| 1933–34 FA Cup | |
| Country: | England Wales |
| Defending Champions: | Everton |
| Winners: | Manchester City |
| Second: | Portsmouth |
| Prev Season: | 1932–33 |
| Next Season: | 1934–35 |
The 1933–34 FA Cup was the 59th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Manchester City won the competition for the second time, beating Portsmouth 2–1 in the final at Wembley, winning through two late goals from Fred Tilson.
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. Some matches, however, might be rescheduled for other days if there were clashes with games for other competitions or the weather was inclement. 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 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 1933-34 competition was notable in that no second replays were required throughout the competition proper.
| Round | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Extra preliminary round | Saturday 2 September 1933 | |
| Preliminary round | Saturday 16 September 1933 | |
| First round qualifying | Saturday 30 September 1933 | |
| Second round qualifying | Saturday 14 October 1933 | |
| Third round qualifying | Saturday 28 October 1933 | |
| Fourth round qualifying | Saturday 11 November 1933 | |
| First round proper | Saturday 25 November 1933 | |
| Second round proper | Saturday 9 December 1933 | |
| Third round proper | Saturday 13 January 1934 | |
| Fourth round proper | Saturday 27 January 1934 | |
| Fifth round proper | Saturday 17 February 1934 | |
| Sixth round proper | Saturday 3 March 1934 | |
| Semi-finals | Saturday 17 March 1934 | |
| Final | Saturday 28 April 1934 |
Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 25 places available in the first round.
The 25 winners from the fourth qualifying round were Spennymoor United, North Shields, South Bank St Peters, Scarborough, Darwen, Workington, Altrincham, Lancaster Town, Scunthorpe & Lindsey United, Gainsborough Trinity, Newark Town, Sutton Town, Kettering Town, Oxford City, Ilford, Barnet, Margate, Dulwich Hamlet, Northfleet United, Hayes, Epsom Town, Dartford, London Paper Mills, Bath City and Cheltenham Town.
Those appearing in the competition proper for the first time were North Shields, South Bank St Peters, Altrincham, Sutton Town, Epsom Town, London Paper Mills and Cheltenham Town, while Oxford City had not featured in the first round since 1906-07.
Cheltenham Town emulated Brighton & Hove Albion's achievement from the previous season of competing in nine consecutive rounds of the tournament. Entering in the extra preliminary round, Cheltenham defeated Mount Hill Enterprise, St Philip's Athletic, Street and Merthyr Town before losing to Llanelli in a third qualifying round replay at Whaddon Road. However, Llanelli was later disqualified for fielding ineligible imported players in the initial match at Stebonheath Park, resulting in Cheltenham being re-instated and overcoming Calne & Harris United, Barnet and Carlisle United before going out to Blackpool in front of a record home attendance at the Athletic Ground in the third round.
London Paper Mills also progressed from the extra preliminary round to the main draw, defeating Bostall Heath, Bexleyheath & Welling, Erith & Belvedere, Sheppey United, Aylesford Paper Mills and Ryde Sports before losing to Southend United in the first round.
At this stage 41 clubs from the Football League Third Division North and South joined the 25 non-league sides that came through the qualifying rounds. Chesterfield, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town were given byes to the third round. To make the number of matches up, non-league clubs Folkestone and Kingstonian were given byes to this round, with Kingstonian having won the previous season's FA Amateur Cup.
34 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 25 November 1933. Seven were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture.
The matches were played on Saturday, 9 December 1933. Three matches were drawn, with replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 2–4 | Tranmere Rovers | 9 December 1933 | |
| 2 | Bristol City | 2–1 | Barrow | 9 December 1933 | |
| 3 | Walsall | 0–0 | Clapton Orient | 9 December 1933 | |
| Replay | Clapton Orient | 2–0 | Walsall | 14 December 1933 | |
| 4 | Gainsborough Trinity | 0–2 | Aldershot | 9 December 1933 | |
| 5 | Swindon Town | 1–0 | Dartford | 9 December 1933 | |
| 6 | Sutton Town | 1–2 | Reading | 9 December 1933 | |
| 7 | Stockport County | 1–2 | Crystal Palace | 9 December 1933 | |
| 8 | Queens Park Rangers | 1–1 | New Brighton | 9 December 1933 | |
| Replay | New Brighton | 0–4 | Queens Park Rangers | 13 December 1933 | |
| 9 | Accrington Stanley | 1–0 | Bristol Rovers | 9 December 1933 | |
| 10 | Northampton Town | 3–0 | Torquay United | 9 December 1933 | |
| 11 | Carlisle United | 1–2 | Cheltenham Town | 9 December 1933 | |
| 12 | Southend United | 2–1 | Chester | 9 December 1933 | |
| 13 | Halifax Town | 1–1 | Hartlepools United | 9 December 1933 | |
| Replay | Hartlepools United | 1–2 | Halifax Town | 13 December 1933 | |
| 14 | Charlton Athletic | 1–0 | Gillingham | 9 December 1933 | |
| 15 | Workington | 3–1 | Newport County | 9 December 1933 | |
| 16 | Rotherham United | 2–1 | Coventry City | 9 December 1933 | |
| 17 | Gateshead | 1–0 | North Shields | 9 December 1933 |
The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage, along with Chesterfield, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town. Cheltenham Town was the first non-league club to reach this stage (or its pre-1925 equivalent) from the extra preliminary round since Hednesford Town and Thornycrofts (Woolston) in 1919–20.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 13 January 1934. Nine matches were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 27 January 1934. Five games were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture. Workington was the last non-league club left in the competition.
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 17 February 1934. There was one replay, in the Sheffield Wednesday–Manchester City match, played in the next midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 1–2 | Leicester City | 17 February 1934 | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 0–3 | Bolton Wanderers | 17 February 1934 | |
| 3 | Preston North End | 4–0 | Northampton Town | 17 February 1934 | |
| 4 | Sheffield Wednesday | 2–2 | Manchester City | 17 February 1934 | |
| Replay | Manchester City | 2–0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 21 February 1934 | |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0–1 | Aston Villa | 17 February 1934 | |
| 6 | Swansea Town | 0–1 | Portsmouth | 17 February 1934 | |
| 7 | Arsenal | 1–0 | Derby County | 17 February 1934 | |
| 8 | Stoke City | 3–1 | Chelsea | 17 February 1934 |
The four Sixth Round ties were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 3 March 1934. There were no replays.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston North End | 0–1 | Leicester City | 3 March 1934 | |
| 2 | Bolton Wanderers | 0–3 | Portsmouth | 3 March 1934 | |
| 3 | Manchester City | 1–0 | Stoke City | 3 March 1934 | |
| 4 | Arsenal | 1–2 | Aston Villa | 3 March 1934 |
The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 17 March 1934. Manchester City and Portsmouth won their matches to meet in the final at Wembley
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See main article: 1934 FA Cup Final.
The 1934 FA Cup Final was contested by Manchester City and Portsmouth at Wembley. Manchester City won the game through two late goals from Fred Tilson, after Septimus Rutherford had put Portsmouth ahead midway through the first half.