2014–15 FA Cup
| Football Association Challenge Cup | |||
| Country |
 England Wales
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|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 16 August 2014 – 30 May 2015 | ||
| Teams | 736 | ||
| Defending champions | Arsenal | ||
| Champions | Arsenal (12th title) | ||
| Runners-up | Aston Villa | ||
| Top goal scorer(s) |
Saido Berahino Paul Gallagher Jon Stead (5 goals each) |
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The 2014–15 FA Cup, also called the 2014–15 FA Challenge Cup, was the 134th occurrence of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup in English football and the oldest knockout competition in the world. It was the first season when the BBC and BT Sport hosted televised matches, seven years after the BBC lost the rights to ITV. The 2014–15 season's Cup also marked the first time that 3G (third generation) artificial pitches were allowed in all rounds of the competition, designed to lower costs for maintenance. After Queens Park Rangers (the first English artificial pitch, from 1981 to 1988), Luton Town, Oldham Athletic and Preston North End trialled artificial pitches in the 1980s, they were made illegal in 1995.
The defending champions were Premier League side Arsenal, after they beat Hull City 3–2 in the previous final on 17 May 2014.
The semi-finals took place at Wembley Stadium, as they have since 2008, to offset the cost of the new stadium, despite protestations from some supporters. The stadium also hosted the final.
The winner of the FA Cup earns automatic qualification to the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stages. However, as Arsenal qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their league position, Southampton, the highest placed team in the 2014–15 Premier League not already Europe-qualified took this Europa League place. In a change to Europa League rules, qualifying slots for national cup winners no longer pass to the runners-up if the winners have already qualified through their league.
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