1960–61 FA Cup

Calendar

Qualifying rounds

Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 30 places available in the first round.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Blyth Spartans, Scarborough, Bishop Auckland, Macclesfield Town, Rhyl, Bangor City, Hereford United, Worcester City, Bridlington Town, Sutton Town, Loughborough United, Kettering Town, Clacton Town, King's Lynn, Chelmsford City, Hitchin Town, Romford, Walthamstow Avenue, Dover, Ashford Town (Kent), Hastings United, Oxford United, Maidenhead United, Wycombe Wanderers, Sutton United, Chichester City, Weymouth, Bridgwater Town, Yeovil Town and Bath City.

Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Bridlington Town, Loughborough United, Clacton Town, Dover, Chichester City and Bridgwater Town. Of the others, Romford had last featured at this stage in 1949–50, Sutton United in 1946-47, Sutton Town in 1933-34, and Macclesfield Town and Maidenhead United in 1887-88.

Romford was the only non-league side to feature in six rounds of this season's tournament, defeating Wembley, Leytonstone, Hornchurch & Upminster, Enfield and Sutton United before going out to Northampton Town in the second round.

Results

First round proper

At this stage the 48 clubs from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions joined the 30 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. To set the number of ties in this round at the requisite 40, Gateshead, who had recently been voted out of the Football League, and Hendon, who were the champions from the previous season's FA Amateur Cup, were given byes directly to this point. Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 5 November 1960. Eleven were drawn and went to replays.

The Crystal Palace-Hitchin Town match was of curious interest as a replay of one of the first-round fixtures from the inaugural tournament of 1871–72. It was the first such match in the competition proper since Clapham Rovers and Upton Park had met in the fourth round of the 1880-81 tournament (although Maidenhead United and Marlow had subsequently been drawn together eight times in the qualifying rounds).

Second round proper

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 26 November 1960, with three matches taking place later. Seven matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week. However, the Darlington–Hull City match went to another three replays after this before the match finished in Hull City's favour.

Third round proper

The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage.

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 7 January 1961. Nine matches were drawn and went to replays, with two of these requiring a second replay. Oxford United was the last non-league club left in the competition.

Fourth round proper

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 28 January 1961, with three games postponed until 1 February. Six matches were drawn and went to replays, which were all played in the following midweek match, and one of these was then replayed a second time. Tottenham Hotspur and Crewe Alexandra were drawn together for the second consecutive season in the fourth round, with Tottenham having beaten Crewe 13–2 in a replay the one year earlier.

The fourth round match between second division Luton Town and first division Manchester City at Kenilworth Road was originally played on Saturday 28 January 1961. It saw Luton Town take a 2–0 lead before Denis Law scored 6 goals for Manchester City. The match was then abandoned at 6–2 to Manchester City due to a waterlogged pitch. When the match was held again 4 days later on Wednesday 1 February 1961, Luton Town beat Manchester City 3–1.

Fifth round proper

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 18 February 1961. One match went to a replay in the following mid-week fixture.

Sixth round proper

The four sixth round ties were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 4 March 1961. Three of the four matches went to replays in the midweek fixtures before being settled.

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 18 March 1961 with the Leicester City–Sheffield United game requiring two replays. This series of games marked the first time since 1928 that a semi-final had required a second replay, and the first time ever in the FA Cup that a semi-final had failed to produce a goal after a replay. United had the ball in the net through Derek Pace in the first game and although the player insisted that it hit his shoulder, the referee disallowed for handball.A Complete Record of Sheffield United Football Club 1889-1999 compiled and written by Denis Clareburgh & Andrew Kirkham. Published by Sheffield United FC Leicester eventually won the tie and so went on to meet Tottenham in the final at Wembley.

;Replay (a.e.t)

;Second Replay Leek

Jones

Final

Main article: 1961 FA Cup Final

The 1961 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1961 at Wembley Stadium and was won by Tottenham Hotspur who defeated Leicester City, by a 2–0 scoreline. In doing so, Tottenham became the first team to complete the League and FA Cup Double since Aston Villa in 1897.

Dyson

References

;General

• The FA Cup Archive at TheFA.com
• English FA Cup 1961/60 at Soccerbase
• F.A. Cup results 1960/61 at footballsite

;Specific

References

1. (2010). "Football's Strangest Matches: Extraordinary but true stories from over a century of football". Portico.