1995–96 FA Cup

1995–96 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England; Wales
Defending champions	Everton
Final positions
Champions	Manchester United (9th title)
Runner-up	Liverpool
Tournament statistics
Top goal scorer(s)	Dave Powell; (9 goals)
	← 1994–95 1996–97 →

The 1995–96 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 115th staging of the FA Cup. The competition was won outright by Manchester United, who won the final through a goal from Eric Cantona five minutes from the end of the game. It gave Manchester United a league and cup double after they secured their third league title in four years. It was also United's third straight FA Cup Final.

The tournament began with teams from non-league football competing in preliminary and qualifying rounds in order to make it to the competition proper. Details of the qualifying tournament and all the rounds through to the final are available at FA Cup archives. Teams from Divisions 1 to 3 entered at the first round, while Premiership teams entered in the third round.

The topscorer in the competition was Dave Powell of Gravesend and Northfleet, whom scored 9 goals.

Calendar

Round	Initial Matches	New Entries	Clubs
Preliminary round	Saturday --- August 1995	342	575 → 404
First round qualifying	Saturday 9 September 1995	117	404 → 260
Second round qualifying	Saturday 23 September 1995	none	260 → 188
Third round qualifying	Saturday 7 October 1995	none	188 → 152
Fourth round qualifying	Saturday 21 October 1995	20	152 → 124
First round proper	Saturday 11 November 1995	52	124 → 84
Second round proper	Saturday 2 December 1995	none	84 → 64
Third round proper	Saturday 6 January 1996	44	64 → 32
Fourth round proper	Saturday 27 January 1996	none	32 → 16
Fifth round proper	Saturday 17 February 1996	none	16 → 8
Sixth round proper	Saturday 9 March 1996	none	8 → 4
Semi-finals	Sunday 31 March 1996	none	4 → 2
Final	Saturday 11 May 1996	none	2 → 1

First round proper

Teams from the

Kidderminster Harriers, Altrincham and Enfield

. The matches were played on 11 November 1995. There were ten replays, with two ties requiring a penalty shootout to settle them. Fulham's 7–0 victory over Swansea City was an FA Cup record margin of victory against a team from a higher division.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Blackpool	2–1	Chester City	11 November 1995
2	AFC Bournemouth	0–0	Bristol City	11 November 1995
Replay	Bristol City	0–1	AFC Bournemouth	21 November 1995
3	Barnet	2–2	Woking	11 November 1995
Replay	Woking	2–1	Barnet	21 November 1995
4	Barrow	2–1	Nuneaton Borough	11 November 1995
5	Burnley	1–3	Walsall	10 November 1995
6	Bury	0–2	Blyth Spartans	11 November 1995
7	Canvey Island	2–2	Brighton & Hove Albion	12 November 1995
Replay	Brighton & Hove Albion	4–1	Canvey Island	21 November 1995
8	Rochdale	5–3	Rotherham United	11 November 1995
9	Northwich Victoria	1–3	Scunthorpe United	11 November 1995
10	Swindon Town	4–1	Cambridge United	11 November 1995
11	Scarborough	0–2	Chesterfield	11 November 1995
12	Shrewsbury Town	11–2	Marine	11 November 1995
13	Stockport County	5–0	Lincoln City	11 November 1995
14	Wycombe Wanderers	1–1	Gillingham	13 November 1995
Replay	Gillingham	1–0	Wycombe Wanderers	21 November 1995
15	Kidderminster Harriers	2–2	Sutton United	11 November 1995
Replay	Sutton United	1–1	Kidderminster Harriers	21 November 1995
Sutton United won 3–1 on penalties
16	Fulham	7–0	Swansea City	11 November 1995
17	Brentford	1–1	Farnborough Town	11 November 1995
Replay	Farnborough Town	0–4	Brentford	22 November 1995
18	Northampton Town	1–0	Hayes	11 November 1995
19	Bradford City	4–3	Burton Albion	11 November 1995
20	Hull City	0–0	Wrexham	11 November 1995
Replay	Wrexham	0–0	Hull City	21 November 1995
Wrexham won 3–1 on penalties
21	Carlisle United	1–2	Preston North End	11 November 1995
22	Spennymoor United	0–1	Colwyn Bay	11 November 1995
23	Hitchin Town	2–1	Bristol Rovers	11 November 1995
24	Altrincham	0–2	Crewe Alexandra	22 November 1995
25	Exeter City	0–1	Peterborough United	11 November 1995
26	Bognor Regis Town	1–1	Ashford Town	11 November 1995
Replay	Ashford Town	0–1	Bognor Regis Town	21 November 1995
27	Mansfield Town	4–2	Doncaster Rovers	11 November 1995
28	Kingstonian	5–1	Wisbech Town	11 November 1995
29	Runcorn	1–1	Wigan Athletic	11 November 1995
Replay	Wigan Athletic	4–2	Runcorn	21 November 1995
30	Torquay United	1–0	Leyton Orient	11 November 1995
31	York City	0–1	Notts County	12 November 1995
32	Hereford United	2–1	Stevenage Borough	11 November 1995
33	Newport (IOW)	1–1	Enfield	11 November 1995
Replay	Enfield	2–1	Newport (IOW)	21 November 1995
34	Gravesend & Northfleet	2–0	Colchester United	11 November 1995
35	Slough Town	0–2	Plymouth Argyle	11 November 1995
36	Cinderford Town	2–1	Bromsgrove Rovers	11 November 1995
37	Oxford United	9–1	Dorchester Town	11 November 1995
38	Telford United	2–1	Witton Albion	11 November 1995
39	Hartlepool United	2–4	Darlington	11 November 1995
40	Rushden & Diamonds	1–3	Cardiff City	11 November 1995

Second round proper

The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were played on 2 December 1995, with six replays and one penalty shootout required.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Enfield	1–1	Woking	2 December 1995
Replay	Woking	2–1	Enfield	12 December 1995
2	Blackpool	2–0	Colwyn Bay	2 December 1995
3	AFC Bournemouth	0–1	Brentford	2 December 1995
4	Barrow	0–4	Wigan Athletic	2 December 1995
5	Rochdale	2–2	Darlington	2 December 1995
Replay	Darlington	0–1	Rochdale	12 December 1995
6	Gillingham	3–0	Hitchin Town	2 December 1995
7	Crewe Alexandra	2–0	Mansfield Town	2 December 1995
8	Swindon Town	2–0	Cardiff City	2 December 1995
9	Wrexham	3–2	Chesterfield	2 December 1995
10	Stockport County	2–0	Blyth Spartans	2 December 1995
11	Fulham	0–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	2 December 1995
Replay	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–0	Fulham	14 December 1995
Fulham won 4–1 on penalties
12	Bradford City	2–1	Preston North End	2 December 1995
13	Scunthorpe United	1–1	Shrewsbury Town	2 December 1995
Replay	Shrewsbury Town	2–1	Scunthorpe United	12 December 1995
14	Kingstonian	1–2	Plymouth Argyle	3 December 1995
15	Torquay United	1–1	Walsall	2 December 1995
Replay	Walsall	8–4	Torquay United	12 December 1995
16	Hereford United	2–0	Sutton United	2 December 1995
17	Peterborough United	4–0	Bognor Regis Town	2 December 1995
18	Cinderford Town	1–1	Gravesend & Northfleet	2 December 1995
Replay	Gravesend & Northfleet	3–0	Cinderford Town	14 December 1995
19	Oxford United	2–0	Northampton Town	2 December 1995
20	Telford United	0–2	Notts County	2 December 1995

Third round proper

The third round of the season's FA Cup was scheduled for 6 January and marked the point at which the teams in the two highest divisions in the English league system, the

Football League Championship

). There were fourteen replays, with only one of these games going to penalties to settle it.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Liverpool	7–0	Rochdale	6 January 1996
2	Southampton	3–0	Portsmouth	7 January 1996
3	Watford	1–1	Wimbledon	6 January 1996
Replay	Wimbledon	1–0	Watford	17 January 1996
4	Reading	3–1	Gillingham	6 January 1996
5	Walsall	1–0	Wigan Athletic	6 January 1996
6	Leicester City	0–0	Manchester City	6 January 1996
Replay	Manchester City	5–0	Leicester City	17 January 1996
7	Notts County	1–2	Middlesbrough	6 January 1996
8	Aston Villa	3–0	Gravesend & Northfleet	6 January 1996
9	Grimsby Town	7–1	Luton Town	6 January 1996
10	Crewe Alexandra	4–3	West Bromwich Albion	6 January 1996
11	Derby County	2–4	Leeds United	7 January 1996
12	Everton	2–2	Stockport County	7 January 1996
Replay	Stockport County	2–3	Everton	17 January 1996
13	Swindon Town	2–0	Woking	6 January 1996
14	Ipswich Town	0–0	Blackburn Rovers	6 January 1996
Replay	Blackburn Rovers	0–1	Ipswich Town	16 January 1996
15	Tranmere Rovers	0–2	Queens Park Rangers	6 January 1996
16	Fulham	1–1	Shrewsbury Town	6 January 1996
Replay	Shrewsbury Town	2–1	Fulham	16 January 1996
17	Barnsley	0–0	Oldham Athletic	6 January 1996
Replay	Oldham Athletic	2–1	Barnsley	23 January 1996
18	West Ham United	2–0	Southend United	7 January 1996
19	Manchester United	2–2	Sunderland	6 January 1996
Replay	Sunderland	1–2	Manchester United	16 January 1996
20	Norwich City	1–2	Brentford	6 January 1996
21	Plymouth Argyle	1–3	Coventry City	6 January 1996
22	Bradford City	0–3	Bolton Wanderers	6 January 1996
23	Millwall	3–3	Oxford United	6 January 1996
Replay	Oxford United	1–0	Millwall	16 January 1996
24	Crystal Palace	0–0	Port Vale	6 January 1996
Replay	Port Vale	4–3	Crystal Palace	16 January 1996
25	Chelsea	1–1	Newcastle United	7 January 1996
Replay	Newcastle United	2–2	Chelsea	17 January 1996
Chelsea won 4–2 on penalties
26	Huddersfield Town	2–1	Blackpool	6 January 1996
27	Charlton Athletic	2–0	Sheffield Wednesday	6 January 1996
28	Arsenal	1–1	Sheffield United	6 January 1996
Replay	Sheffield United	1–0	Arsenal	17 January 1996
29	Hereford United	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	6 January 1996
Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	5–1	Hereford United	17 January 1996
30	Stoke City	1–1	Nottingham Forest	6 January 1996
Replay	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Stoke City	17 January 1996
31	Peterborough United	1–0	Wrexham	6 January 1996
32	Birmingham City	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	6 January 1996
Replay	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Birmingham City	17 January 1996

Fourth round proper

The fourth round ties were played with the thirty-two winners of the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for Saturday, 27 January, although only four matches were played that weekend, and only two of these matches resulted in a victory for one side. There were seven replays but no penalty shootouts.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Southampton	1–1	Crewe Alexandra	7 February 1996
Replay	Crewe Alexandra	2–3	Southampton	13 February 1996
2	Reading	0–3	Manchester United	27 January 1996
3	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Oxford United	7 February 1996
Replay	Oxford United	0–3	Nottingham Forest	13 February 1996
4	Bolton Wanderers	0–1	Leeds United	14 February 1996
5	Middlesbrough	0–0	Wimbledon	7 February 1996
Replay	Wimbledon	1–0	Middlesbrough	13 February 1996
6	Everton	2–2	Port Vale	27 January 1996
Replay	Port Vale	2–1	Everton	14 February 1996
7	Swindon Town	1–0	Oldham Athletic	12 February 1996
8	Shrewsbury Town	0–4	Liverpool	18 February 1996
9	Sheffield United	0–1	Aston Villa	28 January 1996
10	Ipswich Town	1–0	Walsall	13 February 1996
11	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	27 January 1996
Replay	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–2	Tottenham Hotspur	7 February 1996
12	Queens Park Rangers	1–2	Chelsea	29 January 1996
13	Coventry City	2–2	Manchester City	7 February 1996
Replay	Manchester City	2–1	Coventry City	14 February 1996
14	West Ham United	1–1	Grimsby Town	7 February 1996
Replay	Grimsby Town	3–0	West Ham United	14 February 1996
15	Huddersfield Town	2–0	Peterborough United	6 February 1996
16	Charlton Athletic	3–2	Brentford	7 February 1996

Fifth round proper

The fifth-round matches were scheduled for 17 February. There were five replays and one penalty shootout.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	Liverpool	2–1	Charlton Athletic	28 February 1996
2	Nottingham Forest	2–2	Tottenham Hotspur	28 February 1996
Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	Nottingham Forest	9 March 1996
Nottingham Forest won 3–1 on penalties
3	Grimsby Town	0–0	Chelsea	21 February 1996
Replay	Chelsea	4–1	Grimsby Town	28 February 1996
4	Swindon Town	1–1	Southampton	17 February 1996
Replay	Southampton	2–0	Swindon Town	28 February 1996
5	Ipswich Town	1–3	Aston Villa	17 February 1996
6	Manchester United	2–1	Manchester City	18 February 1996
7	Huddersfield Town	2–2	Wimbledon	17 February 1996
Replay	Wimbledon	3–1	Huddersfield Town	28 February 1996
8	Leeds United	0–0	Port Vale	21 February 1996
Replay	Port Vale	1–2	Leeds United	27 February 1996

Sixth round

The four quarter-final ties were scheduled to be played on the weekend of 9 and 10 March 1996. There were two replays, between Liverpool and Leeds and Wimbledon & Chelsea. These were played on 20 March 1996.

This was a rare occurrence of all eight quarter-finals being from the top division.

9 March 1996
15:00 GMT

Chelsea	2–2	Wimbledon
M. Hughes 70' Gullit 80'		Earle 54' Holdsworth 81'

Stamford Bridge, London

Attendance: 30,805

10 March 1996
16:00 GMT

Leeds United	0–0	Liverpool

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 24,632

11 March 1996
20:00 GMT

Manchester United	2–0	Southampton
Cantona 49' Sharpe 90'

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 45,446

13 March 1996
19:45 GMT

Nottingham Forest	0–1	Aston Villa
		Carr 26'

City Ground, Nottingham

Attendance: 21,067

Replays

20 March 1996
19:45 GMT

Wimbledon	1–3	Chelsea
Goodman 39'		Petrescu 20' Duberry 79' M. Hughes 84'

Selhurst Park, London

Attendance: 21,380

20 March 1996
19:45 GMT

Leeds United
McManaman 57', 73' Fowler 83'

Anfield, Liverpool

Attendance: 30,812

Semi finals

The semi final ties were played at neutral venues on 31 March 1996. Manchester United and Liverpool beat Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively to reach the final. At this stage, Manchester United were top of the league and looking good bets for a unique second double two years after their first one, while Liverpool were hopeful of a similar triumph as they were third in the league and still in with a slim chance of a second double 10 years after their first one.

Just weeks before accepting the role as

FA Cup final

.

Aston Villa's defeat ended their hopes of emulating Arsenal's 1993 triumph of an FA Cup/League Cup double, as they had lifted the League Cup the previous weekend.

31 March 1996
13:30 BST

Manchester United	2–1	Chelsea
Cole 55' Beckham 59'	Report	Gullit 35'

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 38,421

Referee:- Stephen Lodge (Barnsley)

31 March 1996
16:00 BST

Liverpool	3–0	Aston Villa
Fowler 16', 86' McAteer 90'	Report

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 39,072

Referee: Paul Durkin (Portland, Dorset)

Final

A late goal from Eric Cantona, United's top scorer and the

FWA Player of the Year just a year after being vilified for the assault on a spectator which saw him banned from football for eight months, saw a United side featuring some of the Premier League's youngest players clinch a 1–0 win over Liverpool to become the first team to win the double

twice, two years after their first double.

11 May 1996
15:00 BST

Manchester United	1–0	Liverpool
Cantona 85'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 79,007

Referee: Dermot Gallagher (Oxfordshire)

Media coverage

For the eighth consecutive season in the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters.^{[citation needed]}

The matches shown live on the BBC were:

•

Newcastle United

(R3)

•

Aston Villa

(R4)

•

Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City

(R5)

•

Leeds United 0-0 Liverpool

(QF)

•

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea

(SF)

•

Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool

(Final)

The matches shown live on Sky Sports were:

•

Notts County

(R1)

•

Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Gillingham

(R1)

•

Farnborough Town 0-4 Brentford

•

•

•

Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Fulham

•

•

•

Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Chelsea

•

•

•

•

Manchester United 2-0 Southampton

•

•

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History Trophy List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

v t e 1995–96 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '95 '96 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska) Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '95 '96 Finland '95 '96 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '95 '96 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '95 '96 Latvia '95 '96 Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '95 '96 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '95 '96 San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '95 '96 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '95 '96 Finland '95 '96 France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '95 '96 Israel Italy Latvia '95 '96 Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '95 '96 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales FR Yugoslavia
League cups	England Finland '95 '96 France Iceland Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Wales
Supercups	England Germany
UEFA competitions	Champions League (Qualifying, group stage, knockout stage, Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Intertoto Cup Super Cup

Calendar

First round proper

Second round proper

Third round proper

Fourth round proper

Fifth round proper

Sixth round

Replays

Semi finals

Final

Media coverage

External links