FA Cup Final

TheFA Cup Finalis the last match in theFootball Association Challenge Cup.It has regularly been one of themost attended domestic football eventsin the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 at the 2017 final (the2020 eventhas been the exception, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic). The Final is the culmination of a knockout competition among clubs belonging toThe Football Associationin England, although Scottish and Irish teams competed in the early years and Welsh teams regularly compete, withCardiff Citywinning the Cup in1927and reaching the final in1925and2008.From 1923 until 2000 it was played mostly at theoriginal Wembley Stadium,and has been played at thecurrent Wembley Stadiumsince 2007.

FA Cup Final
The newWembley Stadiumon 19 May 2007, the day it held its first FA Cup Final
Status	Active
Genre	Sporting event
Date(s)	Varies, but usually the last Saturday of May
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	London, England
Inaugurated	1872(1872)
Organised by	The Football Association

As of 2024,143 FA Cup Finals have been played. Thelatest finalwas held on 25 May 2024 and was contested betweenManchester CityandManchester United,with Manchester United winning 2–1.

History

Thefirst FA Cup Finalwas held atKennington Ovalon 16 March 1872 and was contested betweenWanderersandRoyal Engineers,with Wanderers winning 1–0.

After the1873 finalwas held atLillie Bridge,the event was held at the Oval until 1892. The1893and1894finals were respectively held atFallowfield Stadiumin Manchester andGoodison Parkin Liverpool, before the event returned to London in 1895, being held atCrystal Palaceuntil the outbreak ofWorld War I.After the war, the event was held atStamford Bridge,beforeWembley Stadiumopened in 1923. Thefirst final at Wembley,in whichBolton WanderersbeatWest Ham United2–0, had an official attendance of 126,047, although the actual figure is believed to be as much as 300,000. A police horse named Billy was used to regain control after the large crowd overflowed onto the field, earning it the nickname "White Horse Final". The1927 finalsaw "Abide with Me"being sung for the first time at the Cup final, which has become a pre-match tradition.

Wembley continued to host the final until 2000, when it closed for redevelopment. TheMillennium StadiuminCardiffhosted the final between 2001 and 2006, before the newWembley Stadiumopened in 2007.

Up to and including 1998, if the final ended in a draw, a replay would be required. This happened on 14 occasions, the last being in1993between Arsenal andSheffield Wednesday.In September 1998, the Football Association decided that all future finals would be decided "on the day", meaning that apenalty shootoutwould decide the winner if the score was level after normal andextra time.Three finals since have been decided by a penalty shootout, those of2005(Arsenal defeatingManchester United),2006(Liverpooldefeating West Ham United) and2022(Liverpooldefeating Chelsea).

Stan Mortensen'shat-trickforBlackpoolin1953is the only hat-trick ever scored at Wembley in the competition's final.The fastest goal in an FA Cup Final was scored byManchester City'sİlkay Gündoğan,12 seconds after kick-off in the2023 FA Cup final.Bury's 6–0 victory over Derby County in the1903 FA Cup finaland Manchester City's 6–0 victory over Watford2019 FA Cup finalare the largest winning margins. With his goal in the2012 Final,Chelsea'sDidier Drogbabecame the first player to score a goal in four finals.

The FA Cup Final is one of ten events reserved for live broadcast on UK terrestrial television under theOfcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events.

Winners

Main article:List of FA Cup finals

See also

• FA Cup Final referees
• FA Cup semi-finals
• "Abide with Me"

References

• Full results historyat rsssf.com
• Archive of FA Cup editionsat FastScore.com
• Post-war finalsat sporting-heroes.net