The 1897–98 FA Cup was the 27th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). The cup was won by Nottingham Forest, who defeated Derby County 3–1 in the final of the competition, played at Crystal Palace in London. 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.

Calendar

The format of the FA Cup for the season had a preliminary round, five qualifying rounds, three proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.

First round proper

The first round proper contained sixteen ties between 32 teams. The 16 First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Newton Heath, Burnley, Leicester Fosse, Grimsby Town, Walsall and Manchester City from the Second Division. The other Second Division sides were entered into the third qualifying round. Of those sides, only Newcastle United, Woolwich Arsenal, Luton Town and Gainsborough Trinity qualified to the FA Cup proper. Non-league sides Wigan County, Burslem Port Vale, New Brighton Tower, Long Eaton Rangers, Hucknall St John's and Southampton also qualified. Wigan County was the first of three clubs from the Lancastrian rugby league stronghold to qualify for the first round of the FA Cup, but it would be another 25 years before Wigan Borough emulated this achievement and a further 90 years after that before Wigan Athletic held up the trophy as Cup champions. New Brighton Tower and Hucknall St John's were also appearing at this stage for the first time while Long Eaton Rangers, formerly one of the strongest non-league clubs in England, were appearing for the final time before being wound up at the end of the following season. The matches were played on Saturday, 29 January 1898. One match was drawn, with the replay taking place in the following midweek fixture.

Second round proper

The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 12 February 1898. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture.

Third round proper

The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 26 February 1898. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture.

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were both played on Saturday, 19 March 1898. The Nottingham Forest–Southampton match went to a replay, played the following Wednesday, when Nottingham Forest managed a 2–0 win. They went on to meet Derby County in the final at Crystal Palace.

Final

The final took place on Saturday, 16 April 1898 at Crystal Palace. Just over 62,000 supporters attended the match. Arthur Capes opened the scoring for Nottingham Forest after 19 minutes. Forest's lead was maintained for only twelve minutes before Derby County equalised, through a goal from Steve Bloomer. Capes hit his second just before half-time, and Forest preserved the lead until the 86th minute, when McPherson scored a third Forest goal, to hand them their first ever FA Cup Victory.

Match details