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FA cup

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Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final
The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911.  The trophy shares its name with the competition.
The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. The trophy shares its name with the competition.

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is the main "knockout" cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association.

The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world, commencing in 1871-72. As such, its reputation as the sport's premier domestic cup competition extends around the world. Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other, there is great scope for "giant-killers" from the lower divisions to eliminate top clubs from the tournament. A record 687 teams have been accepted into the FA Cup in 2006-2007. In comparison, the League Cup, a lower prestige English football knockout tournament, can involve only the 92 respective members of the Football League (which organises the competition) and the FA Premier League.

The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament. The equivalent competition for women's teams is the FA Women's Cup. The women's cup has a much lower public profile than the men's, in common with all women's football in England. Many nations also have similar competitions, inspired by this legendary tournament.

On Saturday 13th May 2006 Liverpool became the current holders of the trophy. They defeated West Ham United 3-1 in a penalty shootout that followed a 3-3 draw after extra time.

Format

The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random - there are no seeds however the qualifying round draws are regionalised to reduce the travel costs of smaller non-league sides. Rounds One and Two were also previously split into Northern and Southern draw sections, however this practice was abandoned after the 1997-8 Cup competition. The draw also determines which team will play at home. If a match is drawn, there is usually a replay at the ground of the other team although it is possible for teams to agree in advance not to replay a tie in which case the initial match will be settled by means of extra time and penalty shootouts if necessary. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time and penalty shootouts, though in the past further replays were possible, and some ties took as many as six matches to settle; In their 1975 campaign, Fulham played 12 games over 6 rounds. This remains the most games played by a team to reach a final #redirect

Traditionally, the FA Cup Final is played at London's Wembley Stadium. However, due to extensive redevelopment of Wembley, finals have been played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff since 2001. Although early venues include Kennington Oval, 1872 & 1874-92, the Crystal Palace Park, 1895-1914, Stamford Bridge 1920-22, and Lillie Bridge, Fulham, London in 1873, this was the first time the final had been played outside of England (it should be noted that not only English League teams participate in the competition, so Welsh teams in English leagues such as Cardiff City F.C. do participate in the cup, and Cardiff City F.C. did win the Cup in 1927). In the early years teams from Ireland and Scotland also took part in the competition with Glasgow side Queens Park reaching the final in 1884 and 1885, while Belfast club Linfield played in the First Round in the 1888-1889 season.

The FA had hoped that the 2006 final would take place at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, but the FA Cup final on May 13, 2006 was played at the Millennium Stadium, because the builders had failed to guarantee that it would be completed on time. It currently seems highly probable that the 2007 final will also take place in Cardiff.

The semi-finals are contested at neutral venues; in the past these have usually been the home grounds of teams not involved in that semi-final, such as Old Trafford in Manchester, Villa Park in Birmingham and Hillsborough in Sheffield. The 1991 semi-final between Arsenal and Tottenham was the first to be played at Wembley. Two years later both semi-finals were held at Wembley after the Sheffield Wednesday/Sheffield United derby was switched from the original venue of Elland Road, Leeds. In later years e.g. 2005 both semi-finals were held at either Wembley or the Millennium Stadium. In future years it is expected that all semi-finals will be played at the new Wembley Stadium. However, in 2006 the FA decided to revert to the neutral ground system - Chelsea played their tie with Liverpool at Old Trafford whilst West Ham played their tie with Middlesbrough at Villa Park on 23rd and 24th April respectively.

The competition begins in August with the Extra-Preliminary Round contested by clubs occupying a low position in the English football league system, which any FA affiliated club meeting a basic standard of ability and ground facilities may enter. 644 clubs entered the competition in the 2003/04 season, a (then) record 660 for 2004/05 (the old record was 656 in 1921/22), another record of 674 for 2005/06, and yet another new record of 687 for 2006/07. Following the Extra-Preliminary Round is a Preliminary Round, four Qualifying Rounds, and six Rounds of the competition proper, followed by the Semi-Finals and the Final. All of FA Premier League and Football League clubs may enter. Non-league clubs may also enter if they competed in the previous season's FA Trophy or FA Vase and are deemed to be playing in an "acceptable" league for the current season. All clubs entering the competition must have a suitable and safe stadium capacity.

Clubs higher up the English football league system are given byes to certain rounds. For example, clubs playing in the Conference North or Conference South are given exemption to Second Qualifying Round, while those from the Conference National are given exemption to the Fourth Qualifying Round. Clubs from Football League One and Football League Two are given exemption into the First Round proper in November, and Football League Championship and Premier League teams are given exemption into the Third Round, traditionally held in the first weekend in January. The Final is played at the end of the season in May.

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; Spurs's victory then would be comparable to a team near the bottom of the third level of the English football pyramid (currently League One) winning today.

The winning team qualifies by right for the first round of the UEFA Cup. If the winners also qualify for the Champions League by merit of league position, the losing finalist qualifies for the UEFA Cup in their place. If both finalists qualify for the Champions League, an extra UEFA Cup place is given on the basis of Premier League position.

Trophies

The first FA Cup trophy
Enlarge
The first FA Cup trophy

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 was 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 has been 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"). 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 1871-2 until it was stolen from a Birmingham shop window belonging to William Shillcock while held by Aston Villa on September 11, 1895. It was never seen again and is presumed to have been melted down. 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 May 19 2005 for £420,000 (£478,400 including auction fees and taxes) to David Gold, the chairman of Birmingham City. 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 and has been in use since the 1992 final. Therefore, 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 Scottish Cup.

A "backup" trophy was made along side 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. Some have claimed that the backup trophy was given to Chelsea in 2000 when Manchester United refused to surrender the FA Cup they had won the previous year (their rationale supposedly being that they had not defended the trophy, therefore they couldn't lose it), with the real cup being given to Liverpool on their victory in 2001. This is very likely an urban legend, however.

Sponsorship

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 in sponsorship deals for the League Cup. Instead, the competition has been known as "The FA Cup sponsored by ..."

From the 2006/2007 season it will formally be known as "The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON" after the German energy company signed a 4 year sponsorship deal [link].

Giant-Killers

The FA Cup has a long tradition of lower-division and non-league teams becoming "giant-killers" by defeating highly-ranked opponents. There are various famous giant killing feats, and every club will remember their own successes. However, the most famous results are arguably those of:

Famous Shock Results

Notable events in the FA Cup

19th Century

1901-1949

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Past Winners of the FA Cup

For the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final
The top 10 clubs by number of wins (and when they last won and lost a final):

Club Wins Last win Runners-up Last final lost
1 Manchester United 11 2004 6 2005
2 Arsenal 10 2005 7 2001
3 Tottenham Hotspur 8 1991 1 1987
4 Liverpool 7 2006 6 1996
align=left|Aston Villa 7 1957 3 2000
6 Newcastle United 6 1955 7 1999
align=left|Blackburn Rovers 6 1928 2 1960
8 Everton 5 1995 7 1989
align=left|West Bromwich Albion 5 1968 5 1935
align=left|Wanderers F.C. 5 1878 0

Clubs with up to 4 wins:

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).

Six clubs have won the FA Cup as part of a League and Cup double, these are Preston North End (1889), Aston Villa (1897), Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (1961), Arsenal (1971, 1998, 2002), Liverpool (1986) and Manchester United (1994, 1996, 1999). Arsenal and Manchester United share the record of three doubles. Arsenal are the only club to win doubles in distinct decades, and have in fact won in three different decades.

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.

In 1999, Manchester United added the Champions League crown to their double, an accomplishment known as The Treble.

In 2001, Liverpool won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup to complete a cup treble.

Leicester City hold the unfortunate record of having appeared in four FA Cup finals without ever winning the cup.

Kettering Town have scored the most goals in FA Cup history, having scored 803 goals between 1879 and 2005. (up to 12 October 2005) with Ollie Burgess scoring the 800th goal against St Albans City on 11 October 2005

External links

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Football in the United Kingdom

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UK-wide national team competitions: British Home Championship | Rous Cup
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