FA Cup
Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final |
The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. The trophy shares its name with the competition. |
The
Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the
FA Cup, is the main "knockout" cup competition in
English football, run by and named after
The Football Association.
The FA Cup is the oldest football
competition in the world, commencing in
1871-72. As such, its reputation as the sport's premier domestic cup competition extends around the world. Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other, there is great scope for "giant-killers" from the lower divisions to eliminate top clubs from the tournament. A record 687 teams have been accepted into the
FA Cup in 2006-2007. In comparison, the
League Cup, a lower prestige English football knockout tournament, can involve only the 92 respective members of the
Football League (which organises the competition) and the
FA Premier League.
The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament. The equivalent competition for women's teams is the
FA Women's Cup. The women's cup has a much lower public profile than the men's, in common with all
women's football in England. Many nations also have similar competitions, inspired by this legendary tournament.
On Saturday
13th May 2006 Liverpool became the current holders of the trophy. They defeated
West Ham United 3-1 in a
penalty shootout that followed a 3-3 draw after
extra time.
The competition is a
knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random - there are no
seeds however the qualifying round draws are regionalised to reduce the travel costs of smaller non-league sides. Rounds One and Two were also previously split into Northern and Southern draw sections, however this practice was abandoned after the 1997-8 Cup competition. The draw also determines which team will play at home. If a match is drawn, there is usually a replay at the ground of the other team although it is possible for teams to agree in advance not to replay a tie in which case the initial match will be settled by means of
extra time and
penalty shootouts if necessary. Drawn replays are now settled with
extra time and
penalty shootouts, though in the past further replays were possible, and some ties took as many as six matches to settle; In their 1975 campaign,
Fulham played 12 games over 6 rounds. This remains the most games played by a team to reach a final
Traditionally, the
FA Cup Final is played at
London's
Wembley Stadium. However, due to extensive redevelopment of Wembley, finals have been played at the
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff since 2001. Although early venues include
Kennington Oval, 1872 & 1874-92, the
Crystal Palace Park, 1895-1914,
Stamford Bridge 1920-22, and
Lillie Bridge,
Fulham,
London in 1873, this was the first time the final had been played outside of England (it should be noted that not only English League teams participate in the competition, so Welsh teams in English leagues such as
Cardiff City F.C. do participate in the cup, and
Cardiff City F.C. did win the Cup in 1927). In the early years teams from Ireland and Scotland also took part in the competition with Glasgow side Queens Park reaching the final in 1884 and 1885, while Belfast club Linfield played in the First Round in the 1888-1889 season.
The FA had hoped that the 2006 final would take place at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, but the FA Cup final on
May 13,
2006 was played at the Millennium Stadium, because the builders had failed to guarantee that it would be completed on time. It currently seems highly probable that the
2007 final will also take place in Cardiff. [
1]
The semi-finals are contested at neutral venues; in the past these have usually been the home grounds of teams not involved in that semi-final, such as
Old Trafford in
Manchester,
Villa Park in
Birmingham and
Hillsborough in
Sheffield. The 1991 semi-final between Arsenal and Tottenham was the first to be played at Wembley. Two years later both semi-finals were held at Wembley after the Sheffield Wednesday/Sheffield United derby was switched from the original venue of Elland Road, Leeds. In later years e.g.
2005 both semi-finals were held at either Wembley or the Millennium Stadium. In future years it is expected that all semi-finals will be played at the new Wembley Stadium. However, in 2006 the FA decided to revert to the neutral ground system -
Chelsea played their tie with
Liverpool at Old Trafford whilst
West Ham played their tie with
Middlesbrough at Villa Park on 23rd and 24th April respectively.
The competition begins in August with the Extra-Preliminary Round contested by clubs occupying a low position in the
English football league system, which any FA affiliated club meeting a basic standard of ability and ground facilities may enter. 644 clubs entered the competition in the 2003/04 season, a (then) record 660 for 2004/05 (the old record was 656 in 1921/22), another record of 674 for 2005/06, and yet another new record of 687 for 2006/07. Following the Extra-Preliminary Round is a Preliminary Round, four Qualifying Rounds, and six Rounds of the competition proper, followed by the Semi-Finals and the Final. All of
FA Premier League and
Football League clubs may enter. Non-league clubs may also enter if they competed in the previous season's
FA Trophy or
FA Vase and are deemed to be playing in an "acceptable" league for the current season. All clubs entering the competition must have a suitable and safe
stadium capacity.
Clubs higher up the
English football league system are given byes to certain rounds. For example, clubs playing in the
Conference North or
Conference South are given exemption to Second Qualifying Round, while those from the
Conference National are given exemption to the Fourth Qualifying Round. Clubs from
Football League One and
Football League Two are given exemption into the First Round proper in November, and
Football League Championship and
Premier League teams are given exemption into the Third Round, traditionally held in the first weekend in January. The Final is played at the end of the season in May.
Since the foundation of The Football League,
Tottenham Hotspur in
1901 have been the only non-league winners of the FA Cup. They were then playing in the
Southern League and were only elected to the Football League in
1908. At that time the Football League consisted of only two 18-team divisions; Spurs's victory then would be comparable to a team near the bottom of the third level of the English football pyramid (currently League One) winning today.
The winning team qualifies by right for the first round of the
UEFA Cup. If the winners also qualify for the
Champions League by merit of league position, the losing finalist qualifies for the UEFA Cup in their place. If both finalists qualify for the Champions League, an extra UEFA Cup place is given on the basis of Premier League position.
At the end of the final, the winning team is presented with a trophy, also known as the "FA Cup", which they hold until the following year's final. Traditionally, at Wembley finals, the presentation was made at the Royal Box, with players, led by the captain, mounting a staircase to a gangway in front of the box and returning by a second staircase on the other side of the box. At Cardiff the presentation has been made on a podium on the pitch. The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team; a common riddle asks, "What is always taken to the Cup Final, but never used?" (The answer is, "the losing team's ribbons"). Individual members of the teams playing in the final are presented with winners' and runners'-up medals.
The present FA Cup trophy is the fourth. The first, the 'little tin idol', was used from the inception of the Cup in 1871-2 until it was stolen from a
Birmingham shop window belonging to
William Shillcock while held by
Aston Villa on
September 11,
1895. It was never seen again and is presumed to have been melted down. The second trophy was a replica of the first, and was last used in
1910 before being presented to the FA's long-serving president
Lord Kinnaird. It was sold at
Christie's on
May 19 2005 for
£420,000 (£478,400 including auction fees and taxes) to
David Gold, the chairman of
Birmingham City. A new, larger, trophy was bought by the FA in
1911 designed and manufactured by Fattorini's of
Bradford and won by
Bradford City in its first outing, the only time a team from Bradford has reached the final. This trophy still exists but is now too fragile to be used, so an exact replica was made and has been in use since the
1992 final. Therefore, though the FA Cup is the oldest domestic football competition in the world, its
trophy is not the oldest; that title is claimed by the
Scottish Cup.
A "backup" trophy was made along side the existing trophy in 1992, but it has not been used so far, and will only be used if the current trophy is lost, damaged or destroyed. Some have claimed that the backup trophy was given to Chelsea in
2000 when Manchester United refused to surrender the FA Cup they had won the previous year (their rationale supposedly being that they had not defended the trophy, therefore they couldn't lose it), with the real cup being given to Liverpool on their victory in 2001. This is very likely an
urban legend, however.
Since the start of the 1994-95 season, the FA Cup has been sponsored. However, to protect the identity of the famous competition, the name has never changed from "The FA Cup", unlike in sponsorship deals for the
League Cup. Instead, the competition has been known as "The FA Cup sponsored by ..."
From the 2006/2007 season it will formally be known as "The FA Cup sponsored by
E.ON" after the German energy company signed a 4 year sponsorship deal
[2].
*1994-95 to 1997-98
Littlewoods*1998-99 to 2001-02
AXA*2002-03 to 2005-06 The FA Partners:
Carlsberg,
McDonald's,
Nationwide,
Pepsi,
Umbro*2006-07 to 2009-10
E.ONThe FA Cup has a long tradition of lower-division and non-league teams becoming "giant-killers" by defeating highly-ranked opponents. There are various famous giant killing feats, and every club will remember their own successes. However, the most famous results are arguably those of:
*
Yeovil Town in 1948-49, who reached the fifth round while in the
Southern League. In latter years they defeated League opposition many other times, before winning promotion to the Football League in 2003.
*
Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic who beat
Wolves and
Tottenham Hotspur in 1957, before losing to
Manchester United in a closely fought quarter-final match.In 1984,however, Bournemouth got belated revenge of a kind by beating United (the then current holders) 2-0 at home in the 3rd round.
*
Hereford United in 1972, who as a non-league club, famously defeated
Newcastle United in a third-round replay.
*
Wrexham in 1992, when they defeated the league champions
Arsenal in the Third Round, Wrexham having finished bottom of the
Football League the previous season.
*
Kidderminster Harriers, who are the last non-league team to reach the 5th Round of the FA Cup, in 1994. They defeated Birmingham City and Preston North End before eventually falling to Premiership side West Ham United by the narrow margin of 1-0 in front of nearly 8,000 at Aggborough.
*
Wycombe Wanderers who, in 2001, after defeating Premiership side
Leicester City were only narrowly defeated in a close fought semi-final by
Liverpool.
Famous Shock Results
*Cardiff City 2 Oldham Athletic 0 (1919-1920, Round 2)
*Walsall 2 Arsenal 0 (1932-1933, Round 3)
*Colchester United 1 Huddersfield Town 0 (1947-1948, Round 3)
*Colchester United 3 Bradford City 2 (1947-1948, Round 4)
*Yeovil Town 2 Sunderland 1 aet (1948-1949, Round 4)
*Worcester City 2 Liverpool 1 (1950-1951, Round 3)
*Everton 1 Leyton Orient 3 (1951-1952, Round 3 replay)
*Birmingham City 0 Leyton Orient 1 (1951-1952, Round 4)
*Arsenal 1 Norwich City 2 (1953-1954, Round 4)
*Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Bournemouth 1 (1956-1957, Round 3)
*Bournemouth 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (1956-1957, Round 4)
*Chelsea 1 Crewe Alexandra 2 (1960-1961, Round 3)
*Oldham Athletic 1 South Shields 2 (1969-1970, Round 1)
*Colchester United 3 Leeds United 2 (1970-1971, Round 5)
*Hereford United 2 Newcastle United 1 (1971-1972, Round 3 replay)
*
Sunderland 1 Leeds United 0 (1972-1973, Final)*Burnley 0 Wimbledon 1 (1974-1975, Round 3)
*Southampton 1 Manchester United 0 (1975-1976, Final)
*Blyth Spartans 3 Stoke City 2 (1977-1978, Round 3)
*Bournemouth 2 Manchester United 0 (1983-1984, Round 3)
*Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Liverpool 0 (1983-1984, Round 4)
*York City 1 Arsenal 0 (1984-1985, Round 4)
*Birmingham City 1 Altrincham 2 (1985-1986, Round 3)
*
Wimbledon 1 Liverpool 0 (1987-1988, Final)*Middlesbrough 1 Grimsby Town 2 (1988-1989, Round 3)
*Sutton United 2 Coventry City 1 (1988-1989, Round 3)
*Oldham Athletic 2 Everton 1 (1989-1990, Round 5)
*Oldham Athletic 3 Aston Villa 0 (1989-1990, Quarter-Final)
*Crystal Palace 4 Liverpool 3 (1989-1990, Semi-Final)
*West Brom 2 Woking 4 (1990-1991, Round 3)
*Wrexham 2 Arsenal 1 (1991-1992, Round 3)
*Liverpool 0 Bristol City 1 (1993-1994, Round 3 replay)
*Stockport County 2 Queens Park Rangers 1 (1993-1994, Round 3)
*Birmingham City 1 Kidderminster Harriers 2 (1993-1994, Round 3)
*Kidderminster Harriers 1 Preston North End 0 (1993-1994, Round 4)
*Everton 2 Bradford City 3 (1996-1997, Round 4)
*Swindon Town 1 Stevenage Borough 2 (1997-1998, Round 3)
*Barnsley 3 Manchester United 2 (1997-1998, Round 5 replay)
*Swansea City 1 West Ham United 0 (1998-1999, Round 3 replay)
*Gillingham 3 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (1999-2000, Round 5)
*Leicester City 1 Wycombe Wanderers 2 (2000-2001, Quarter-Final)
*Cardiff City 2 Leeds United 1 (2001-2002, Round 3)
*Shrewsbury Town 2 Everton 1 (2002-2003, Round 3)
*Liverpool 0 Crystal Palace 2 (2002-2003, Round 4 replay)
* Accrington Stanley 1 Huddersfield Town 0 (2003-2004, Round 1)
*Slough Town 2 Walsall 1 (2004-2005, Round 1)
*Oldham Athletic 1 Manchester City 0 (2004-2005, Round 3)
*Burscough 3 Gillingham 2 (2005-2006, Round 1)
*Fulham 1 Leyton Orient 2 (2005-2006, Round 3)
19th Century
*On
July 20,
1871, in the offices of
The Sportsman newspaper,
C. W. Alcock proposed that "a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with
the Association", giving birth to the FA Cup. Four first-round matches were the first FA Cup games ever played – on
November 11 1871*On
March 16,
1872,
Wanderers became the first winners of the FA Cup, beating
Royal Engineers 1-0 at
The Oval. Fifteen clubs had entered, only twelve actually played, and there were thirteen games in total. The winning goal was scored by
Morton Peto Betts, who played under the
pseudonym of 'A.H. Chequer'.
*In 1873, for the first and only time the competition lived up to the name
Challenge Cup. The Wanderers received a bye to the final where they beat
Oxford University to retain the Cup. The rules were changed for the following season.
*In 1883
Blackburn Olympic defeated the
Old Etonians in the final to become the first professional club to win the trophy. The win marked a turning point in the culture of the game in England.
*In 1884 and 1885 Scottish side
Queen's Park of Glasgow reached the English cup final, the first time a non-English side had done so. They lost both times. (Scotland had had its own
SFA Cup since 1873.)
*Villa legend
Archie Hunter became the first player to score in every round of the FA Cup in Villa's victorious 1887 campaign.
*
Aston Villa's Bob Chatt scored the winner in the 1895 FA Cup Final after just 30 seconds. It remains the fastest ever goal scored in an FA Cup Final.
*The record score in an FA Cup tie was set in 1887 when
Preston North End defeated
Hyde United 26-0.
*In 1889, Preston North End became the first club to achieve
the double of winning the FA Cup (beating 3-0) and the Football League Championship in the same season. This double was even more extraordinary in that the league was won without a single defeat, a feat which would not be repeated in the top division until 2003-04, by
Arsenal. Equally impressive was that the cup was won without conceding a single goal. Such was the team's dominance that it was nicknamed
"The Invincibles".
*
William Townley scored the first hat trick in the history of the FA Cup final, in the match between
Blackburn Rovers and
Sheffield Wednesday (6-1)
1901-1949
* In 1901
Tottenham Hotspur became the only non-League team to win the FA Cup, with a 3-1 replay victory over
Sheffield United.
*In 1903
Bury defeated
Derby County 6-0, in what is still the highest score in an FA Cup final. They also became the second club to win the FA Cup without conceding a goal in any round.
*In 1914,
George V became the first monarch to watch the FA Cup Final between
Burnley and
Liverpool in the last cup final played at
Crystal Palace.
*In 1915
Sheffield United beat
Chelsea 3-0 at
Old Trafford in the last final held before the competition was cancelled during the
First World War. It became known as "The Khaki Cup Final", owing to the large number of uniformed soldiers in attendance.
*In 1922,
England amateur international
Wilfred Minter scored 7 goals for
St Albans City against
Dulwich Hamlet. Dulwich won 8-7.
*In 1923 the first FA Cup final to be played at Wembley saw
West Ham United lose to
Bolton Wanderers. The match drew an over-capacity crowd of more than 200,000 and was played with spectators lining the edge of the pitch. Spectators spilled onto the field, but were moved back by
mounted policemen, resulting in the final being nicknamed the "
White Horse Final."
* The 1927 final resulted in a
Cardiff City victory over
Arsenal. To the present day, Cardiff City are the only non-English-based team to win the trophy.
* The
1945-1946 FA Cup was the first played since the competition was suspended during
World War II. As the intermediate
Football League North and Football League South were of variable quality, to boost clubs' income each tie was played over two legs (one home, one away with the scores being added together to decide who went through) to increase the number of matches in the season. Matches that were level at the end of both legs were replayed at the stadium of whichever team had played the second leg away. The semi-finals and final (both played at neutral venues) remained single match affairs.
1950s
* The final of
1953 is known as the
Matthews Final. The match between
Blackpool and
Bolton Wanderers saw
Stanley Matthews, at the age of 38, in his third attempt to win an FA cup winners medal for Blackpool. Bolton were 3-1 up with 22 minutes remaining and looked set to win the match when Blackpool's
Stan Mortensen scored from a Matthews cross. With less than five minutes remaining Blackpool equalised from a Mortensen free kick and shortly after the restart, with everybody anticipating extra time, Matthews passed to
Bill Perry who put the ball in the back of the net securing a 4-3 victory for Blackpool. This was the first football match attended by
The Queen. [
3]
* The final of
1956 saw Manchester City win 3-1 against Birmingham City. Roughly 15 minutes before the end of the game, Man City's goalkeeper
Bert Trautmann (a German who had been taken as a
prisoner of war by the British in
1945) injured his neck when he made a save at the feet of Birmingham's Peter Murphy. Despite being in terrible pain he continued to play till the end of match and collected his winners' medal still clutching his neck. An
x-ray later revealed that he had broken his neck.
*
1956-57 also the record for highest number of rounds played in set, when former League club
New Brighton played in nine rounds. They started in the preliminary round, and progressed through four qualifying rounds to the fourth round proper, where they lost to
Burnley. They had just one replay - for their first round tie.
*
1958 saw Leeds United beaten 2-1 at home to Cardiff City in the third round for the third consecutive year.
1960s
*
1961 saw
Tottenham Hotspur become the first club in the 20th century to win the FA Cup and league championship in the same season, known famously as
The Double.
* In
1967 the first substitutes were allowed after many years of finals proving unbalanced due to injuries which forced players into leaving the field early. Players had suffered broken bones in the
1957,
1959,
1960,
1961 and
1965 finals.
*
1970 saw the first Wembley final to go to a replay. The replayed final was played at
Old Trafford and contested between
Chelsea and
Leeds United. It was the last final to be played outside of Wembley before it was moved to the
Millennium Stadium in 2001. When
Peter Osgood scored for Chelsea in the final, he became the last player to date (and ninth in total) to score in every round of the cup.
1970s
* 1970 saw the first third place play-off with Manchester United beating Watford 2-0. This play-off proved short lived, and the
1973-74 competition saw the last 3rd place play-off match, contested by and , with Burnley winning 1-0 at
Filbert Street*
1971 saw the longest tie in Cup history.
Oxford City and
Alvechurch play 6 games for a total of 660 minutes. Alvechurch won the final game 1-0 to progress to the first round proper.
* In
1972 the FA Cup celebrated its 100th birthday (though not its 100th season, due to interruptions for the two world wars).
Leeds United won the final against holders
Arsenal.
* When Sunderland beat Leeds United 1-0 in the
1973 FA Cup Final it was the first and only time (to date) that a coloured ball (orange) was used in an FA Cup final. It was also the 50th anniversary of Wembley as a venue for the cup final.
* The
1974-75 competition saw the record set for the highest number of games played by one club.
Bideford played 13 games over five rounds: one for the 1st qualifying round, two for the 2nd qualifying round, five for the 3rd qualifying round, four for the 4th qualifying round, and one for the 1st round proper. Multiple replays no longer take place, so this record is unlikely to be beaten.
* The
1977-78 competition saw
New Brighton's 1956-57 nine-round record equalled by
Blyth Spartans, who progressed from the 1st qualifying round to the 5th round proper. The games for the 2nd qualifying round and the 5th rounds proper went to a replay. The final on
6 may 1978 was the 50th Wembley final.
Ipswich Town beat
Arsenal 1-0.
* The
1979-80 competition saw the nine-round record equalled by
Harlow Town, who progressed from the Preliminary round through four qualifying rounds to the fourth round proper, where they lost to
Watford. The matches for the 2nd and 3rd rounds went to a replay.
1980s
* In
1980,
West Ham United became the last side to date to win the competition from outside the top division in football. They were a
Second Division outfit when they beat holders Arsenal 1-0 thanks to a goal by
Trevor Brooking. Three clubs -
Queens Park Rangers in
1982, Sunderland in
1992 and
Millwall in
2004 - have since reached the final, though all three lost.
* In
1981, The 100th FA Cup final took place. The second game between Tottenham and Manchester City became the first final to be replayed at Wembley Stadium. Previously, replayed finals had been held at other neutral grounds.
* In
1983 Norman Whiteside, at 18, became the youngest player ever to score in an FA Cup final, whilst playing for Manchester United against Brighton and Hove Albion. As of
2006 this record remains unbroken.
* In
1984,
Johnny Hore's
Plymouth Argyle side narrowly missed out on being the first
Third Division side to reach the final. In a tense semi-final at
Villa Park,
Watford came out on top, 1-0 victors. Starting in the first round proper, Argyle had beaten
Southend United (in a replay),
Barking,
Newport County (in a replay),
West Bromwich Albion and
Derby County (in a replay).
* In
1985,
Kevin Moran of
Manchester United became the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup Final.
* In
1988, 's
Dave Beasant became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in an
FA Cup final, when he denied
John Aldridge of . In the same final, Beasant also became the first goalkeeper to captain an FA Cup-winning side.
* In
1989 during the opening minutes of the FA Cup semi-final between
Liverpool and
Nottingham Forest, 96 people were crushed to death because of overcrowding. See the
Hillsborough disaster.
1990s
* In
1991, after the
Arsenal vs
Leeds United third round tie went to a third replay, The FA decided that one replay, then extra time, then a penalty shootout would be a suitable alternative to a fixtures backlog. Arsenal also took part in the first semi-final to be played at Wembley, losing to Tottenham.
* In
1993, both semi-finals were played at Wembley Stadium for the first time ever, due to them both being derbies: North London and Sheffield.
* In
1993, the last ever FA Cup final replay took place, with beating 2-1.
*In
1995 Joe Royle's
Everton defeated 1-0 in a shock victory. This was the most recent time an English manager won the trophy.
*In 1997,
Ruud Gullit became the first overseas manager to win the FA Cup, as his Chelsea side beat Middlesbrough 2-0. In the same final, Chelsea's
Mark Hughes became the first player to win the cup four times.
*In 1999 Manchester United became the first FA Cup holders not to defend their title when they failed to enter the FA Cup, instead electing to take part in the inaugural
FIFA Club World Championship played in Brazil. To decide who took their place, a "lucky losers" draw was held containing the 20 teams knocked out in the second round; were selected.
2000s
*
2000 was the last final to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. Chelsea beat
Aston Villa 1-0. The FA decided that from 2000 onwards any semi-finals and finals would be decided on the day rather than replayed.
* The first FA Cup final played outside of England was in the final of the
2000-01 season at the
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff. Liverpool came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over
Arsenal. Arsenal went back to Wales the following two seasons to win the Cup. Liverpool also won the last FA Cup final played here, in 2006.
* For the first time, the FA Cup was played under a roof in the final of the
2002-03 season, held on
May 17, 2003 at the
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff, with
Arsenal and
Southampton benefitting from cover from the rain [Arsenal were the 1 - 0 winners]. This Final was also the first in which a goalkeeper was substituted. Paul Jones replaced the injured Southampton goalkeeper Antti Niemi.
* That same year,
Team Bath (from the
University of Bath) became the first university team to enter the competition since
Gonville & Caius in
1881, and progressed through the qualifying rounds before being knocked out in the first round proper by
Mansfield Town.
* In
2004 Roy Keane of
Manchester United became the first player to play in six finals since the
19th century, and
Curtis Weston of
Millwall F.C. became the youngest ever player to play in the final at the age of 17 years and 119 days, beating the record of
James Prinsep of
Clapham Rovers set as long back as the 1879 final.
* The
2005 FA Cup Final between
Arsenal and
Manchester United was the first final ever to have to go to
penalties. After ordinary time and extra time, the score was still 0-0.
Arsenal won the shootout – and thus the Cup – 5-4. It was the first 0-0 draw in an FA Cup final since 1912.
* During the
2005 final, Roy Keane extended his own record by appearing in his seventh final.
For the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup FinalThe top 10 clubs by number of wins (and when they last won and lost a final):
Clubs with up to 4 wins:
*4 wins:
Bolton Wanderers,
Manchester City,
Sheffield United,
Wolverhampton Wanderers*3 wins:
Chelsea,
Sheffield Wednesday,
West Ham United*2 wins:
Bury,
Nottingham Forest,
Old Etonians,
Preston North End,
Sunderland*1 win:
Barnsley,
Blackburn Olympic,
Blackpool,
Bradford City,
Burnley,
Cardiff City,
Charlton Athletic,
Clapham Rovers,
Coventry City,
Derby County,
Huddersfield Town,
Ipswich Town,
Leeds United,
Notts County,
Old Carthusians,
Oxford University,
Portsmouth,
Royal Engineers,
Southampton,
WimbledonThree clubs have won consecutive FA Cups on more than one occasion:
Wanderers (1872, 1873) and (1876, 1877, 1878),
Blackburn Rovers (1884, 1885, 1886) and (1890, 1891), and
Tottenham Hotspur (1961, 1962) and (1981, 1982).
Six clubs have won the FA Cup as part of a
League and Cup double, these are
Preston North End (1889),
Aston Villa (1897),
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (1961),
Arsenal (1971, 1998, 2002),
Liverpool (1986) and
Manchester United (1994, 1996, 1999). Arsenal and Manchester United share the record of three doubles. Arsenal are the only club to win doubles in distinct decades, and have in fact won in three different decades.
In
1993,
Arsenal became the first side to win both the FA Cup and
League Cup in the same season, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, in both finals.
In
1999, Manchester United added the
Champions League crown to their double, an accomplishment known as
The Treble.
In
2001, Liverpool won the FA Cup,
League Cup and
UEFA Cup to complete a cup treble.
Leicester City hold the unfortunate record of having appeared in four FA Cup finals without ever winning the cup.
Kettering Town have scored the most goals in FA Cup history, having scored 803 goals between 1879 and 2005. (up to
12 October 2005) with Ollie Burgess scoring the 800th goal against
St Albans City on
11 October 2005*
The FA Cup - official Football Association site
*
Thomas Fattorini Ltd. makers of the 1911 FA Cup - manufacturers of the 1911 FA Cup and other sporting trophys
*
FA Cup going under the hammer - BBC News story on the sale of the second trophy
*[
4] Soccerbase - all FA Cup results (excluding qualifying rounds.)
