2010–11 FA Cup
The 2010–11 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 130th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. A total of 806 clubs applied to enter of which 759 were accepted, a slight drop compared to the 762 clubs accepted into the 2009–10 competition.
| The Football Association Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
Manchester City's victory parade following their 5th title | |
| Tournament details | |
| Country | England Wales |
| Dates | 14 August 2010 – 14 May 2011 |
| Teams | 759 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Manchester City (5th title) |
| Runner-up | Stoke City |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Mathieu Manset Scott McGleish (6 goals) |
The competition commenced on 14 August 2010 with the Extra preliminary round and concluded on 14 May 2011 with the Final, held at Wembley Stadium. Unusually, this was not the last game of the English domestic season nor the only game played on that day. Wembley Stadium was also hosting the 2011 Champions League Final on 28 May, forcing the FA Cup Final to be played at least two weeks earlier. This meant the Final was played on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season and, apart from the finalists who were scheduled to play a league match against each other, a full programme of matches was played.
The defending champions were Chelsea, who retained their title in the 2010 final against Portsmouth, but they lost to Everton in the fourth round. The tournament winners were Manchester City, who defeated Stoke City in the final with Yaya Touré scoring the only goal of the match in the 74th minute. The FA Cup winners are normally entitled to a place in the next season's UEFA Europa League unless they have already qualified for that tournament or for the UEFA Champions League; because Manchester City qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League via their top-four finish in the 2010–11 Premier League, Stoke qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League as runners-up.