1989–90 FA Cup

Qualifying rounds

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 Northwich Victoria, Billingham Synthonia, Whitley Bay, Marine, Tow Law Town, Darlington, Congleton Town, Bishop Auckland, Stafford Rangers, Redditch United, Halesowen Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Welling United, Slough Town, Farnborough Town, Dartford, Matlock Town, Barnet, Aylesbury United, Bromsgrove Rovers, Merthyr Tydfil, Dorchester Town, Hayes, Basingstoke Town, Gloucester City, Woking, Yeovil Town and Bath City.

Appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Whitley Bay and Congleton Town. Of the others, Dorchester Town had last featured at this stage in 1981–82, Matlock Town had last done so in 1976-77, Marine had last done so in 1975-76, Redditch United and Basingstoke Town had last done so in 1971-72 and Gloucester City had not done so since 1950-51.

Meanwhile, Darlington matched the achievements of Lincoln City two seasons previously in winning promotion back to the Football League at the first attempt after being relegated to the Football Conference. The Quakers managed to hold off a challenge from Barnet to take the Conference championship, and advanced to the third round of the FA Cup where Fourth Division Cambridge United needed a replay to end their run.

First round proper

The 48 teams from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions entered in this round along with the 28 non-league clubs from the qualifying rounds and Telford United, Macclesfield Town, Kettering Town and Sutton United who were given byes. The first round of games was played over the weekend 17–19 November 1989, with a first round of replays being played on the 21st–22nd. The Bristol Rovers–Reading match went to a second replay, on the 27th. Billingham Synthonia and Tow Law Town, from the Northern League at Step 8 of English football, were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.

Second round proper

The second round of games was played on 9 December 1989, with the first round of replays being played on the 12th–13th. Two games went to second replays and one of these went to a third replay. The round featured two teams from Step 7 of the English football system: Whitley Bay from the Northern Premier League First Division, and Woking from the Isthmian League First Division.

Third round proper

Teams from the Football League First and Second Division entered in this round. The third round of games in the FA Cup was played over the weekend 6–7 January 1990, with the first set of replays being played on the 9th–10th. Two games went to second replays, which were completed during the following week. Whitley Bay (Step 7) was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw, and they and Darlington were the last non-league clubs left in the competition.

Fourth round proper

The fourth round of games was played over the weekend 27–28 January 1990, with replays being played on the 30th–31st. Fourth Division sides Rochdale, Torquay United, Hereford United and Cambridge United were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

Fifth round proper

The fifth set of games was played over the weekend 17–18 February 1990, with a first round of replays being played on the 21st. Each of these finished in a draw, meaning a second round of replays had to be completed. Rochdale and Cambridge United were again the lowest-ranked teams in the round.

Sixth round proper

Most of the sixth round of FA Cup games were played over the weekend 10–11 March 1990, with the Oldham Athletic – Aston Villa game and the Liverpool – QPR replay being played on the 14th.

Alex Ferguson continued to defy the odds with a Manchester United side that was struggling in the league but performing wonders in the cup, as they defeated Sheffield United 1–0.

Liverpool built up their hopes of a unique second double (which had eluded them in dramatic fashion during the previous two seasons) by beating QPR in a quarter-final replay.

Aston Villa's double hopes were ended when they crashed 3–0 to an Oldham Athletic team that hadn't played top-division football since 1923.

Cambridge United was the last club from the First Round left in the competition, but their hopes of becoming the first Fourth Division team to reach the FA Cup semi-finals were ended with a 1–0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, who moved closer to a first FA Cup final but were first faced with the task of overcoming a Liverpool side that had crushed them 9–0 in the league earlier in the season.

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on 8 April 1990.

Seven months after losing 9–0 to them in a league game, Crystal Palace found a 10-goal improvement to defeat Liverpool 4–3 and give them their first FA Cup final appearance as well as ending their opposition's hopes of a second double – the third season running that Liverpool had suffered a late blow to their double hopes.

Oldham Athletic, a Second Division side, opened the scoring against Manchester United through Earl Barrett in a game that eventually ended 3–3, forcing a replay. United won the replay 2–1.

O'Reilly Gray Pardew McMahon Barnes

Webb Wallace Marshall Palmer

Robins

Final

Main article: 1990 FA Cup final

Crystal Palace, playing in their first FA Cup final, took on a Manchester United side that already had six FA Cups to its name, and a thrilling game ended 3–3 with Palace taking the lead twice and United once before a late equaliser by Mark Hughes (his second goal of the game) forced a replay.

Hughes Wright

Replay

Lee Martin, a 22-year-old defender who nearly did not play due to Alex Ferguson's doubts about his fitness, scored the winning goal as Manchester United sealed their first major trophy in five years and their first under Ferguson's management, ending months of speculation that his job was at risk due to dismal league performances.

Crystal Palace were controversially denied a clear penalty by Allan Gunn, a referee from Brighton - who instead awarded a free-kick outside the penalty area.

Les Sealey played in goal for Manchester United, following Jim Leighton’s poor performance in the first match.

Media coverage

For the second consecutive season in the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters.

The matches shown live on the BBC were: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United (R3); Norwich City vs Liverpool (R4); Newcastle United vs Manchester United (R5); Queens Park Rangers vs Liverpool (QF); both Crystal Palace vs Liverpool and Manchester United vs Oldham Athletic (SF); Manchester United vs Oldham Athletic (SF replay); and Crystal Palace vs Manchester United in both the Final and its replay.

This was the first season to feature both semi-finals being televised live in full; they were shown on the same Sunday afternoon with an EastEnders omnibus edition scheduled in between, though this was altered when the Liverpool vs Crystal Palace match required extra time. The semi-final replay, shown on the following Wednesday evening, coincided with ITV showing the First Division match between Arsenal and Aston Villa. This was the first occasion on which BBC1 and ITV had shown different English club matches on the same evening. The cup replay kicked off at 19:45, with the league match kicking off twenty minutes later at 20:05, with the cup replay having to allow for the possibility of extra time, meaning viewers may have changed channels in time to see Aston Villa's Chris Price score the only goal.

References