Last season, Crawley Town became only the sixth non-League club in the history of English football to reach the sixth round of the FA Cup.
The Reds went on to mark that fine run in the cup competition with promotion to the Football League as champions of the Conference League.
This season, Crawley again did well in the tournament and reached the fifth round after eliminating Bury, Redbridge, Bristol City and Hull City before losing at home to Stoke City.
Meanwhile, none of last year’s semi-finalists have made it to the last four this time as Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City, Manchester City (the holders) and Manchester United all fell by the wayside.
The final at Wembley Stadium, scheduled for May 5 (now with a 5.15 p.m. kick-off, 6.15 p.m. Malta time), will feature London Blues Chelsea and Merseyside Reds Liverpool.
Statistics on right-hand side of this page show how teams in the Premier League and those from the Football League progressed and fell throughout the FA Cup competition this season.
2001-12 FA Cup performance
| Elimination | Scalps | |||
| Accrington | 1st | Notts County (a) | 1-4 | |
| AFC Wimbledon | 2nd | Bradford (a) | 1-3 | Scunthorpe |
| Aldershot | 2nd | Sheffield Wed. (a) | 0-1 | Maidenhead |
| Arsenal | 5th | Sunderland (a) | 0-2 | Leeds, Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 4th | Arsenal (a) | 2-3 | Bristol Rovers |
| Barnet | 2nd | MK Dons (a) | 0-1 | Southport |
| Barnsley | 3rd | Swansea (h) | 2-4 | |
| Birmingham | 5th | Chelsea (h) | 0-2 | Wolves, Sheffield Utd |
| Blackburn | 3rd | Newcastle (a) | 1-2 | |
| Blackpool | 5th | Everton (a) | 1-2 | Fleetwood, Sheffield Wed. |
| Bolton | QF | Tottenham (a) | 1-3 | Macclesfield, Swansea, Millwall |
| Bournemouth | 1st | Gillingham (a) | 2-3 | |
| Bradford City | 3rd | Watford (a) | 2-4 | Rochdale, AFC Wimbledon |
| Brentford | 2nd | Wrexham (h) | 0-1 | Basingstoke |
| Brighton | 5th | Liverpool (a) | 1-6 | Wrexham, Newcastle |
| Bristol City | 3rd | Crawley (a) | 0-1 | |
| Bristol Rovers | 3rd | Aston Villa (h) | 1-3 | Corby, Totton |
| Burnley | 3rd | Norwich (a) | 1-4 | |
| Burton | 1st | Oldham (a) | 1-3 | |
| Bury | 1st | Crawley (h) | 0-2 | |
| Cardiff | 3rd | West Brom (a) | 2-4 | |
| Carlisle | 2nd | Charlton (a) | 0-2 | Alfreton |
| Charlton | 3rd | Fulham (a) | 0-4 | Halifax, Carlisle |
| Chelsea | Final | Liverpool | - | Portsmouth, QPR, Birmingham, Leicester, Tottenham |
| Cheltenham | 3rd | Tottenham (a) | 0-1 | Tranmere, Luton |
| Chesterfield | 1st | Torquay (h) | 1-3 | |
| Colchester | 2nd | Swindon (a) | 0-1 | Crewe |
| Coventry | 3rd | Southampton (h) | 1-2 | |
| Crawley | 5th | Stoke (a) | 0-2 | Bury, Redbridge, Bristol City, Hull |
| Crewe | 1st | Colchester (a) | 1-2 | |
| C. Palace | 3rd | Derby (a) | 0-1 | |
| Dagenham | 3rd | Millwall (a) | 0-5 | Bath City, Walsall |
| Derby | 4th | Stoke (h) | 1-2 | C. Palace |
| Doncaster | 3rd | Notts County (a) | 0-2 | |
| Everton | SF | Liverpool | 1-2 | Tamworth, Fulham, Blackpool, Sunderland |
| Exeter City | 1st | Walsall (a) | 2-3 | |
| Fulham | 4th | Everton (a) | 1-2 | Charlton |
| Gillingham | 3rd | Stoke (h) | 1-3 | Bournemouth, L. Orient |
| Hartlepool | 1st | Stevenage (a) | 0-1 | |
| Hereford | 1st | Yeovil Town (h) | 0-3 | |
| Huddersfield | 1st | Swindon (a) | 1-4 | |
| Hull City | 4th | Crawley (h) | 0-1 | Ipswich |
| Ipswich | 3rd | Hull (a) | 1-3 | |
| Leeds | 3rd | Arsenal (a) | 0-1 | |
| Leicester | QF | Chelsea (a) | 2-5 | N. Forest, Swindon, Norwich |
| Leyton Orient | 2nd | Gillingham (a) | 0-1 | Bromley |
| Liverpool | Final | Chelsea | - | Oldham, Manchester United, Brighton, Stoke, Everton |
| Macclesfield | 3rd | Bolton (a) | 0-2 | E. Sturrock, Chelmsford |
| Man. City | 3rd | Man. Utd (h) | 2-3 | |
| Man. United | 4th | Liverpool (a) | 0-1 | Manchester City |
| M’boro | 4th | Sunderland (h) | 1-2 | Shrewsbury |
| Millwall | 5th | Bolton (h) | 0-2 | Dagenham, Southampton |
| MK Dons | 3rd | QPR (a) | 1-2 | Nantwich, Barnet |
| Morecambe | 1st | Sheffield Wed. (h) | 1-2 | |
| Newcastle | 4th | Brighton (a) | 0-1 | Blackburn |
| Northampton | 1st | Luton (a) | 0-1 | |
| Norwich | 5th | Leicester (h) | 1-2 | Burnley, West Brom |
| N. Forest | 3rd | Leicester (a) | 0-4 | |
| Notts County | 4th | Stevenage (a) | 0-1 | Accrington, Sutton, Doncaster |
| Oldham | 3rd | Liverpool (a) | 1-5 | Burton, Southend |
| Oxford United | 1st | Sheffield Utd (a) | 0-3 | |
| Peterborough | 3rd | Sunderland (h) | 0-2 | |
| Plymouth | 1st | Stourbridge (a) | 0-2 | |
| Portsmouth | 3rd | Chelsea (a) | 1-3 | |
| Port Vale | 1st | Grimsby (a) | 2-4 | |
| Preston | 1st | Southend (a) | 1-2 | |
| QPR | 4th | Chelsea | 0-1 | MK Dons |
| Reading | 3rd | Stevenage | 0-1 | |
| Rochdale | 1st | Bradford (a) | 0-1 | |
| Rotherham | 2nd | Shrewsbury (a) | 1-2 | Barrow |
| Scunthorpe | 1st | Wimbledon (a) | 0-1 | |
| Sheffield Utd | 4th | Birmingham (h) | 0-4 | Oxford, Torquay, Salisbury |
| Sheffield Wed. | 4th | Blackpool (h) | 0-3 | Aldershot, West Ham, Morecambe |
| Shrewsbury | 3rd | Middlesbrough (a) | 0-1 | Newport, Rotherham |
| Southampton | 4th | Millwall (h) | 2-3 | Coventry |
| Southend | 2nd | Oldham (a) | 0-1 | Preston |
| Stevenage | 5th | Tottenham (a) | 1-3 | Hartlepool, Stourbridge, Reading, Notts County |
| Stoke City | QF | Liverpool (a) | 1-2 | Gillingham, Derby, Crawley |
| Sunderland | QF | Everton (h) | 0-2 | Peterborough, Middlesbrough, Arsenal |
| Swansea | 4th | Bolton (a) | 1-2 | Barnsley |
| Swindon | 4th | Leicester (a) | 0-2 | Huddersfield, Colchester, Wigan |
| Torquay | 2nd | Sheffield Utd (a) | 0-1 | Chesterfield |
| Tottenham | SF | Chelsea | 1-5 | Cheltenham, Watford, Stevenage, Bolton |
| Tranmere | 1st | Cheltenham (h) | 0-1 | |
| Walsall | 2nd | Dagenham (a) | 2-3 | Exeter |
| Watford | 4th | Tottenham (h) | 0-1 | Bradford |
| West Brom | 4th | Norwich (h) | 0-1 | Cardiff |
| West Ham | 3rd | Sheffield Wed. (a) | 1-2 | |
| Wigan | 3rd | Swindon (a) | 1-2 | |
| Wolves | 3rd | Birmingham (h) | 0-1 | |
| Wycombe | 1st | Fleetwood (a) | 0-2 | |
| Yeovil Town | 2nd | Fleetwood (h) | 0-2 | Hereford |