| Founded | 1871 |
|---|---|
| Region | England Wales |
| Number of teams | 763 (2011–12) |
| Current champions | Manchester City (5th title) |
| Most successful club | Manchester United (11 titles) |
| Website | FA Cup |
| 2011–12 FA Cup | |
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world.[1] The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Its current sponsored name is The FA Cup with Budweiser.[2]
The FA Cup was first held in 1871–72. Entry is open to all teams who compete in the Premier League, the Football League and in steps one to five of the FA National League System, as well as selected teams in step 6.[3] This means that clubs of all standards compete, from the largest clubs in England and Wales down to amateur village teams. The tournament has become known for the possibility for "minnows" from the lower divisions to become "giant-killers" by eliminating top clubs from the tournament and even theoretically win the Cup, although lower division teams rarely progress beyond the early stages. The qualification rounds and a system of byes mean that the very smallest and very biggest teams almost never meet.
The holders of the FA Cup are Manchester City, who beat Stoke City 1–0 in the 2011 final for their fifth Cup triumph and first since 1969.
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The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings for each round drawn at random. There are no seeds and the draw for each round is not made until after the scheduled dates for the previous round. The draw also determines which teams will play at home.
Each tie is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn, there is a replay, usually at the ground of the team who were away for the first game. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time and penalty shootouts, though until the 1990s further replays would be played until one team was victorious. Some ties took as many as six matches to settle; in their 1975 campaign, Fulham played a total of 12 games over six rounds, which remains the most games played by a team to reach a final.[4] Replays were traditionally played three or four days after the original game, but from 1991–92 they were staged at least 10 days later on police advice. This led to penalty shoot-outs being introduced. Replays are no longer held for the semi-finals or final.
There are a total of 14 rounds in the competition — six qualifying rounds, followed by six further rounds (the "proper" rounds), semi-finals, and the final. The competition begins in August with the Extra Preliminary Round, followed by the Preliminary Round and First Qualifying Round, which are contested by the lowest-ranked clubs. Clubs playing in the Conference North and Conference South are given exemption to the Second Qualifying Round, and Conference National teams are given exemption to the Fourth Qualifying Round. The 32 winners from that round join the 48 clubs from League One and League Two in the First Round (often called the First Round Proper). Finally, teams from the Premier League and Football League Championship enter at the Third Round Proper, at which point there are 64 teams remaining in the competition. The Sixth Round Proper is the quarter-final stage, at which point eight teams remain.
The qualifying rounds are regionalised to reduce the travel costs for smaller non-league sides. The First and Second Rounds were also previously split into Northern and Southern sections, but this practice was ended after the 1997–98 competition.
The FA Cup has a set pattern for when each round is played. Normally the First Round is played in mid-November, with the Second Round on one of the first two Saturdays in December. The third round is played on the first weekend in January, with the Fourth Round later in the month and Fifth Round in mid-February. The Sixth Round (or quarter-finals) traditionally occurs in early or mid March, with the semi-finals a month later. The final is normally held the Saturday after the Premier League season finishes in May. The only seasons in recent times when this pattern was not followed were 1999–2000, when most rounds were played a few weeks earlier than normal as an experiment, and 2010–2011 when the FA Cup Final was played before the Premier League season had finished, in order to allow the stadium to be ready for the UEFA Champions League final.[5]
As well as being presented with the trophy, the winning team also qualifies for the UEFA Europa League (formerly named the UEFA Cup). If the winners have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League via the Premier League, the UEFA Europa League place goes to the FA Cup runners-up.[6] If the winners have also qualified for the Europa League through finishing fifth in the Premier League, the FA Cup runners-up do not qualify, with the sixth placed team in the league receiving the Europa League place.[6] If the runners-up have also qualified for the UEFA Champions League or are not entitled to play in UEFA competitions for any reason, the place goes to the next highest placed finisher in the league table.
The draw for each of the "proper" rounds is not seeded and is broadcast live on television, usually taking place at the conclusion of live coverage of one of the games of the previous round. No teams are seeded in the qualifying round draws either, but the teams are grouped geographically in the qualifying rounds to reduce travel costs. Public interest is particularly high during the draw for the third round, which is where the top-ranked teams are added to the draw. Traditionally, the draw has been conducted by means of balls drawn from a purple velvet bag, however in recent years in order to comply with FIFA regulations the balls have been drawn from a clear perspex container. To keep with tradition, however, the presenters are shown emptying the balls from the old velvet bag into the perspex container before the draw.
All clubs in the Premier League and Football League are automatically eligible, and clubs in the next six levels of the English football league system are also eligible provided they have played in either the FA Cup, FA Trophy or FA Vase competitions in the previous season. Newly formed clubs that start playing in a high league, such as F.C. United of Manchester and MK Dons, may not therefore play in the FA Cup in their first season. All clubs entering the competition must also have a suitable stadium. There are also other factors and measures in place for lower clubs to enter the competition. It is very rare for top clubs to miss the competition, although it can happen in exceptional circumstances. Manchester United withdrew from the 1999–2000 competition due to their participation in the FIFA Club World Championship, a move highly controversial at the time.[7]
Welsh sides that play in English leagues are eligible, although since the creation of the League of Wales there are only six clubs remaining: Cardiff City (the only non-English team to win the tournament, in 1927), Swansea City, Wrexham, Merthyr Town, Newport County and Colwyn Bay. In the early years other teams from Wales, Ireland and Scotland also took part in the competition, with Glasgow side Queen's Park reaching the final in 1884 and 1885 before being barred from entering by the Scottish Football Association.
The number of entrants has increased greatly in recent years. In the 2004–05 season, 660 clubs entered the competition, beating the long-standing record of 656 from the 1921–22 season. In 2005–06 this increased to 674 entrants, in 2006–07 to 687, in 2007–08 to 731 clubs, and for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 competitions it reached 762.[8] By comparison, the other major English domestic cup, the League Cup, involves only the 92 members of the Premier League and Football League.
Matches in the FA Cup are usually played at the home ground of one of the two teams. The team who plays at home is decided when the matches are drawn. There is no seeding system in place within rounds other than when teams enter the competition, therefore the home team is simply the first team drawn out for each fixture. Occasionally games may have to be moved to other grounds due to other events taking place, security reasons or a ground not being suitable to host popular teams. In the event of a draw, the replay is played at the ground of the team who originally played away from home, with a penalty shootout deciding the winner if the replay game also ends in a tie.
In the days when multiple replays were possible, the second replay (and any further replays) were played at neutral grounds. The clubs involved could alternatively agree to toss for home advantage in the second replay.
Traditionally, the FA Cup Final was played at London's Wembley Stadium. Early finals were played in other locations and, due to extensive redevelopment of Wembley, finals between 2001 and 2006 were played at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The final returned to Wembley in May 2007.[9] Early finals venues include Kennington Oval, in 1872 and 1874–92, the Racecourse Ground, Derby in 1886, Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester in 1893, Burnden Park for the 1901 replay, Bramall Lane in 1912, the Crystal Palace Park, 1895–1914, Stamford Bridge 1920–22, and Lillie Bridge, Fulham, London in 1873. In more recent times the memorable 1970 final replay between Leeds and Chelsea was held at Old Trafford in Manchester. This was the only time between 1923 and 2000 that the FA Cup final or the FA Cup Final replay was held at a stadium other than Wembley.
The semi-finals were traditionally contested at high-capacity neutral venues; usually the home grounds of teams not involved in that semi-final. Venues used since 1990 include Manchester City's now demolished Maine Road stadium, Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium, Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium, Arsenal's former home, Highbury (since redeveloped as housing), London's Wembley Stadium, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Aston Villa's Villa Park in Birmingham. Villa Park is the most used stadium, with 55 semi-finals. The 1991 semi-final between Arsenal and Tottenham was the first to be played at Wembley, as were both 1993, 1994 and 2000 semi-finals. In 2005, both were held at the Millennium Stadium. The decision to hold the semi-finals at the same location as the final can be controversial amongst fans[10] However, starting with the 2008 cup, all semi-finals are played at Wembley; the stadium was not ready for the 2007 semi-finals. For a list of semi-final results and the venues used, see FA Cup Semi-finals.
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 is 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 was 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"). However this is not entirely true, as during the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. 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 1871–72 until it was stolen from a Birmingham shoe shop window belonging to William Shillcock while held by Aston Villa on 11 September 1895, and was never seen again. The FA fined Villa £25 to pay for a replacement. Almost 60 years later, the thief admitted that the cup had been melted down to make counterfeit half-crown coins.[11]
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 19 May 2005 for £420,000 (£478,400 including auction fees and taxes) to David Gold, the joint chairman of West Ham United. David Gold has loaned this trophy to the National Football Museum which is housed in Preston North End's Deepdale Stadium and it is on permanent display to the public.
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 by Toye, Kenning and Spencer[12] and has been in use since the 1992 final. A "backup" trophy was made alongside 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. An otherwise identical, but smaller replica was also made by Fattorini, the North Wales Coast FA Cup trophy, and is contested annually by members of that regional Association.
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 Youdan Cup. The oldest national trophy is the Scottish Cup.
In 1914 Burnley F.C. won the cup and received unique medals incorrectly struck as "English Cup Winners". One is displayed at Turf Moor, within the 1914 collection.
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 sponsorship deals for the League Cup. Sponsorship deals run for four years, though – as in the case of E.ON – one-year extensions may be agreed.
Below is a list of sponsors and the sponsored name of the competition:
| Period | Sponsor | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1871-1994 | No main sponsor | The FA Cup |
| 1994-1998 | Littlewoods (former retailer) | The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods[13] |
| 1998-2002 | AXA | The AXA-Sponsored FA Cup[14] |
| 2002-2006 | No main sponsor | The FA Cup |
| 2006-2011 | E.ON | The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON[15][16] |
| 2011-2014 | Budweiser | The FA Cup with Budweiser[17] |
From August 2006 to 2014, Umbro will supply match balls for all FA Cup matches.
Aside from the non-top-flight winners mentioned below, the FA Cup has a long tradition of lower-ranked teams becoming "giant-killers" by defeating opponents from a higher division.[18] While it is common for this to happen (one statistical analysis based on four years of results showed that the probability of at least one team beating one from a higher division in a given year was 99.85%, dropping to 48.8% for a two-division gap and 39.28% for a three-division gap[19]), it is considered particularly newsworthy when the "victim" is one of the top Premier League teams, or where the giant-killer is from outside the League divisions. The most recent example of a non-league team beating top-flight opposition was Sutton United's victory over Coventry City in 1988–89. The last time a non-league side beat top-flight opposition away from home was Altrincham's victory over Birmingham City at St. Andrew's in 1985–86. Within the football league one of the most notable results was Wrexham's victory over Arsenal in 1992. In the previous season, Wrexham had finished 92nd in the football league, Arsenal were 1st
Giant-killings of various scales happen every year: almost every club in the League Pyramid has a fondly remembered "giant-killing" act in its history and some small clubs have, whether by accident or design, gained a reputation for being "cup specialists" after two or more such feats within a few years.[19] Victories by non-league sides over league opposition are referred to as 'league scalps' . Overall, Yeovil Town holds the record with 20 league scalps won before the club entered the league.[20] The record for a club which has never entered the league is held by Altrincham, with 16 league scalps.
Linked to this giant-killing is the progression of teams beyond what would normally be expected. A few teams have won the FA Cup while outside of the top division, though no team from the third level of the football league has progressed to the final. For non-league teams, reaching the third round – where all top flight sides now enter – is considered a major achievement. During the 2008-09 FA Cup, a record nine teams achieved this feat,[21] and while Tottenham Hotspur won the 1901 FA Cup as a Southern League club, no non-league team has since progressed past the fifth round, this occurring most recently to Crawley Town F.C. in 2011.[22] Chasetown are the lowest ranked team to play in the third round, playing eventual runners-up Cardiff City in the 2007–08 competition. The game took place on 5 January 2008 whilst Chasetown were playing in the Southern League Division One Midlands, the eighth tier of the English football pyramid.[23]
Three 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).
Seven clubs have won the FA Cup as part of a League and Cup double, namely Preston North End (1889), Aston Villa (1897), Tottenham Hotspur (1961), Arsenal (1971, 1998, 2002), Liverpool (1986), Manchester United (1994, 1996, 1999) and Chelsea (2010). Arsenal and Manchester United share the record of three doubles. Arsenal has won a double in each of three separate decades (1970s, 1990s, 2000s). Manchester United's three doubles in the 1990s highlights their dominance of English football at the time.
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. Liverpool repeated this feat in 2001, as did Chelsea in 2007.
In 1998–99, Manchester United added the 1999 Champions League crown to their double, an accomplishment known as The European treble. Two years later, in 2000–01, Liverpool won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup to complete a cup treble.
Portsmouth have the unusual accolade of holding the FA Cup for the longest unbroken period of time; having won the Cup in 1939, the next final was not contested until 1946, due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
The FA Cup has only been won by a non-English team once. Cardiff City achieved this in 1927 when they beat Arsenal in the final at Wembley. They had previously made it to the final only to lose to Sheffield United in 1925, and lost another final to Portsmouth in 2008.
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.
In the history of the FA Cup, only eight teams who were playing outside the top level of English football have gone on to win the competition, the most recent being West Ham United, who beat Arsenal in 1980. Excluding Tottenham in 1901, these clubs were all playing in the old Second Division, no other Third Division or lower side having reached the final.
One of the most famous upsets was when Sunderland beat Leeds United 1–0 in 1973. Leeds were third in the First Division and Sunderland were in the Second.[24] Three years later Second Division Southampton also won the Cup, against First Division Manchester United by the same 1–0 scoreline. The other non-top flight winners of the FA Cup were Notts County in 1894, the first non-top flight team to win the FA Cup since the inception of the league; Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1908; Barnsley in 1912; and West Bromwich Albion in 1931. West Bromwich Albion remain the only team to have won the FA Cup and promotion from the second flight in the same season.
Thus far the FA Cup final has never been contested by two teams from outside the top flight. Uniquely, in 2007–08, three of the four semi-finalists (Barnsley, Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion), were from outside the top flight, although Portsmouth went on to win it.[25]
The FA Cup Final is one of ten events reserved for live broadcast on UK terrestrial television under the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed & Designated Events.
From August 2008 until June 2012, FA Cup matches are shown live by ITV1 across England and Wales, with UTV broadcasting to Northern Ireland. ITV shows sixteen FA Cup games per season, including first pick live matches from each of the 1st to 6th rounds of the competition plus one semi-final exclusively live. The final is also shown live on ITV1.
Under the same contract, Setanta Sports showed three games and one replay in each round from round three to five, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final. The channel also broadcast ITV's matches exclusively to Scotland, after the ITV franchise holder in Scotland, STV, decided not to broadcast FA Cup games. Setanta entered administration in June 2009 and as a result the FA terminated Setanta's deal to broadcast the FA Cup and England internationals.[26]
In October 2009, The FA announced that ITV would show an additional match in the First and Second Rounds on ITV1, with one replay match shown on ITV4. One match and one replay match from the first two rounds will broadcast on The FA website for free, in a similar situation to the 2010 World Cup Qualifer between Ukraine and England.[27] The 2009–10 First Round match between Oldham Athletic and Leeds United was the first FA Cup match to be streamed online live.[28]
Many expected British Sky Broadcasting to make a bid to show some of the remaining FA Cup games for the remainder of the 2009/10 season which would include a semi-final and shared rights to the final.[29] ESPN took over the package Setanta held for the FA Cup from the 2010/11 season.[30] The 2011 final was also shown live on Sky 3D in addition to ESPN (who provided the 3D coverage for Sky 3D) & ITV.[31]
BBC Radio Five Live provide radio coverage including several full live commentaries with additional commentaries broadcast on BBC local radio stations.
Until the 2008/09 season, the BBC and Sky Sports shared television coverage, with the BBC showing three matches in the earlier rounds. Some analysts argued the decision to move away from the Sky and, in particular, the BBC undermined the FA Cup in the eyes of the public.[32]
The FA Cup 2008–09 early rounds were being covered for the first time by ITV's online property, ITV Local. The first match of the season, between Wantage Town and Brading Town, was broadcast live online. Highlights of eight games of each round were being broadcast as catch up on ITV Local.[33][34] Since the end of the ITV Local service, it is unknown whether or not this coverage will continue.
The FA sells overseas rights separately from the domestic contract. In Australia, FA Cup games from the 1st Round to the Semi-Finals are broadcast exclusively by Setanta Sports Australia, and the final is co-broadcast with SBS. Meanwhile Fox Soccer Channel owns the rights in the United States. Supersport broadcasts the tournament in Africa, and Sony Pix in India.
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