1995 FA Cup Final

1995 FA Cup Final
Event 1994–95 FA Cup
Date 20 May 1995 (1995-05-20)
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match Dave Watson (Everton)
Referee Gerald Ashby (Worcestershire)
Attendance 79,592

The 1995 FA Cup Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium in London on 20 May 1995 to determine the winner of the 1994–95 FA Cup. The 50th FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley since the Second World War, it was contested by Everton and Manchester United. Everton won the match 1–0 via a headed goal by Paul Rideout, after Graham Stuart's shot rebounded off the crossbar. The rest of the game saw Manchester United dominating the attack, only for Welsh international goalkeeper Neville Southall to hold on to a clean sheet.

Manchester United, double-winners the previous season, had lost their league crown the previous Sunday to Blackburn Rovers. United had to play the final without three of their most important players: Eric Cantona (suspended), Andrei Kanchelskis (injured) and Andy Cole (cup-tied). Between them, those three had scored 41 goals during the season. The final saw final Manchester United appearances for Paul Ince and Mark Hughes (who had contributed greatly to United's successes under the management of Alex Ferguson), as they both moved to new clubs within weeks of the final. However, the game saw some promising performances from breakthrough players Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, all of whom would go on to win numerous major honours for the club.

Everton, meanwhile, had escaped from a relegation dogfight which had seen them make their worst start to a league campaign (eight points from a possible 42 after 14 games), with a superbly successful cup run which saw them reach Wembley having conceded only one goal (a penalty for Jürgen Klinsmann of Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final, which Everton won 4–1). Everton's only absentee was defender Earl Barrett who was cup-tied, and had therefore not been part of Everton's FA cup campaign. Duncan Ferguson passed a fitness test on the day of the game, however, Ferguson was only given a place on the substitutes bench, with Everton fielding the same starting XI that defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-final. There was no place among the substitutes for homegrown boyhood Blue John Ebbrell, with Daniel Amokachi being preferred on the bench after he scored twice in the semi-final. Stuart Barlow and Vinny Samways were the other players from the original 17-man cup final squad to not make the 14-man matchday squad. Ebbrell, Barlow and Samways all missed the semi-final against Spurs due to injury, allowing Amokachi to take a place on the substitutes bench; he then scored two goals after mistakenly coming on for Paul Rideout. Rideout had been a doubt for the game with a knee ligament injury and appeared to have suffered a recurrence midway through the second half; after receiving treatment from the Everton physio, Rideout indicated he was ready to return to action, but Amokachi misinterpreted his signal and entered the field, with the substitution confirmed by the fourth official.[1]

It was Everton's first major trophy since they won the league championship eight years earlier, and is their most recent major trophy to date. In contrast, Manchester United were left without a major trophy for the first time since the 1988–89 season and were denied the opportunity to become the first club to win the FA Cup nine times.

This was the last time that an English manager had won the FA Cup – as well as the last time a club outside of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United had won the FA Cup – until 2008, when Harry Redknapp managed Portsmouth to victory.[2]

The trophy was presented to Everton captain Dave Watson by The Prince of Wales, whose sons Princes William and Harry were attending their first FA Cup Final.[3]

Road to Wembley

Everton

Home teams listed first. Round 3: Everton 1–0 Derby County

Round 4: Bristol City 0–1 Everton

Round 5: Everton 5–0 Norwich City

Round 6: Everton 1–0 Newcastle United

Semi-final: Everton 4–1 Tottenham Hotspur (at Elland Road, Leeds)

Manchester United

Home teams listed first. Round 3: Sheffield United 0–2 Manchester United

Round 4: Manchester United 5–2 Wrexham

Round 5: Manchester United 3–1 Leeds United

Round 6: Manchester United 2–0 Queens Park Rangers

Semi-final Manchester United 2–2 Crystal Palace (at Villa Park, Birmingham)

(replay) Manchester United 2–0 Crystal Palace

Match details

Everton
Manchester United
GK 1 Wales Neville Southall
RB 2 England Matt Jackson
CB 5 England Dave Watson (c)
CB 26England David Unsworth
LB 6 England Gary Ablett
RM 17Sweden Anders Limpar  69'
CM 18England Joe Parkinson
CM 10Wales Barry Horne
LM 3 England Andy Hinchcliffe
SS 8 England Graham Stuart
CF 15England Paul Rideout  51'
Substitutes:
GK 13Australia Jason Kearton
FW 9 Scotland Duncan Ferguson  51'
FW 11Nigeria Daniel Amokachi  69'
Manager:
England Joe Royle
GK 1 Denmark Peter Schmeichel
RB 27England Gary Neville
CB 4 England Steve Bruce (c)  45'
CB 6 England Gary Pallister
LB 3 Republic of Ireland Denis Irwin
RM 19England Nicky Butt
CM 8 England Paul Ince
CM 16Republic of Ireland Roy Keane
LM 5 England Lee Sharpe  72'
CF 10Wales Mark Hughes
CF 9 Scotland Brian McClair
Substitutes:
GK 13England Gary Walsh
MF 11Wales Ryan Giggs  45'
FW 24England Paul Scholes  72'
Manager:
Scotland Alex Ferguson

Match officials

Man of the match

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Replay required if scores still level
  • Three named substitutes
  • Maximum of two substitutions

References

  1. Moore, Glenn (10 April 1995). "Amokachi completes Everton's perfect day". The Independent (Independent Print). Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. Bevan, Chris (18 May 2008). "Redknapp earns deserved success". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 May 2008.

External links

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