1971–72 FA Cup#First round

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, Blyth Spartans, Scarborough, Bangor City, Ellesmere Port Town, Altrincham, Wigan Athletic, Nuneaton Borough, Rossendale United, Frickley Colliery, Boston United, Hereford United, Redditch United, Kettering Town, Alvechurch, King's Lynn, Maidenhead United, Enfield, Guildford City, Dover, Barnet, Romford, Margate, Basingstoke Town, Witney Town, Bridgwater Town, Crawley Town and Weymouth.

Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Ellesmere Port Town, Redditch United, Alvechurch, Basingstoke Town and Witney Town. Rossendale United was appearing at this stage for the first time since predecessor outfit Rossendale FC had entered the competition in 1887-88. Of the others, Frickley Colliery, Maidenhead United and Bridgwater Town had last qualified for the first round in 1963-64 and Dover had last done so in 1960-61.

{{for|all qualifying round results|1971–72 FA Cup qualifying rounds}}

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 the round, four additional non-league clubs received byes to this stage. Telford United and Hillingdon Borough were the finalists from the previous season's FA Trophy competition, while Skelmersdale United and Dagenham were the finalists from the previous season's FA Amateur Cup.

Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 20 November 1971, although the Aldershot-Alvechurch match was delayed until 24 November because Alvechurch's fourth qualifying round tie against Oxford City had gone to a fifth replay which took place on 22 November, two days after the date set for the first round ties. Also of particular note, Ted MacDougall set a goalscoring record for the FA Cup proper with nine goals for Third Division AFC Bournemouth as they beat Margate of the Southern League 11–0.

Nine drawn matches in this round were settled by a single replay.

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 11 December 1971. Six matches were drawn, one of which required a second replay.

|-

|9||Brighton & Hove Albion||1–1||Walsall||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|Replay||Walsall||2–1||Brighton & Hove Albion||14 December 1971||8,014||

|-

|10||Blyth Spartans||1–0||Stockport County||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|11||Mansfield Town||2–2||Tranmere Rovers||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|Replay||Tranmere Rovers||4–2||Mansfield Town||15 December 1971||5,703||

|-

|12||Port Vale||1–0||Darlington||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|13||Workington||1–3||Bury||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|14||Hereford United||0–0||Northampton Town||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|Replay||Northampton Town||2–2||Hereford United||14 December 1971||9,099||

|-

|2nd replay||Hereford United||2–1||Northampton Town||20 December 1971||8,331||{{ref label|WestBrom|B|}}

|-

|15||Rotherham United||1–1||York City||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|Replay||York City||2–3||Rotherham United||13 December 1971||10,010||

|-

|16||Romford||0–1||Gillingham||11 December 1971||8,405||

|-

|17||Boston United||2–1||Hartlepool||11 December 1971||4,400||

|-

|18||Peterborough United||4–0||Enfield||11 December 1971||7,702||

|-

|19||South Shields||1–3||Notts County||11 December 1971||8,144||

|-

|20||Swansea City||0–0||Exeter City||11 December 1971|| ||

|-

|Replay||Exeter City||0–1||Swansea City||15 December 1971||6,858||

|}

The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 15 January 1972; the tie between Newcastle United and Hereford United at Newcastle was twice postponed because of a waterlogged pitch on which snow had fallen.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/jan/28/newsstory.hereford |title=The winner of the FA Cup poll: Hereford v Newcastle |work=The Observer |publisher=Guardian Media Group |date=2007-01-28 |access-date=2008-05-24| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080512073733/http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/jan/28/newsstory.hereford| archive-date= 12 May 2008 | url-status= live}} Ten matches were drawn, each of which was settled by a single replay. The replay between Hereford and Newcastle, also the subject of several postponements and eventually played on the day scheduled for the fourth round ties, was voted "best FA Cup tie ever" in a 2007 poll hosted in The Observer newspaper. It was the first time a First Division club had been eliminated from the competition by non-league opponents since Sunderland's shock loss to Yeovil Town in 1948–49.

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 5 February 1972; Hereford United, unable to complete their third-round replay until this date, played their match later that week (and the subsequent replay early the following week). Five matches were drawn, of which one required a second replay. After their heroics in the previous round, Hereford was the last non-league club left in the competition.

The matches were played on Saturday, 26 February 1972. Two matches were drawn, of which one required a second replay.

|-

|2||Everton||0–2||Tottenham Hotspur||26 February 1972||50,511||

|-

|3||Manchester United||0–0||Middlesbrough||26 February 1972||53,850||

|-

|Replay||Middlesbrough||0–3||Manchester United||29 February 1972||39,683||

|-

|4||Huddersfield Town||4–2||West Ham United||26 February 1972||27,080||

|-

|5||Cardiff City||0–2||Leeds United||26 February 1972||50,000||

|-

|6||Stoke City||4–1||Hull City||26 February 1972|| ||

|-

|7||Birmingham City||3–1||Portsmouth||26 February 1972||43,886||

|-

|8||Orient||3–2||Chelsea||26 February 1972|| ||

|}

{{football box

|date=18 March 1972

|time= 15:00

|team1=Manchester United

|score=1–1

|report=

|team2=Stoke City

|goals1= Best {{goal|85}}

|goals2= Greenhoff {{goal|61}}

|stadium=Old Trafford, Manchester

|attendance= 54,226

|referee= John Homewood }}

{{football box

|date=18 March 1972

|time= 15:00

|team1=Leeds United

|score=2–1

|report=

|team2=Tottenham Hotspur

|goals1=Clarke {{goal}}
Charlton {{goal}}

|goals2=Pratt {{goal}}

|stadium=Elland Road, Leeds

|attendance=43,937

|referee= Jack Taylor }}

{{football box

|date=18 March 1972

|time= 15:00

|team1=Birmingham City

|score=3–1

|report=

|team2=Huddersfield Town

|goals1= Page {{goal}}
R Latchford {{goal}}
Hatton {{goal}}

|goals2= Cherry {{goal}}

|stadium=St Andrew's, Birmingham

|attendance= 52,470

|referee= Pat Partridge }}

{{football box

|date=18 March 1972

|time= 15:00

|team1=Orient

|score=0–1

|report=

|team2=Arsenal

|goals1=

|goals2= Ball {{goal|49}}

|stadium=Brisbane Road, London

|attendance= 32,000

|referee= Bob Matthewson }}

;Replay

{{football box

|date=22 March 1972

|time= 19:30

|team1=Stoke City

|score=2–1 aet

|report=

|team2=Manchester United

|goals1= Smith {{goal|72}}
Conroy {{goal|102}}

|goals2= Best {{goal|70}}

|stadium=Victoria Ground, Stoke-on-Trent

|attendance= 49,192{{cite web |url=http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/seasons/season1972.html |title=Season 1971-1972 |work=stretfordend.co.uk |access-date=2008-05-23}}

|referee= John Homewood }}

{{football box

|date=15 April 1972

|time= 15:00

|team1=Arsenal

|score=1–1

|report=

|team2=Stoke City

|goals1=Armstrong {{goal|47}}

|goals2=Simpson {{goal|65|og}}

|stadium=Villa Park, Birmingham

|attendance=

|referee= Keith Walker }}

{{football box

|date=15 April 1972

|time= 15:00

|team1=Leeds United

|score=3–0

|report=

|team2=Birmingham City

|goals1=Jones {{goal}} {{goal}}
Lorimer {{goal}}

|goals2=

|stadium= Hillsborough, Sheffield

|attendance= 55,000

|referee= Norman Burtenshaw }}

;Replay

{{football box

|date=19 April 1972

|time= 19:30

|team1=Stoke City

|score=1–2

|report=

|team2=Arsenal

|goals1= Greenhoff {{goal||pen}}

|goals2=George {{goal||pen}}
Radford {{goal|76}}

|stadium= Goodison Park, Liverpool

|attendance= 38,970

|referee= Keith Walker }}

For the third time in what turned out to be a five-year experiment, the losing semifinalists were obliged to play off for third and fourth place. The match was held over until immediately before the 1972–73 season. After a goalless 90 minutes, the result was determined by a penalty shootout, the first time this method was used to settle a match in the FA Cup.

{{football box

|date=5 August 1972

|time=

|team1=Birmingham City

|score=0–0
4–3 (pens.)

|report=

|team2=Stoke City

|goals1=

|goals2=

|stadium=St Andrew's, Birmingham

|attendance= 25,841

|referee= }}

{{main|1972 FA Cup Final}}

The final took place on Saturday, 6 May 1972 at Wembley and ended in a victory for Leeds United over Arsenal by 1–0. The goal was scored by Allan Clarke. The attendance was 100,000.

{{football box

|date=6 May 1972

|time=15:00 BST

|team1=Leeds United

|score=1–0

|report={{cite web|url=http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1972.htm |title=FA Cup Final 1972 |publisher=fa-cupfinals.co.uk |access-date=2008-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608141001/http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1972.htm |archive-date=8 June 2008 |url-status=dead }}

|team2=Arsenal

|goals1=Clarke {{goal|53}}

|goals2=

|stadium=Wembley, London

|attendance=100,000

|referee=David Smith }}

The rights to show FA Cup games were, as with Football League matches, shared between the BBC and ITV network. All games were shown in a highlights format, except the Final, which was shown live both on BBC1 & ITV. The BBC football highlights programme Match Of The Day would show up to three games and the various ITV regional network stations would cover up to one game and show highlights from other games covered elsewhere on the ITV network. No games from Rounds 1 or 2 were shown. Highlights of replays would be shown on either the BBC or ITV. Third round BBC Swindon Town v Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leicester City, Blackpool v Chelsea, Manchester United v Southampton (Midweek-replay), Hereford United v Newcastle United (Saturday-replay) ITV Southampton v Manchester United (Southern & Granada), West Ham United v Luton Town (LWT), Leeds United v Bristol Rovers (Yorkshire), Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (Anglia), Derby County v Shrewsbury (ATV), Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday (Tyne-Tees). Fourth round BBC Liverpool v Leeds United, Preston North End v Manchester United ITV Reading v Arsenal (Southern & LWT), Birmingham City v Ipswich Town (ATV), Huddersfield Town v Fulham (Yorkshire), Everton v Walsall (Granada), Coventry City v Hull City (Anglia-covered game out of region), Leeds United v Liverpool (Midweek replay-All regions). Fifth round BBC Orient v Chelsea, Cardiff City v Leeds United, Manchester United v Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough v Manchester United (Midweek-replay) ITV Everton v Tottenham Hotspur (Granada & LWT), Birmingham City v Portsmouth (ATV), Huddersfield Town v West Ham United, Stoke City v Hull City (Anglia-covered game out of region). Sixth round BBC Leeds United v Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United v Stoke City ITV Orient v Arsenal (LWT), Birmingham City v Huddersfield Town (ATV & Yorkshire) All regions covered those two games. Semi-final BBC Birmingham City v Leeds United ITV Arsenal v Stoke City All regions covered this game Arsenal v Stoke City (Midweek Replay All Regions) Final Arsenal v Leeds United Shown Live on both BBC & all ITV regions

:A. {{note|Bury}}: Match played at Gigg Lane, Bury.

:B. {{note|WestBrom}}: Match played at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich.

:C. {{note|ManCity}}: Match played at Maine Road, Manchester.

:D. {{note|Leicester}}: Match played at Filbert Street, Leicester.

;General

• [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/Archive.aspx The FA Cup Archive] at TheFA.com
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081030011308/http://www.soccerbase.com/cup2.sd?competitionid=58&seasonid=101 English FA Cup 1971/72] at Soccerbase
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150304111827/http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1971-72/F.A.Cup1971-72.html F.A. Cup 1971/72 Results] at Footballsite
• [https://sites.google.com/site/motdlistings/home/1971-72] MOTD listings
• [http://carousel.royalwebhosting.net/itv/ITVfootball68-83.html] ITV regional listings & Midweek games for both BBC & ITV

;Specific

{{reflist|2}}

{{FA Cup seasons}}

{{1971–72 in English football}}

{{1971–72 in European football (UEFA)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1971-72 FA Cup}}

Category:FA Cup seasons

FA Cup