View source for FA Cup Final

{{Short description|Football association cup championship game}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name               = FA Cup Final
| native_name        = 
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| logo               = 
| logo_caption       = 
| image              = England mai 2007 040.jpg
| caption            = The new [[Wembley Stadium]] on 19 May 2007, the day it held its first FA Cup Final
| status             = Active
| genre              = Sporting event
| date               = Varies, but usually the last Saturday of May
| begins             = 
| ends               = 
| frequency          = Annual
| venue              = 
| location           = London, England; Cardiff, Wales (2001–2006)
| coordinates        = 
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| years_active       = 
| first              = {{Start date|1872|df=y}}
| founder_name       = 
| last               = 
| prev               = 
| next               = 
| participants       = 
| attendance         = 
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| activity           = 
| patron             = 
| organised          = [[The Football Association]]
| filing             = 
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}}

The '''FA Cup Final''' is the last match in the [[FA Cup|Football Association Challenge Cup]]. It has regularly been one of the [[List of sports attendance figures|most attended domestic football event]]s in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 at the 2017 final (the [[2020 FA Cup final|2020 event]] has been the exception, due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]). The Final is the culmination of a knockout competition among clubs belonging to [[The Football Association]] in England, although Scottish and Irish teams competed in the early years and Welsh teams regularly compete, with [[Cardiff City F.C.|Cardiff City]] winning the Cup in [[1927 FA Cup final|1927]] and reaching the final in [[1925 FA Cup final|1925]] and [[2008 FA Cup final|2008]]. From 1923 until 2000 it was played mostly at the [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|original Wembley Stadium]], from 2000 to 2006 at the [[Millennium Stadium]], [[Cardiff]], and has been played at the [[Wembley Stadium|current Wembley Stadium]] since 2007.

{{As of|2025}}, 144 FA Cup Finals have been played. 

Victory in the final is one of the ways teams can qualify for the [[UEFA Europa League]] of the following season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How FA Cup results could affect European qualification |url=https://www.premierleague.com/news/4293112 |access-date=17 May 2025|date=11 May 2025 |website=PremierLeague.com|publisher=Premier League}}</ref> 

==History==
The [[1872 FA Cup Final|first FA Cup Final]] was held at [[The Oval|Kennington Oval]] on 16 March 1872 and was contested between [[Wanderers F.C.|Wanderers]] and [[Royal Engineers A.F.C.|Royal Engineers]], with Wanderers winning 1–0.

After the [[1873 FA Cup Final|1873 final]] was held at [[Lillie Bridge Grounds|Lillie Bridge]], the event was held at the Oval until 1892. The [[1893 FA Cup final|1893]] and [[1894 FA Cup final|1894]] finals were respectively held at [[Fallowfield Stadium]] in Manchester and [[Goodison Park]] in Liverpool, before the event returned to London in 1895, being held at [[Crystal Palace National Sports Centre#Crystal Palace FA Cup Finals 1895.E2.80.931914|Crystal Palace]] until the outbreak of [[World War I]]. After the war, the event was held at [[Stamford Bridge (stadium)|Stamford Bridge]], before [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] opened in 1923. The [[1923 FA Cup Final|first final at Wembley]], in which [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] beat [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]] 2–0, 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". The [[1927 FA Cup final|1927 final]] saw "[[Abide with Me]]" being sung for the first time at the Cup final, which has become a pre-match tradition.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cup final competition for fans|url=http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/fa-cup-competition-songs-of-praise-fa-cup-choir-2227569.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129053100/http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/fa-cup-competition-songs-of-praise-fa-cup-choir-2227569.aspx|archive-date=29 January 2015|publisher=Reading FC|access-date=6 April 2016|date=26 January 2015}}</ref>

Wembley continued to host the final until 2000, when it closed for redevelopment. The [[Millennium Stadium]] in [[Cardiff]] hosted the final between 2001 and 2006, before the new [[Wembley Stadium]] opened 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 in [[1993 FA Cup final|1993]] between Arsenal and [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]]. In September 1998, the Football Association decided that all future finals would be decided "on the day", meaning that a [[Penalty shoot-out (association football)|penalty shootout]] would decide the winner if the score was level after normal and [[Overtime (sports)|extra time]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Maume |first=Chris |date=24 September 1998 |title=Football: End of Cup Final replay |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-end-of-cup-final-replay-1200475.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826075835/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-end-of-cup-final-replay-1200475.html |archive-date=26 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Three finals since have been decided by a penalty shootout, those of [[2005 FA Cup final|2005]] (Arsenal defeating [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]), [[2006 FA Cup final|2006]] ([[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] defeating West Ham United) and [[2022 FA Cup final|2022]] ([[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] defeating Chelsea).

[[Stan Mortensen]]'s [[Hat-trick#Association football|hat-trick]] for [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]] in [[1953 FA Cup Final|1953]] is the only hat-trick ever scored at Wembley in the competition's final.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/football/fa_cup/990464.stm "The Matthews Final" – BBC Sport]</ref> The fastest goal in an FA Cup Final was scored by [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]'s [[İlkay Gündoğan]], 12 seconds after kick-off in the [[2023 FA Cup final]].<ref name="fatest_goal">{{cite web|url=https://www.skysports.com/football/manchester-city-vs-manchester-united/482166|title=Man City 2–1 Man Utd: Ilkay Gundogan's double puts City on the brink of treble with FA Cup win|website=Sky Sports.com|date=3 June 2023|access-date=3 June 2023}}</ref> Bury's 6–0 victory over Derby County in the [[1903 FA Cup final]] and Manchester City's 6–0 victory over Watford in the [[2019 FA Cup final]] are the largest winning margins. With his goal in the [[2012 FA Cup final|2012 Final]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]'s [[Didier Drogba]] became the first player to score in four finals.

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 and Designated Events]].

==Winners==
{{main|List of FA Cup finals}}

==See also==
{{portal|English football}}
*[[FA Cup Final referees]]
*[[FA Cup semi-finals]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcuphist.html Full results history] at rsssf.com
*[https://www.fastscore.com/england/fa-cup/archive Archive of FA Cup editions] at FastScore.com
*[http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/stats_football/fa_cup_finals/fa_cup_finals.asp Post-war finals] at sporting-heroes.net

{{FA Cup}}

[[Category:FA Cup finals| ]]
[[Category:FA Cup|Finals]]
[[Category:May in sports]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1872]]
[[Category:Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom]]