The 1903–04 FA Cup was the 33rd season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Manchester City won the competition for the first time, beating Bolton Wanderers 1–0 in the final at Crystal Palace, through a goal scored by Billy Meredith.
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 two preliminary rounds, five qualifying rounds, an intermediate round, three proper rounds, and the semi-finals and final.
Intermediate Round
The Intermediate Round featured 10 games, played between the 10 winners of the Fifth Round Qualifying, and 10 teams given byes. Manchester United, Bristol City, Preston North End, Woolwich Arsenal, Barnsley and Grimsby Town from the Second Division were entered automatically into this round, as were non-league Reading, Bristol Rovers and New Brompton.
The other Second Division sides had to gain entry to this round through the earlier qualifying rounds. Burton United and Bradford City entered in the First Round Qualifying, with Bradford going out in the Fourth Round Qualifying. Glossop entered in the Second Round Qualifying, but a walkover was awarded to their opponents, Heywood. The others – Blackpool, Burnley, Burslem Port Vale, Chesterfield, Gainsborough Trinity, Leicester Fosse, Lincoln City and Stockport County – entered in the Third Round Qualifying, with only Gainsborough and Burslem Port Vale reaching the Intermediate Round from these.
The 10 matches were played on 12 December 1903. Four matches went to replays, with two of these going to a second replay and one of these, the game between Manchester United and Small Heath, then went to a third replay.
First Round Proper
The First Round Proper featured 16 ties between 32 teams. 17 of the 18 First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Bolton Wanderers from the Second Division, and non-league Southampton, Portsmouth, Millwall Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur. They joined the ten teams who won in the Intermediate Round.
The matches were played on 6 February 1904. Four matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek.
Second Round Proper
The eight Second Round Proper matches were scheduled for 20 February 1904. There was one replay – between Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers – played in the following midweek, but this was again drawn and went to a second replay a week later. Tottenham were drawn at home to play Aston Villa, the match started on 20 February but abandoned with the score at 1–0 in Villa's favour after crowd trouble. The FA ordered the game to be replayed at Villa Park and fined Tottenham £350.
Third Round Proper
The four Third Round Proper matches were scheduled for 5 March 1904. Two matches were drawn and replayed in the following midweek.
Semi-finals
The semi-final matches were played on 19 March 1904.
Final
The final was the first to be contested by two teams from Lancashire: Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers. It was played at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. Manchester City won the match 1–0, Billy Meredith scoring the only goal.