This was the third season where the FA Cup, or the Football Association Challenge Cup, used a series of qualifying rounds in order to determine qualifiers for the actual Cup competition itself and the first season that a preliminary round was used.
See 1890–91 FA Cup for details of the rounds from the first round onwards.
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Saturday 27 September 1890 | |||
| Crusaders | 5–0 | Rochester | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Saturday 4 October 1890 | |||
| 93rd Highland Regiment | 7–0 | Luton Town | |
| Ardwick | 12–0 | Liverpool Stanley | |
| Bishop Auckland | 3–0 | Rendel | |
| Boston | 2–2[1] | Eckington Works | |
| 1–6 | Bootle | ||
| 1–2 | Crusaders | ||
| 1–2 | Watford Rovers | ||
| 0–6 | Chester | ||
| City Ramblers | W–W[2] | Crystal Palace School of Engineering | |
| 1–7 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | ||
| Cliftonville | 4–3 | Macclesfield Town | |
| 3–7 | Jardines | ||
| Darlington St Augustine's | 3–2 | Barnard Castle Athletic | |
| Darlington West End | 3–2 | Darlington St Hilda's | |
| 0–1 | Sheffield United | ||
| Ecclesfield | 8–2 | Grimsby Town | |
| 2–5 | Newcastle West End | ||
| Folkestone | 2–1 | Old Wykehamists | |
| 1–3 | Lincoln City | ||
| 2–8[3] | Sunderland Albion | ||
| Gorton Villa | 4–1 | Denton | |
| Gravesend | 4–1 | Old Harrovians | |
| Hunts County | 3–1 | Norwich CEYMS | |
| 0–14 | Stockton | ||
| Ipswich Town | 2–0 | Reading | |
| Kidderminster | 4–1 | Bath City | |
| Langley Green Victoria | 5–0 | Kettering Town | |
| 0–4 | Burton Wanderers | ||
| Long Eaton Rangers | W–W[4] | Heeley | |
| Matlock | W–W[5] | Leys Recreation | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Middlesbrough | 11–0 | Scarborough | |
| 2–3 | Ilford | ||
| 0–2 | Whitburn | ||
| Nantwich | 5–4 | Linfield Athletic | |
| Newark | 4–0 | Notts Olympic | |
| Newton Heath | 2–0 | Higher Walton | |
| Northwich Victoria | 3–2 | Chirk | |
| 3–4 | Old Carthusians | ||
| Old Etonians | 4–1 | Swifts | |
| 2–3 | London Caledonians | ||
| Oldbury Town | 3–1 | Wellington St George's | |
| 2–3 | Druids | ||
| Port Clarence | 4–1 | Whitby | |
| Rhosllanerchrugog | W–W[6] | Shrewsbury Town | |
| Rotherham Swifts | 5–2 | Attercliffe | |
| Rotherham Town | 13–0 | Sheffield | |
| 5–4[7] | Birtley | ||
| Small Heath | 8–0 | Hednesford Town | |
| Southwick | 6–0 | Bishop Auckland Church Institute | |
| Staveley | 19–0 | Sheffield Walkley | |
| Swindon Town | 9–0 | Maidenhead | |
| 0–12 | Walsall Town Swifts | ||
| 1–3 | Burslem Port Vale | ||
| 6–1 | Schorne College | ||
| 1–4 | Heywood Central | ||
| 0–4 | Marlow | ||
| Workington | W–W[8] | Clitheroe | |
| Replays | |||
| Saturday 18 October 1890 | |||
| Shankhouse | 5–1 | Birtley | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Saturday 25 October 1890 | |||
| 93rd Highland Regiment | 3–2 | Watford Rovers | |
| Belper Town | 4–2 | Leeds Albion | |
| 1–2 | Newcastle East End | ||
| Bootle | 1–0 | Newton Heath | |
| 2–3 | Walsall Town Swifts | ||
| 2–1[9] | Sheffield United | ||
| Chester | 2–0 | Northwich Victoria | |
| 0–8 | Old Carthusians | ||
| Cliftonville | W–W[10] | Rhosllanerchrugog | |
| Crusaders | 6–1 | Folkestone | |
| Darlington | W–W[11] | Darlington West End | |
| 1–4 | Middlesbrough | ||
| 4–5 | Kilnhurst | ||
| Ecclesfield | W–W[12] | Grantham Rovers | |
| Heywood Central | 9–0 | Gorton Villa | |
| Ilford | 2–0 | Gravesend | |
| Kidderminster | 4–0 | Oldbury Town | |
| 2–1[13] | Great Bridge Unity | ||
| Halliwell | W–W[14] | Ardwick | |
| Leek | 2–0 | Druids | |
| Lincoln City | 9–0 | Boston | |
| London Caledonians | 6–3 | Old Etonians | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Long Eaton Rangers | 7–3 | Heanor Town | |
| Loughborough | 8–1 | Burton Wanderers | |
| 0–4 | Staveley | ||
| Matlock Town | 1–0 | Derby St Luke | |
| Newark (Disqualified) | 3–1 | Beeston | |
| Newcastle West End | 8–1 | Southwick | |
| 0–4 | Ipswich Town | ||
| 1–4 | Rotherham Town | ||
| 3–4 | Jardines | ||
| Shankhouse | 2–0 | Ashington | |
| South Bank | 7–2 | Port Clarence | |
| South Shore | 10–0 | Workington | |
| 1–2 | Middlesbrough Ironopolis | ||
| Sunderland Albion | W–W[15] | Whitburn | |
| Swindon Town | 2–0 | Marlow | |
| 1–2 | Hunts County | ||
| 2–3 | Nantwich | ||
| Wednesbury Old Athletic | 0–2 | Small Heath (disqualified) | |
| Replays | |||
| Saturday 11 November 1890 | |||
| Great Bridge Unity | 4–2 | Langley Green Victoria | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Saturday 15 November 1890 | |||
| 93rd Highland Regiment | 6–0 | Swindon Town | |
| 2–6 | Loughborough | ||
| 1–0[16] | Kidderminster | ||
| Halliwell | 4–3 | Bootle | |
| Heywood Central | 5–0 | South Shore | |
| 0–7 | Crusaders | ||
| Ipswich Town | 5–2 | Hunts County | |
| 1–2 | Cliftonville | ||
| Lincoln City | 3–0 | Ecclesfield | |
| London Caledonians | 2–0 | Old Carthusians | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Long Eaton Rangers | 4–1 | Jardines | |
| Middlesbrough | 2–0[17] | Darlington | |
| Middlesbrough Ironopolis | 6–1 | South Bank | |
| 4–5 | Chester | ||
| Newcastle East End | 5–0 | Shankhouse | |
| 0–3 | Sunderland Albion | ||
| Rotherham Town | 6–1 | Beeston | |
| Sheffield United | 3–0 | Matlock Town | |
| Staveley | 6–2 | Kilnhurst | |
| Walsall Town Swifts | 5–3 | Wednesbury Old Athletic F.C. |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| Saturday 12 December 1890 | |||
| Chester | W–W[18] | Cliftonville | |
| Crusaders | 4–2 | London Caledonians | |
| Halliwell | 2–1 | Heywood Central | |
| 1–4 | 93rd Highland Regiment | ||
| Kidderminster | 3–0 | Walsall Town Swifts | |
| Lincoln City | 4–1 | Staveley | |
| Long Eaton Rangers | 2–1 | Rotherham Town | |
| Home team (tier) | Score | Away team (tier) | |
| 6–0[19] | Darlington | ||
| 2–2 | Sunderland Albion | ||
| Sheffield United | 6–1 | Loughborough | |
| Replays | |||
| Saturday 20 December 1890 | |||
| Middlesbrough Ironopolis | 3–0 | Darlington | |
| 0–2 | Sunderland Albion | ||