1979–80 FA Cup

The 1979–80 FA Cup was the 99th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw second division West Ham United beat holders Arsenal 1–0.

Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 28 places available in the first round.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Blyth Spartans, Workington, Brandon United, Morecambe, Burscough, Mossley, Northwich Victoria, Moor Green, Nuneaton Borough, Kidderminster Harriers, AP Leamington, Enfield, Burton Albion, Harlow Town, Croydon, Wycombe Wanderers, Leytonstone & Ilford, Wealdstone, Barking, Chesham United, Gravesend & Northfleet, Merthyr Tydfil, Slough Town, Minehead, Fareham Town, Salisbury, Hungerford Town and Yeovil Town.

Appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Brandon United, Moor Green, Harlow Town, Croydon, Fareham Town and Hungerford Town, while the recently amalgamted Leytonstone & Ilford was appearing for the first time since Ilford had featured in the first and second rounds of the 1974-75 tournament after being a finalist in the last-ever FA Amateur Cup final held at the end of the previous season. Of the others, Kidderminster Harriers had last featured at this stage in 1968–69 and Salisbury had last done so in 1967-68.

Harlow Town participated in nine rounds of the tournament, overcoming Lowestoft Town, Hornchurch, Bury Town, Harwich & Parkeston, Margate, Leytonstone & Ilford, Southend United and (notably) Leicester City before Watford ended their run with a high-scoring defeat at Vicarage Road.

The 48 teams from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions entered in this round along with the 28 non-league clubs from the qualifying rounds and Stafford Rangers, Kettering Town, Altrincham and Scarborough who were given byes. Ten teams from the new Alliance Premier League (later to be known as Conference National and the National League) qualified for this round, while Brandon United, from the Northern Alliance, was ostensibly the lowest-ranked club remaining in the competition.

The first round of games were played on 24 November 1979. Replays were played on 26–28 November.

The second round of games were intended to be played on 15 December 1979, but some matches were not played until 17–19 December and one was postponed until 5 January 1980. Replays took place at various dates after these games. Chesham United, from the Isthmian League First Division, was the lowest-ranked club in the round.

Teams from the Football League First and Second Division entered in this round. The third round of games in the FA Cup were mainly played on 5 January 1980, with some games taking place on 8–9 January and one on 14. Replays were intended for 8–9 January but again took place at various times. From Step 7 of the fledgling English Football Pyramid, Chesham United was again the lowest-ranked club in the round.

The fourth round of games were mainly played on 26 January 1980. Replays were played on 29 and 30 January. Harlow Town was the last non-league club left in the competition.

The fifth set of games were all played on 16 February 1980. Two replays were played on 19 and 20 February.

The sixth round of games were played on 8 March 1980. There were no replays.

12 April 1980

West Ham United	1–1	Everton
Pearson 71'	Report[dead link]	Kidd 42' (pen.) Kidd s/off 63'

Villa Park, Birmingham

Referee: Colin Seel, Carlisle

16 April 1980

Liverpool	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Arsenal
Fairclough 51'	Report[dead link]	Sunderland 62'

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 40,579

Referee: Keith Hackett, South Yorkshire

16 April 1980
19:30 BST

West Ham United	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Everton
Devonshire 94' Lampard 119'	Report[dead link]	Latchford 114'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 40,720

Referee: C. Seel, Carlisle

28 April 1980

Liverpool	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Arsenal
Dalglish 90+1'	Report[dead link]	Sunderland 1'

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 42,975

Referee: Pat Partridge, County Durham

1 May 1980

Liverpool	0–1	Arsenal
	Report[dead link]	Talbot 11'

Highfield Road, Coventry

Attendance: 35,335

Referee: Pat Partridge, County Durham

10 May 1980

West Ham United	1–0	Arsenal
Brooking 13'

Wembley, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: George Courtney (County Durham)

West Ham

Arsenal

The right to show FA Cup games were, as with Football League matches, shared between the BBC and ITV network. All games were shown in a highlights format, except the Final, which was shown live both on BBC1 and ITV. The BBC football highlights programme Match of the Day would show up to three games and the various ITV regional network stations would cover up to one game and show highlights from other games covered elsewhere on the ITV network. No games from Rounds 1 or 2 were shown. Occasional highlights of replays would be shown on either the BBC or ITV.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

This was the first season of a 4-year deal between the FA/Football League and BBC/ITV where BBC and ITV would alternate between Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons for highlights. This season it was as it was under the previous contracts from 1964 to 1979 Saturday nights BBC1 and Sunday afternoons ITV.

These matches were.

¹Footage available on YouTube

• FA Cup Results Archive