| 1991–92 FA Cup | |
| Country: | |
| Defending Champions: | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Winners: | Liverpool (5th title) |
| Second: | Sunderland |
| Scoring Leader: | John Byrne (7) |
| Prev Season: | 1990–91 |
| Next Season: | 1992–93 |
The 1991–92 FA Cup was the 111th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. Liverpool beat Sunderland 2–0 in the final to take their 5th FA Cup trophy.
The appearance in the Cup Final of Sunderland, a Level 2 team, marked the first time in 10 years that a team outside Level 1 of the English football pyramid appeared in the final game. Sunderland is one of only eight non-Level 1 teams to win the FA Cup, a mark they achieved in the 1973 FA Cup Final.
This was the first FA Cup competition to use penalties to decide games still tied after extra time in a replayed match.
Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers from the Football League Second Division entered in this round along with all the Football League Third and Fourth Division teams plus three non-league clubs were given byes to this round: Wycombe Wanderers, Kidderminster Harriers and Woking. The first round matches were played on the weekend between 15 and 17 November 1991, with replays played midweek between 26 and 27 November. The tie between Huddersfield Town and Lincoln United was the largest gap in league places between two teams in the FA Cup until Marine and Tottenham Hotspur during the 2020-21 FA Cup.
The second round matches were played on the weekend between 7–9 December 1991, with replays played midweek on 17 December.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enfield | 1–4 | Barnet | |
| 2 | Blackpool | 0–1 | Hull City | |
| 3 | Darlington | 1–2 | Hartlepool United | |
| 4 | AFC Bournemouth | 2–1 | Brentford | |
| 5 | Burnley | 2–0 | Rotherham United | |
| 6 | Preston North End | 5–1 | Witton Albion | |
| 7 | Rochdale | 1–2 | Huddersfield Town | |
| 8 | Woking | 3–0 | Yeovil Town | |
| 9 | Bolton Wanderers | 3–1 | Bradford City | |
| 10 | Crewe Alexandra | 2–0 | Chester City | |
| 11 | Wrexham | 1–0 | Telford United | |
| 12 | Aylesbury United | 2–3 | Hereford United | |
| 13 | Maidstone United | 1–2 | Kettering Town | |
| 14 | Exeter City | 0–0 | Swansea City | |
| Replay | Swansea City | 1–2 | Exeter City | |
| 15 | Torquay United | 1–1 | Farnborough Town | |
| Replay | Farnborough Town | 4–3 | Torquay United | |
| 16 | York City | 1–1 | Tranmere Rovers | |
| Replay | Tranmere Rovers | 2–1 | York City | |
| 17 | Hayes | 0–2 | Crawley Town | |
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 2–0 | Stockport County | |
| 19 | Peterborough United | 0–0 | Reading | |
| Replay | Reading | 1–0 | Peterborough United | |
| 20 | Leyton Orient | 2–1 | West Bromwich Albion |
Teams from the Football League First and Second Division (except Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers) entered in this round. The third round matches were played on the weekend between 4 and 6 January 1992, with replays played midweek between 14 and 15 January. However, the Newcastle United–AFC Bournemouth match was replayed on 22 January, while the Derby County–Burnley match was replayed on 25 January.
The fourth round matches were played on the weekend between 25 and 27 January 1992, with replays played midweek between 4–5 February. However, the Bristol Rovers-Liverpool match was played on 5 February, and replayed on 11 February.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southampton | 0–0 | Manchester United | |
| Replay | Manchester United | 2–2 | Southampton | |
| Southampton won 4–2 on penalties | ||||
| 2 | Leicester City | 1–2 | Bristol City | |
| 3 | Notts County | 2–1 | Blackburn Rovers | |
| 4 | Nottingham Forest | 2–0 | Hereford United | |
| 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1–2 | Middlesbrough | |
| 6 | Bolton Wanderers | 2–1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | |
| 7 | Derby County | 3–4 | Aston Villa | |
| 8 | Ipswich Town | 3–0 | AFC Bournemouth | |
| 9 | Bristol Rovers | 1–1 | Liverpool | |
| Replay | Liverpool | 2–1 | Bristol Rovers | |
| 10 | Portsmouth | 2–0 | Leyton Orient | |
| 11 | West Ham United | 2–2 | Wrexham | |
| Replay | Wrexham | 0–1 | West Ham United | |
| 12 | Norwich City | 2–1 | Millwall | |
| 13 | Chelsea | 1–0 | Everton | |
| 14 | Charlton Athletic | 0–0 | Sheffield United | |
| Replay | Sheffield United | 3–1 | Charlton Athletic | |
| 15 | Cambridge United | 0–3 | Swindon Town | |
| 16 | Oxford United | 2–3 | Sunderland | |
The fifth round matches were played on the weekend between 15 and 16 February 1992, with replays played midweek on 26 February.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nottingham Forest | 4–1 | Bristol City | |
| 2 | Bolton Wanderers | 2–2 | Southampton | |
| Replay | Southampton | 3–2 | Bolton Wanderers | |
| 3 | Sunderland | 1–1 | West Ham United | |
| Replay | West Ham United | 2–3 | Sunderland | |
| 4 | Swindon Town | 1–2 | Aston Villa | |
| 5 | Ipswich Town | 0–0 | Liverpool | |
| Replay | Liverpool | 3–2 | Ipswich Town | |
| 6 | Portsmouth | 1–1 | Middlesbrough | |
| Replay | Middlesbrough | 2–4 | Portsmouth | |
| 7 | Norwich City | 3–0 | Notts County | |
| 8 | Chelsea | 1–0 | Sheffield United |
The sixth round matches were played on the weekend beginning 7–8 March 1992, with replays being played on 18 March.
Liverpool began to compensate for a sub-standard league season by eliminating Aston Villa and booking themselves a seemingly easy semi-final tie with a Portsmouth side who defeated League Cup finalists Nottingham Forest and ending their hopes of a unique FA Cup/League Cup double.
Norwich City reached the semi-finals for the second time in four seasons after beating Southampton in a replay.
Sunderland joined fellow Second Division side Portsmouth in the FA Cup semi-finals thanks to a 2–1 replay win over Chelsea after a 1–1 draw.
The semi-finals were played on 5 April 1992. It was the first time that Hillsborough was used as a semi-final venue since the Hillsborough Disaster at a previous FA Cup semi-final in 1989. This time it was Second Division Sunderland and First Division Norwich City who were competing for a place in the final. Sunderland went through with John Byrne scoring the only goal of the game to take the Wearsiders to their first cup final since 1973.
Portsmouth held Liverpool to a 1–1 draw in the other semi-final at Highbury, with the replay being held at Villa Park, which went to penalties after a goalless draw. Liverpool emerged as victors in the shootout to reach the FA Cup final for the fourth time in seven seasons.
Liverpool won 3–1 on penalties
See main article: 1992 FA Cup Final.
Liverpool won the FA Cup for the fifth time with a 2–0 victory to compensate for their worst league season (sixth place) for more than 20 years. Ian Rush scored his fifth goal in FA Cup Finals, a record.
For the fourth consecutive season in the United Kingdom, the BBC was the free to air broadcaster. For the first full season following its absorption of BSB's Sports Channel, Sky Sports was the subscription broadcaster.
The live matches on the BBC were:
• Leeds United 0-1 Manchester United (R3)
• Swindon Town 1-2 Aston Villa (R5)
• Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa (QF)
• Liverpool 1-1 Portsmouth (SF)
• Norwich City 0-1 Sunderland (SF)
• Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland (Final)
The live matches on Sky Sports were:
• Mansfield Town 0-0 Preston North End (R1)
• Brentford 3-3 Gillingham (R1)
• Mansfield Town 0-1 Preston North End (R1 Replay)
• York City 1-1 Tranmere Rovers (R2)
• Leyton Orient 2-1 West Bromwich Albion (R2)
• Farnborough Town 4-3 Torquay United (R2 Replay)
• Crewe Alexandra 0-4 Liverpool (R3)
• Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Aston Villa (R3 Replay)
• Southampton 0-0 Manchester United (R4)
• Wrexham 0-1 West Ham United (R4 Replay)
• Ipswich Town 0-0 Liverpool (R5)
• Liverpool 3-2 Ipswich Town (R5 Replay)
• Chelsea 1-1 Sunderland (QF)
• Sunderland 2-1 Chelsea (QF Replay)
• Portsmouth 0-0 Liverpool (SF Replay)
The first round match between Mansfield Town and Preston North End was abandoned after 32 minutes due to heavy fog. The game was replayed 11 days later and it was shown live on Sky Sports as planned after they previously showed the abandoned match.
The third round match between Leeds United and Manchester United was postponed and shown live on the Wednesday evening initially intended for replays. On the original day, the BBC showed instead extended coverage of Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur which had been played earlier in the day.