The 2004âÂÂ05 FA Cup was the 124th season of the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup. The competition began on 28 August 2004, with the lowest-ranked of the entrants competing in the Extra preliminary round. For England's top 44 clubs, from the 2004âÂÂ05 Premier League and 2004âÂÂ05 Football League Championship, the FA Cup began at the third round in January.
Ties were all single-legged and took place at the stadium of the club drawn first. If scores were level at the end of a match, the match was replayed at the away club's stadium, usually in the middle of the following week. If the scores are still level, extra-time and penalties (if necessary) are used to determine a winner. 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.
The new Wembley Stadium was still at least a year away from being ready for use, so the final was staged at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 21 May 2005. The final was won by Arsenal on penalties after a goalless draw with holders Manchester United, the first time that the FA Cup final had been decided on penalties.
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 Southport, Vauxhall Motors, Hinckley United, Hereford United, Carlisle United, Halesowen Town, Tamworth, Halifax Town, Stafford Rangers, Morecambe, Alfreton Town, Leigh RMI, Coalville Town, Lancaster City, Billericay Town, Forest Green Rovers, Barnet, Canvey Island, Woking, Dagenham & Redbridge, Hornchurch, Exeter City, Slough Town, Bath City, Aldershot Town, Hayes, Thurrock, Yeading, Stevenage Borough, Tiverton Town, Histon and Cambridge City.
Coalville Town was appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Of the others, Alfreton Town had not featured in the main draw since 1973âÂÂ74, Halesowen Town had not done so since 1991-92 and Yeading had not done so since 1994-95. Curiously, this would be the only season that both Yeading and Hayes qualified for the first round of the FA Cup prior to their 2007 merger.
This round was the first in which Football League teams from League One and League Two competed with non-league teams. Coalville Town, of the Midland Alliance, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw. Owing to the introduction of the Conference North and South competitions at Step 6 this season, the Midland Alliance was now at Step 9 of the English football pyramid.
Ties were played over the weekend of 4 December 2004. The round featured four clubs from Step 7: Bath City and Histon from the Southern League Premier Division, and Slough Town and Yeading from the Isthmian League Premier Division.
This round marked the point at which Championship and Premier League (top-flight) teams entered the competition. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 8 January 2005.
One of the surprise results of this round came at Old Trafford where holders Manchester United were held to a 0-0 home draw against Conference National side Exeter City, although United won the replay 2-0. Neighbours Manchester City suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of League One strugglers Oldham Athletic, who beat them 1-0 at Boundary Park.
Yeading was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw, but their successful run was ended with a 2-0 loss at Loftus Road to Premier League side Newcastle United in front of more than 10,000 spectators.
Ties played during the weekend of 29 January 2005. Yeovil Town, in only their second season in League Two, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw.
Matches played weekend of 19 February 2005 - replays were played during the week commencing 28 February 2005.
The only non-Premiership side to win in this round was Leicester City, who triumphed 2-1 at The Valley against Premier League side Charlton Athletic, while Brentford was the last team from League One left in the competition.
Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 12 March 2005.
Leicester City, the only remaining non-Premiership side in the competition, lost 1âÂÂ0 to Blackburn Rovers.
The 2005 FA Cup final was contested between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Manchester United dominated the game but failed to take any of their opportunities and ultimately they went on to lose in the first FA Cup Final penalty shoot-out. Paul Scholes had his kick saved by Jens Lehmann, leaving Patrick Vieira with the opportunity to win the Cup for the Gunners.
In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters for the fourth consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the seventeenth consecutive season.. In this new contract period of television rights, the BBC's coverage increased further to three live matches from rounds 3 to 6, plus one live replay in the same rounds where applicable.
The matches shown live on the BBC were:
The matches shown live on Sky Sports were: