1997 FA Cup final

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox football match The 1997 FA Cup final was the 116th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Middlesbrough, the North East club appearing in its first FA Cup Final.

Chelsea won 2–0 to win the FA Cup for the second time, the first having come in 1970. It was also the club's first major trophy in 26 years.

It was the first major honour in the career of most Chelsea's players, but for Mark Hughes, it was the fourth time that he had featured in an FA Cup winning side (having played on the winning Manchester United teams of 1985, 1990 and 1994). It was Middlesbrough's second defeat in a cup final in the 1996–97 season (they had also lost the League Cup final to Leicester City the previous month), and they were also relegated from the Premier League.

Road to Wembley

Chelsea Home teams listed first. Round 3: Chelsea 3–0 W.B.A. Round 4: Chelsea 4–2 Liverpool Round 5: Leicester City 2–2 Chelsea Replay: Chelsea 1–0 Leicester City Quarter-Final: Portsmouth 1–4 Chelsea Semi-Final: Wimbledon 0–3 Chelsea (at Highbury, London)

Middlesbrough Home teams listed first. Round 3: Middlesbrough 6–0 Chester City Round 4: Hednesford Town 2–3 Middlesbrough Round 5: Manchester City 0–1 Middlesbrough   Quarter-Final: Derby County 0–2 Middlesbrough Semi-Final: Chesterfield 3–3 Middlesbrough (at Old Trafford, Manchester) Replay: Middlesbrough 3–0 Chesterfield (at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield)

Match review

Chelsea took the lead just 43 seconds into the match, with Italian midfielder Roberto Di Matteo receiving the ball and firing it into the goal off the crossbar from 25 yards to record what was at the time the quickest ever goal in a Wembley FA Cup final (Louis Saha broke this record 12 years later in the 2009 final after just 25 seconds, coincidentally against Chelsea, though Chelsea won the match 2–1), breaking Jackie Milburn's 42-year record. Middlesbrough's prolific striker Fabrizio Ravanelli limped off after 21 minutes, further diminishing his side's chances of victory. Late in the first half Gianluca Festa put the ball in the net for Middlesbrough, but the goal was controversially ruled out for offside. In a largely disappointing match, in which Chelsea were generally in control, Chelsea eventually added a second goal seven minutes from full-time with Eddie Newton steering the ball into the net from Gianfranco Zola's clever flick to seal a 2–0 win.

Match details

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Chelsea Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Middlesbrough Template:Preview warning

GK 30 Template:Fbaicon Frode Grodås RWB 2 Template:Fbaicon Dan Petrescu CB 6 Template:Fbaicon Steve Clarke CB 5 Template:Fbaicon Frank Leboeuf Template:Yel CB 20 Template:Fbaicon Frank Sinclair LWB 17 Template:Fbaicon Scott Minto CM 11 Template:Fbaicon Dennis Wise (c) CM 16 Template:Fbaicon Roberto Di Matteo Template:Yel CM 24 Template:Fbaicon Eddie Newton Template:Yel CF 10 Template:Fbaicon Mark Hughes CF 25 Template:Fbaicon Gianfranco Zola Template:Suboff Substitutes: GK 13 Template:Fbaicon Kevin Hitchcock DF 8 Template:Fbaicon Andy Myers FW 9 Template:Fbaicon Gianluca Vialli Template:Subon Manager: Template:Fbaicon Ruud Gullit

File:Chelsea vs Middlesbrough 1997-05-17.svg

GK 25 Template:Fbaicon Ben Roberts RB 14 Template:Fbaicon Curtis Fleming CB 5 Template:Fbaicon Nigel Pearson (c) CB 18 Template:Fbaicon Gianluca Festa Template:Yel LB 17 Template:Fbaicon Clayton Blackmore RM 10 Template:Fbaicon Juninho Paulista CM 8 Template:Fbaicon Robbie Mustoe Template:Suboff CM 6 Template:Fbaicon Emerson LM 20 Template:Fbaicon Phil Stamp CF 11 Template:Fbaicon Fabrizio Ravanelli Template:Suboff CF 21 Template:Fbaicon Craig Hignett Template:Suboff Substitutes: DF 4 Template:Fbaicon Steve Vickers Template:Subon DF 7 Template:Fbaicon Vladimír Kinder Template:Subon FW 9 Template:Fbaicon Mikkel Beck Template:Subon Manager: Template:Fbaicon Bryan Robson

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Replay required if scores still level. Three named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

See also

• Blue Day (Chelsea song, with Suggs)
• Let's Dance (Middlesbrough song, with Bob Mortimer)

External links

• Game facts at soccerbase.com