The 1905–06 FA Cup was the 35th staging of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Everton won the competition for the first time, beating Newcastle United 1–0 in the final at Crystal Palace.
Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held at neutral venues until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.
The Crystal Palace versus Chelsea tie in the third qualifying round led to the Football Association changing the rules. The tie was scheduled to be played on 18 November 1905, and Chelsea were also obliged to play a Football League game against Burnley on the same day. Chelsea were chasing promotion from the Second Division, so they fielded a full strength side in the league and sent a reserve team to the FA Cup match. Crystal Palace won the fixture 7–1. As a result of the outcry, the Football Association amended their rules such that teams must always field their strongest side in the FA Cup.[1]
Calendar
The format of the FA Cup for the season had a preliminary round, four qualifying rounds, four proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.
Round
Date
Preliminary Round
23 September 1905
First Qualifying Round
7 October 1905
Second Qualifying Round
28 October 1905
Third Qualifying Round
18 November 1905
Fourth Qualifying Round
9 December 1905
First Round Proper
13 January 1906
Second Round Proper
3 February 1906
Third Round Proper
24 February 1906
Fourth Round Proper
10 March 1906
Semi-finals
31 March 1906
Final
21 April 1906
Qualifying rounds
The Football Association reduced the number of places available to non-league clubs in the qualifying rounds of this year's Cup tournament. Restructuring of the competition during the 1905 close-season resulted in the temporary suspension of the extra preliminary, fifth qualifying and sixth qualifying rounds, and the permanent abolition of the Intermediate Round, but also allowed up to 24 non-league clubs to qualify for the main draw (although eleven Football League clubs were still required to enter the tournament in the qualifying stages).
Featuring in the competition proper for the first time were Hull City, Clapton Orient, Barrow, King's Lynn, Worcester City, Tunbridge Wells Rangers, Norwich City, New Crusaders and Staple Hill, while Stockport County had not appeared at this stage since 1893-94 and Watford's predecessor club Watford Rovers had last appeared in 1887-88. The current Crystal Palace also claimed a tenuous connection to the original club of that name, which had entered the FA Cup for the final time in 1875-76.
32 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday 13 January 1906. Six matches were drawn and went to replays on the following Wednesday or Thursday, while Blackpool and Crystal Palace needed a second replay at Villa Park on the subsequent Monday.
The 16 second round matches were played on 3 February 1906. Six matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek fixture. One of these, the Brighton & Hove Albion v. Middlesbrough match, went to a second replay the following week.
