FA Cup Final

The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most attended domestic football event. It is the culmination of a knockout competition among clubs belonging to The Football Association in England, although Scottish and Irish teams competed in the early years and Welsh teams regularly compete, with Cardiff City winning the Cup in 1927 and reaching the final in 2008.

The latest FA Cup Final was the final of the 2014-2015 Season which was held on 30 May 2015 at Wembley Stadium and played between Arsenal and Aston Villa with Arsenal winning 4-0 to retain the trophy after their win against Hull City in the previous final.

History

Early FA Cup Finals were held mainly in London at venues including Kennington Oval between 1874 and 1892 and Crystal Palace between 1895 and 1914. In the period from 1923 until 2000, the final was held at Wembley Stadium, English football's national stadium. From 2001–2005, the final was moved to Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, during the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium. Millennium Stadium was used again in 2006 due to construction delays in opening the new Wembley Stadium.

1994 FA Cup Final

The 1994 FA Cup Final was the 49th FA Cup final to be held since the Second World War and was contested between Manchester United and Chelsea. United went into the final as Premier League champions, having won the title by eight points over Blackburn Rovers. They were bidding to become only the fourth team of the 20th century to complete "the Double" and the first in their own history. Chelsea, on the other hand, were playing in their first FA Cup Final since 1970 and first major final since the 1972 Football League Cup Final; they also finished 14th in the Premier League.

The match took place on a rainy May afternoon, and, in the first half, Chelsea were the better team. Gavin Peacock had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes when his half-volley hit the crossbar. In the second half, Manchester United took over with three goals in the space of nine minutes; two almost identical penalties by Eric Cantona and a shot by Mark Hughes, following a slip by Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair. Brian McClair scored a late fourth following an unselfish pass by Paul Ince. Referee David Elleray has since stated that he regrets giving the second penalty to Manchester United, stating "It was my big game and I made a disappointing decision."

2004 FA Cup Final

The 2004 FA Cup Final was the 123rd FA Cup Final and the fourth to be played at the Millennium Stadium, the Welsh national stadium in Cardiff, due to the ongoing reconstruction of the usual venue, London's Wembley Stadium. The match took place on 22 May 2004 and it was contested by Manchester United, who had finished third in the Premier League that season, and Millwall, who had finished 10th in the First Division.

Manchester United secured a record 11th FA Cup victory with a headed goal from Cristiano Ronaldo and a brace from Ruud van Nistelrooy, which included a penalty kick. In contrast, it was Millwall's first appearance in a final of either the FA Cup or the Football League Cup. At the trophy presentation after the match, the Manchester United players wore shirts bearing the name and number of midfielder Jimmy Davis, who died in a road accident in August 2003.

The match was refereed by Jeff Winter. Tony Green and Roger East were the assistant referees and Matt Messias was the fourth official.

FA Cup

The FA Cup is an annual knockout cup competition in English football; first held in 1871–72, it is the oldest association football competition in the world. It is organised by and named after the Football Association, its official name being The Football Association Challenge Cup. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is also known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, known as the FA Women's Cup.

The competition is open to any eligible club down to Level 10 of the English football league system, i.e. all 92 professional clubs (the Premier League and the three levels of the The Football League), as well as several hundred "non-league" teams in Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12. The tournament is unseeded, although a system of byes based on league level ensures most competitors enter at progressively later stages. Played over 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and final, the first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, followed by six rounds of the Competition Proper, where 32 qualifiers meet professional sides for the first time.

1984–85 FA Cup

The FA Cup 1984–85 was the 104th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The competition was won by Manchester United, who defeated Everton 1–0 at Wembley, thus denying Everton the double on top of the European Cup Winners' Cup that Everton had already won. The final was also notable for seeing the first sending off, with Kevin Moran obtaining the unwanted distinction.

For information on the matches played from the Preliminary Round to the Fourth Qualifying Round, see 1984–85 FA Cup Qualifying rounds.

First round proper

The first round of games were played over the weekend 17–19 November 1984. Replays were played on 19th-20th, except that for Swindon Town and Dagenham, which was played on 26th.

Second round proper

The second round of games were played over 7–8 December 1984, with replays being played on 11th, 12th and 17th.

Third round proper

Most of the third round of games in the FA Cup were played over the weekend 4–6 January 1985, with the exception of the Gillingham-Cardiff City match. Replays took place at various times over the period 8–28 January, however. The FA ordered the Leicester and Burton Albion game to be replayed behind closed doors after the Burton Albion goalkeeper had been struck by a bottle in the first game which had ended in a 6–1 win for Leicester.

1929–30 FA Cup

The 1929–30 FA Cup was the 55th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Arsenal won the competition for the first time, beating Huddersfield Town 2–0 in the final at Wembley.

Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. Some matches, however, might be rescheduled for other days if there were clashes with games for other competitions or the weather was inclement. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.

Calendar

First round proper

At this stage 41 clubs from the Football League Third Division North and South joined 24 non-league clubs and Third Division North side York City, who came through the qualifying rounds. Crystal Palace and Swindon Town were given a bye to the Third Round. To make the number of matches up, non-league Mansfield Town and Ilford were given byes to this round. 34 matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 30 November 1929. Seven were drawn and went to replays in the following midweek fixture, of which two went to a second replay.

1949 FA Cup Final

The 1949 FA Cup Final was contested by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium. Wolves finished 6th in the First Division during that season, and boasted several England internationals among their ranks, while Leicester City had struggled to avoid relegation in the Second Division and were making their first Wembley appearance.

Wolverhampton won the match 3–1, with goals by Jesse Pye (2) and Sammy Smyth. Mal Griffiths scored the Foxes' reply. Captain Billy Wright was presented with the cup by HRH The Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II).

Road to Wembley

Leicester City

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Match summary

Wolves started determinedly and took a 13th-minute lead when Jesse Pye, who had been preferred to Dennis Wilshaw, stooped to head in an inch-perfect Hancocks cross. Leicester kept Wolves at bay until almost half-time, when Pye collected the ball in the penalty area with his back to goal, after the Foxes had struggled to clear a corner, and turned to slam it home for his second.