The 1945–46 FA Cup was the 65th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, generally known as the FA Cup, and the first to be held after the Second World War. Derby County were the winners, beating Charlton Athletic 4–1 after extra time in the final at Wembley, London. The tournament witnessed a disaster in the sixth round when, during the second leg of the Bolton–Stoke City tie, 33 people were crushed to death in the Burnden Park disaster.[1]
For the only time in the history of the competition, all matches from the first round proper up to and including the sixth round proper were played over two legs, the first leg being played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. In the first and second rounds proper, the second leg was played on the following Saturday; from the third round onwards, it was played during the week following the first leg. If aggregate scores were level after 90 minutes of the second leg had been played, a replay would take place at a neutral venue. These changes were made in order to give clubs additional revenue, as the Football League would not resume normal play until the autumn of 1946.
At this stage 38 Third Division North and Third Division South clubs and Newport County from the Second Division joined the 25 non-league clubs who had advanced from the qualifying rounds. Chester, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace and Norwich City received byes to the third round while Hull City and New Brighton took no part in the competition. To make the number of matches up, non-league Bath City, Yeovil Town, Bishop Auckland and South Liverpool received byes to this stage.
The first leg matches were played on Saturday, 17 November 1945 and the second legs on the following Saturday, 24 November 1945. No replays were necessary.
The first leg matches were played on Saturday, 8 December 1945 and the second legs on the following Saturday, 15 December 1945. No replays were necessary.
At this stage the Football League First and Second Division clubs (except Newport County) entered the competition along with Third Division clubs Chester, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace and Norwich City.
The first leg matches were played on Saturday, 5 January 1946 and the second legs in the following week commencing Monday, 7 January 1946. Two replays were necessary, both of which were played on Wednesday, 16 January 1946.
The first leg matches were played on Saturday, 26 January 1946 and the second legs in the following week commencing Monday, 28 January 1946. One replay was necessary, which was played on 4 February 1946.
The first leg matches were played on Saturday, 9 February 1946 and the second legs in the following week commencing Monday, 11 February 1946.
The final took place on Saturday, 27 April 1946 at Wembley and ended in a 4–1 win for Derby County after extra time. Charlton Athletic's Bert Turner opened the scoring with an own goal in the 85th minute, which he equalised a minute later to force extra time. A goal from Peter Doherty and two from Jack Stamps completed Derby's victory.