1996–97 FA Cup 1996–97 FA Cup The 1996–97 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the FA Cup. The tournament started in August 1996 for clubs from non-league football and the competition proper started in October 1996 for teams from the Premier League and the Football League. The tournament was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley stadium. The First Round featured those non-league teams who had come through the qualifying rounds and the teams from the third and fourth tiers of the English football
Non-English football clubs in the FA Cup the FA Cup – Cliftonville being the first and last club from the province. Cliftonville also progressed further in the competition than any other Irish club, reaching the 3rd round in 1886 before crashing out 11–0 to Partick Thistle. All five teams participated in the competition when the whole of Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom. The first Scottish club to enter was Queen's Park, who accepted an invitation to take part in the very first competition after a number of the clubs which had originally entered withdrew. The Glasgow team were by far the dominant force in