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2003–04 FA Cup

The 2003–04 FA Cup was the 123rd staging of England and the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup. The competition began on 23 August 2003, with the lowest-ranked of the entrants competing in the Extra preliminary round. In the third round, the clubs from the Premiership and Division One competed in the competition for the first time.

The semi-finals were staged at neutral venues and, like the final, would not be replayed in the event of a draw. The competition culminated with the cup final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff for a fourth year in a row, since Wembley Stadium was still in the rebuilding process. The cup was won by Manchester United for a record 11th time, with a 3–0 victory over Millwall from Division One.

The appearance in the cup final by Millwall, a Level 2 team, marked the first time in 12 years that a team outside Level 1 of the English football pyramid appeared in the final game.

Calendar

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 Stalybridge Celtic, Lancaster City, Grantham Town, Chester City, Whitby Town, Shrewsbury Town, Burton Albion, Telford United, Scarborough, Gainsborough Trinity, Accrington Stanley, Northwich Victoria, Bradford Park Avenue, Shildon, Histon, Stevenage Borough, Barnet, Farnborough Town, Grays Athletic, Weston-super-Mare, Boreham Wood, Aldershot Town, Thurrock, Hereford United, Bishop's Stortford, Salisbury City, Ford United, Canvey Island, Hornchurch, Woking, Crawley Town and Gravesend & Northfleet.

Histon, Thurrock and Hornchurch were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Accrington Stanley and Weston-super-Mare had last featured at this stage in 1993–94, Bishop's Stortford had last done so in 1986-87, Grantham Town had last done so in 1975-76, Bradford Park Avenue had last done so in 1970-71 and Shildon had last done so in 1961-62.

First round proper

This round is the first in which Football League teams from Second and Third Division compete with non-league teams. Luton Town's Adrian Forbes and Sheffield Wednesday's Adam Proudlock netted hat tricks. Shildon, of the Northern League at level 8 of the English football pyramid, was the lowest ranked team in the round.

  • Ties were played over the weekend of 8 November 2003.

Second round proper

Ties were played over the weekend of 6 December 2003. Mansfield's Liam Lawrence showed how interested Championship and premiership clubs were with him by netting a hat trick. Step 6 sides Weston-super-Mare, from the Southern League Premier Division, and Hornchurch, from the Isthmian League Premier Division, were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.

Third round proper

This round marks the point at which First Division and Premier League (top-flight) teams enter the competition. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 3 January 2004, with replays on 13 January and 14 January. The draw included three clubs from the Football Conference (Step 5): Telford United, Scarborough and Accrington Stanley.

Fourth round proper

Ties played during the weekend of 24 January 2004, with replays on 3 February and 4 February. Telford United and Scarborough were again the lowest-ranked teams in the draw and, by this stage, were also the last non-league clubs left in the competition.

The match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City was particularly notable. Tottenham led the match 3–0 at half-time but Manchester City turned the match around in the second half to win 4–3, with Jon Macken scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute. This was despite Manchester City having one less player on the pitch during the second half after Joey Barton was red carded during the half-time interval.

Fifth round proper

  • Matches played weekend of 14 and 15 February 2004
  • Three replays played week commencing 22 and 25 February 2004.
  • Four non-Premiership sides progressed to the quarter-finals.
  • Division Two sides Colchester United and Tranmere Rovers were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

Sixth round proper

  • Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 6 March 2004.
  • Two Division One sides progressed to the semi-finals, while another was eliminated at this stage.
  • Division Two side Tranmere Rovers was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw and was only eliminated by First Division Millwall after a replay.

Replay

Semi-finals

  • Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 3 April 2004.
  • Two teams from Division 1 featured in the semi-finals (Millwall and Sunderland) who faced each other. The other tie was an all-Premiership affair between Manchester United and Arsenal, held at Villa Park.
  • Both games were played at neutral venues.

Final

Manchester United won the game and lifted the trophy for the 11th time in their history (a competition record) with a 3–0 victory over a Millwall side who were the first team from outside the top flight to reach the FA Cup final in 12 years.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters for the third consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the sixteenth consecutive season.

The matches shown live on the BBC were:

The matches shown live on Sky Sports were:

References