals 16–17 April 2011 2 4 → 2 none £450,000 Joe Hart (Manchester City)[14]
Final 14 May 2011 1 2 → 1 none Winner: £1,800,000
Runner-up: £900,000 		Mario Balotelli (Manchester City)

Qualifying Rounds

All of the teams that entered the competition, but were not members of the Premier League or The Football League, had to compete in the qualifying rounds.

First Round Proper

Teams from Leagues One and Two enter at this stage, along with the winners from the Fourth Round Qualifying. The draw was made on 24 October 2010 with ties to be played on the weekend of 6–7 November 2010 apart from Rochdale vs FC United of Manchester which was the only match played on 5 November 2010. It was broadcast on ESPN kicking off its FA Cup campaign with the Northern Premier League club shocking their League One counterparts 3–2. ESPN's next match was on 6 November 2010, where Cambridge United and Huddersfield Town played out a scoreless draw. ITV1's first coverage was Southport vs Sheffield Wednesday on 7 November 2010 with the League One side trouncing their Conference National opponents 5–2.

Tipton Town of the Midland Football Alliance and Hythe Town of the Kent League, both from the ninth tier, were the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition at this stage. Both suffered heavy defeats by league opposition.

Second Round Proper

The matches in the Second round proper were scheduled to take place on 26, 27 and 29 November 2010 with replays scheduled for 7, 8 and 9 December . Hartlepool United v Yeovil Town and Notts County v AFC Bournemouth were both postponed on their original date, 26 November, and again on 7 December. They were finally played on 14 December.

FC United of Manchester of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and Swindon Supermarine of the Southern League Premier Division, both from the seventh tier, were the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition at this stage. Swindon Supermarine were narrowly defeated 1–0 by Colchester United, but FC United of Manchester managed to force a replay after a 1–1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

The draw for the second round was notable for the potential meeting of AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons. This would have been the first time the two clubs had met however MK Dons were beaten by Stevenage in their first-round replay.

Third Round Proper

The draw for the Third Round took place on 28 November 2010 at Wembley Stadium, which was made by Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Sergio Pizzorno of Kasabian.[16] Premier League and Football League Championship teams entered at this stage, joining the winners from the second round and completing the entrants. The lowest ranked team in this round was Dover Athletic of the Conference South, the sixth tier of English football. The tie between Wycombe Wanderers and Hereford United was played later than usual due to the fact that the second round replay between Lincoln City and Hereford was delayed. Arsenal narrowly avoided an upset by scoring a stoppage time penalty in their 1–1 draw with Championship side Leeds United. The highly anticipated match in the third round between Manchester United and Liverpool saw United beat Liverpool 1–0 with a Ryan Giggs second minute penalty. Championship side Leeds United failed to maintain their good showing against Arsenal by losing 3–1. Also Newcastle suffered a massive upset, losing 3–1 to League Two Stevenage.

Fourth Round Proper

The draw for the Fourth Round took place on Sunday 9 January 2011.[17] The lowest ranked team left in the competition was Crawley Town of the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Of the other 31 teams, 15 were from the Premier League, 6 were from The Championship, 6 were from League One, and 4 were from League Two. Three matches went to a replay, Everton v Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic and Manchester City v Notts County.

Fifth Round Proper

The draw for the Fifth Round took place on Sunday 30 January 2011.[18] For the second consecutive round, the lowest ranked team left in the competition was Crawley Town of the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. They were the first non-League side to make the fifth round since 1994.[19] Of the other 15 teams, 10 were from the Premier League, two from the Championship and three from League One. One match went to a replay, Leyton Orient v Arsenal.

Sixth Round Proper

The draw for the Sixth Round took place on Sunday 20 February 2011.[20] Reading of The Championship defeated Everton in the Fifth Round, and are the last non-Premier League team remaining in the competition, for the second year running. All 7 other teams are from the Premier League.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was conducted by Hope Powell and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 13 March 2011, after the result of the Stoke game, but before the end of the Manchester City game.[21] Ties were played on 16/17 April at Wembley. With Manchester City's victory over Reading, it meant that the Semi-Finals of the Cup would be an all-Premier League affair, and in addition, Wembley Stadium would host its first ever Manchester derby game.

Final

Main article: 2011 FA Cup Final

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free to air broadcasters for the third consecutive season while ESPN took over the subscription broadcaster package Setanta Sports held.

International broadcasters

Country Broadcaster
 Albania Tring Sport
 Belgium Prime
 France France Télévisions
 Italy SKY Italia
 Netherlands Eredivisie Live

References

  1. ↑ "2010 FA Cup Qualifying round draws". TheFA.com (The Football Association). Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "FA Cup Round Dates". TheFA.com (The Football Association). Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  3. ↑ "Manchester City 1 Stoke City 0 match report". Daily Telegraph. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Touré brings City's long wait to an end". The Independent. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "Sam scores again". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Sam's the man". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Marsden tops Cup poll". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 19 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2 November 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Amari grabs Cup accolade". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  9. ↑ "Jake rakes in award". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 22 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Cup consolation for Ashton". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 14 December 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  11. ↑ "Kasper can take poll solace". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 24 January 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  12. ↑ "Bishop is the main man". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 14 February 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  13. ↑ "Skipper scoops E.ON award". Bolton Wanderers FC. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  14. ↑ "Player of the Round award in safe hands". TheFA.com (The Football Association). 3 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  15. ↑ "FA Cup Match Officials". TheFA.com (The Football Association). Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  16. ↑ "Manchester United get Liverpool in FA Cup third round". BBC Sport. 28 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  17. ↑ "Premier League football news from the Barclays Premier League | FA Cup fourth round draw – Sun 9th Jan". Premierleague.com. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  18. ↑ "Premier League – FA Cup fifth round draw". PremierLeague.com (The Premier League). 30 January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  19. ↑ "Manchester United to host Crawley in FA Cup fifth round". bbc.co.uk (BBC Sport). 30 January 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  20. ↑ "FA Cup sixth round draw". thefa.com (The FA). 20 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  21. ↑ "FA Cup semi-finals draw". thefa.com (The FA). 13 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.

External links