List of FA Cup winners
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, organised by and named after The Football Association (the FA). It is the oldest existing football competition in the world,[1] having commenced in the 1871–72 season.[2] The tournament is open to all clubs in the top ten levels of the English football league system, although a club's home stadium must meet certain requirements before the club can enter the tournament.[3] The competition culminates in May with the FA Cup Final, which has traditionally been regarded as the showpiece finale of the English football season.[4]
As of 2011, the record for the most wins is held by Manchester United, with eleven victories, followed by Arsenal with ten and Tottenham Hotspur with eight.[2] The cup has been won by the same team in two or more consecutive years on eight occasions, and three teams, Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur, have won consecutive finals more than once.[2] The cup is held by Manchester City, who defeated Stoke City in the 2011 final.
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[edit] History
The winners of the first tournament were Wanderers, a team of former public schoolboys based in London, who went on to win the competition five times in its first seven seasons. The early winners of the competition were all teams of wealthy amateurs from the south of England,[5] but in 1883 Blackburn Olympic became the first team from the north to win the cup, defeating Old Etonians. Upon his team's return to Blackburn, Olympic captain Albert Warburton proclaimed: "The Cup is very welcome to Lancashire. It'll have a good home and it'll never go back to London."[6]
With the advent of professionalism at around the same time, the amateur teams quickly faded from prominence in the competition.[5] The leading professional clubs formed The Football League in 1888.[7] Since then, one non-league team has won the cup. Tottenham Hotspur, then of the Southern League, defeated Sheffield United of The Football League to win the 1901 final.[8] A year later Sheffield United returned to the final and won the cup, which then remained in the hands of northern clubs until Tottenham won it again in 1921.[2] In 1927, Cardiff City, a team which plays in the English Football League despite being based in Wales, won the cup, the only non-English club to do so.[9] Scottish club Queens Park reached the final twice in the early years of the competition.[2]
Newcastle United enjoyed a brief spell of FA Cup dominance in the 1950s, winning the trophy three times in five years,[2] and in the 1960s, Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed a similar spell of success, with three wins in seven seasons. This marked the start of a successful period for London-based clubs, with 11 wins in 22 seasons.[10] Teams from the second tier of English football, at the time called the Second Division, experienced an unprecedented run of cup success between 1973 and 1980.[10] Sunderland won the cup in 1973, Southampton repeated the feat in 1976, and West Ham United won in 1980, the most recent victory by a team from outside the top division.[2][8] Since Wimbledon's surprise win in 1988,[11] the so-called "Big Four" clubs of English football,[12] Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, have between them won the cup 19 times in 22 seasons. Of the last eight finals played at Wembley, the last four finals at the old stadium and the first four at the new stadium, Chelsea have won five.[2]
[edit] Finals
Until 1999, a draw in the final would result in the match being replayed at a later date;[13] since then the final has always been decided on the day, with a penalty shootout as required.[14] So far, a penalty shoot-out has been required on only two occasions, in the 2005 and 2006 finals. The competition did not take place during the First and Second World Wars, other than in the 1914–15 season, when it was completed, and the 1939–40 season, when it was abandoned during the qualifying rounds.[2]
[edit] Key
| (R) | Replay |
| * | Match went to extra time |
| † | Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time |
| Bold | Winning team won The Double |
| Italics | Team from outside the top level of English football (since the formation of The Football League in 1888) |
All teams are English, except where marked
(Scottish) or
(Welsh).
[edit] Results
A. ^ The official attendance for the 1923 final was reported as 126,047, but the actual figure is believed to be anywhere between 150,000 and 300,000.[16][17]
[edit] Results by team
Teams shown in italics are no longer in existence. Additionally, Queen's Park ceased to be eligible to enter the FA Cup after a Scottish Football Association ruling in 1887.[18]
[edit] References
- ^ Jury, Louise (7 January 2005). "FA Cup trophy's sale to set football memorabilia record". The Independent (Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/fa-cup-trophys-sale-to-set-football-memorabilia-record-495588.html. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "F A Cup Summary – Contents". The Football Club History Database. http://www.fchd.info/cups/facupsummary.htm. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
- ^ "FA Competition Administration". The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/CompetitionAdministration. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ^ Townsend, Nick (21 May 2000). "Football: FA Cup Final: Calamity for James as Di Matteo makes history". The Independent (Independent News & Media).
- ^ a b Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler (1983). Encyclopedia of British Football. Willow Books. pp. p19. ISBN 0-0021-8049-9.
- ^ Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler. Encyclopedia of British Football. pp. p20.
- ^ Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler. Encyclopedia of British Football. pp. 16–17.
- ^ a b Lyles, Christopher (5 January 2008). "FA Cup by numbers". Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2288010/FA-Cup-by-numbers.html. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ Shuttleworth, Peter (9 May 2008). "Cardiff in footsteps of FA Cup giants". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7328650.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ a b Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler. Encyclopedia of British Football. pp. p27.
- ^ Phillips-Knight, Rob (12 May 2010). "Beasant and the 'Crazy Gang' stun Liverpool". ESPN. http://www.espn.co.uk/espn/sport/story/22265.html. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ^ "Premier League's big four lowdown". BBC Sport. 14 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7139276.stm. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ McNulty, Phil (4 February 2005). "FA Cup in danger of losing lustre". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4235997.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ "Rules of The FA Challenge Cup". The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/Rules. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ^ a b Barnes, Stuart (2008). Nationwide Football Annual 2008–2009. SportsBooks Ltd. pp. 132, 134–143. ISBN 1-8998-0772-1.
- ^ Bateson, Bill; Albert Sewell (1992). News of the World Football Annual 1992–93. Harper Collins. pp. 219. ISBN 0-85543-188-1.
- ^ "The F.A. Cup – Bolton's Victory – Record Crowds". The Times (News International). 30 May 1923. http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1923-04-30-06-001&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1923-04-30-06. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
- ^ "Ask Albert – Number 5". BBC Sport. 19 February 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1179349.stm. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
[edit] External links
- The FA Cup Archive at TheFA.com