2006–07 FA Cup


The 2006–07 FA Cup was the 126th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition; FA Cup. This season's edition was the first to be sponsored by E.ON.
The competition started on 18 August 2006 with the first of the record number of 687 teams entering in the Extra Preliminary Round and concluded on 19 May 2007 with the Final, held at the new Wembley Stadium.
For information on the matches played from the Extra Preliminary Round to the final Qualifying Round, see FA Cup 2006-07 Qualifying Rounds.
Chelsea claimed this season's FA Cup with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Manchester United, with Didier Drogba scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of extra-time. Manchester United had played against top-flight opponents in each round, as they had when they won the Cup in 1948.

Calendar

The results below detail the results from the First Round Proper onwards.

First round proper

Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 11 November 2006. The draw was made by Will Greenwood and Neil Back, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking.

Second round proper

Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 2 December 2006. The draw was made on 12 November by Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One.
As mentioned below, Bury defeated Chester City 3–1 at the Deva Stadium but it was soon revealed that Bury had fielded an ineligible player, resulting in them being expelled from the competition and Chester City being reinstated.

Third round proper

This round marks the entry of the top-flight teams to the competition. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 6 January 2007. The draw was made on 3 December 2006 by Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One. Replays were held in the week of 16 and 17 January, with the exception of the Luton – QPR replay, which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Blackpool4–2Aldershot Town6,355
2Barnet2–1Colchester United3,075
3Sheffield United0–3Swansea City15,896
4Reading3–2Burnley11,514
5Portsmouth2–1Wigan Athletic14,336
6Doncaster Rovers0–4Bolton Wanderers14,297
7West Ham United3–0Brighton & Hove Albion32,874
8Leicester City2–2Fulham15,499
replayFulham4–3Leicester City11,222
9Derby County3–1Wrexham15,609
10Wolverhampton Wanderers2–2Oldham Athletic14,524
replayOldham Athletic0–2Wolverhampton Wanderers9,628
11Chester City0–0Ipswich Town4,330
replayIpswich Town1–0Chester City11,732
12Manchester United2–1Aston Villa74,924
13Sheffield Wednesday1–1Manchester City28,487
replayManchester City2–1Sheffield Wednesday25,621
14Tamworth1–4Norwich City3,165
15Nottingham Forest2–0Charlton Athletic19,017
16Cardiff City0–0Tottenham Hotspur20,376
replayTottenham Hotspur4–0Cardiff City27,641
17Preston North End1–0Sunderland10,318
18Liverpool1–3Arsenal43,619
19Bristol Rovers1–0Hereford United8,978
20Watford4–1Stockport County11,745
21Crystal Palace2–1Swindon Town10,238
22Bristol City3–3Coventry City13,336
replayCoventry City0–2Bristol City13,055
23Peterborough United1–1Plymouth Argyle6,255
replayPlymouth Argyle2–1Peterborough United9,973
24Queens Park Rangers2–2Luton Town10,064
replayLuton Town1–0Queens Park Rangers7,494
25Southend United1–1Barnsley5,485
replayBarnsley0–2Southend United4,944
26West Bromwich Albion3–1Leeds United16,957
27Hull City1–1Middlesbrough17,520
replayMiddlesbrough4–3Hull City16,702
28Birmingham City2–2Newcastle United16,444
replayNewcastle United1–5Birmingham City26,099
29Torquay United0–2Southampton5,396
30Everton1–4Blackburn Rovers24,426
31Chelsea6–1Macclesfield Town41,434
32Stoke City2–0Millwall8,024

Fourth round proper

Matches played on weekend of Saturday, 27 January 2007. The draw was made on 8 January by Hope Powell and Faye White, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC Two and Sky Sports News.

Fifth round proper

Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 17 February 2007. The draw took place on Monday, 29 January 2007 and was made by Darren Campbell and Roger Black, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC Two and Sky Sports News.

Sixth round proper

Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 10 March 2007. The draw for the round, also known as the quarter-finals, took place on Monday, 19 February 2007 at 1:30pm GMT. The draw was made by Steve McClaren and Terry Venables, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking and televised live on BBC Two. This was the last round in which matches were held on the home grounds of one of the teams. The only non-Premier League team to reach the quarter-finals this season were Plymouth Argyle.

Replays

Semi-finals

Unlike earlier rounds, matches were played on neutral grounds on the weekend of Saturday, 14 April 2007. There would be no replays even if the matches were drawn; instead, extra time would decide winners immediately thereafter. Only if extra time did not decide the winners, a penalty shootout would decide winners. The draw for the semi-finals took place on Monday, 12 March 2007 at 1:30pm GMT. The draw was made by Ray Clemence, and adjudicated by Trevor Brooking.

Final

The 126th FA Cup Final was played at the new Wembley Stadium and it was the first FA Cup Final to be played in London since 2000. Similarly to the semi-finals, there would be no replay even if the match was drawn; instead, extra time would be used to decide the winners. If extra time failed to separate the two sides, the match would go to penalties. Chelsea's victory ended Manchester United's hopes of becoming the only English club to win the double four times, and in doing so, completed their own cup-double.
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Frank LampardChelsea6
2 Andy BishopBury5
2 Darren HuckerbyNorwich City5
2 Robbie KeaneTottenham Hotspur5
2 Wayne RooneyManchester United5
2 Mark VidukaMiddlesbrough5
7 YakubuMiddlesbrough4
7 Matt DerbyshireBlackburn Rovers4
7 Phil JevonsBristol City4
7 Leroy LitaReading4
7 Jake RobinsonBrighton & Hove Albion4
7 Richard WalkerBristol Rovers4

Player of the Round

Media coverage

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