FA Cup

FA Cup
Founded	1871
Region	England Wales
Number of teams	737 (2017–18)
Tournament information
Current champions	Arsenal (2019-20)
Most successful team(s)	Arsenal (14 titles)
Current
Website	Official website

The FA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The FA Cup is organised by and named after the Football Association, its current sponsored name is the FA Cup with Budweiser. A women's tournament is also held, known as the FA Women's Cup.

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 1 to 5 of the FA National League System, as well as selected teams in Step 6. 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 winning 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.

Arsenal are the current holders, having beaten Chelsea 2-1 in the 2020 final. With their record 14th FA Cup title.

Records and statistics

Final

Team

• Most wins: 14:
  • Arsenal (1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020)
• Most consecutive wins: 3, joint record:
  • Wanderers (1876, 1877, 1878)
  • Blackburn Rovers (1884, 1885, 1886)
• Most appearances in a final: 21:
  • Arsenal (1927, 1930, 1932, 1936, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020)
• Most Final appearances without ever winning: 4, Leicester City (1949, 1961, 1963, 1969)
• Most Final appearances without ever losing: 5, Wanderers (1872, 1873, 1876, 1877, 1878)
• Most Final appearances without losing (streak): 7, Tottenham Hotspur (1901, 1921, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1982), 7, Arsenal (2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020)
• Longest gap between wins: 69 years, Portsmouth (1939–2008)
• Biggest win: 6 goals, joint record:
  • Bury 6–0 Derby County (1903)
  • Manchester City 6–0 Watford (2019)
• Most goals in a final: 7:
  • Blackburn Rovers 6–1 Sheffield Wednesday (1890)
  • Blackpool 4–3 Bolton Wanderers (1953)
• Most goals by a losing side: 3:
  • Bolton Wanderers: Lost 3–4 against Blackpool (1953)
  • West Ham United: Drew 3–3 but lost in a penalty shootout against Liverpool (2006)
• Most defeats in a final: 8, joint record:
  • Everton (1893, 1897, 1907, 1968, 1985, 1986, 1989, 2009)
  • Manchester United (1957, 1958, 1976, 1979, 1995, 2005, 2007, 2018)

Individual

• Most wins by player: 7: Ashley Cole (Arsenal) (2002, 2003, 2005) & (Chelsea) (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012)
• Most wins by manager: 7, Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) (1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017)
• Most appearances: 9, Arthur Kinnaird (Wanderers) (1872–73, 1875–76, 1876–77, 1877–78) & (Old Etonians) (1874–75, 1878–79, 1880–81, 1881–82, 1882–83)
• Most goals (one final): 3:
  • Billy Townley (Blackburn Rovers) (1890)
  • James Logan (Notts County) (1894)
  • Stan Mortensen (Blackpool) (1953)
• Most goals (all finals): 5, Ian Rush (Liverpool) (2 in 1986, 2 in 1989, 1 in 1992)
• Most finals scored in: 4, Didier Drogba (Chelsea) (1 each in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012)
• Youngest FA Cup finalist: Curtis Weston (Millwall), 17 years and 119 days (2004)
• Youngest player to score in an FA Cup Final: Norman Whiteside (Manchester United), 18 years and 19 days (1983)
• Oldest player: Billy Hampson (Newcastle United), 41 years and 257 days (1924)

All rounds

• Biggest win: Preston North End 26–0 Hyde (First Round, 15 October 1887)
• Biggest away win: Clapton 0–14 Nottingham Forest (First Round, 17 January 1891)
• Highest attendance at Wembley: 126,047 (official) up to 300,000 (estimate) at the "White Horse Final" (Bolton Wanderers v. West Ham United, 28 April 1923)
• Most clubs competing for trophy in a season: 763 (2011–12)
• Longest tie: 660 minutes (6 matches in total), Oxford City v. Alvechurch (Fourth Qualifying Round, November 6/9/15/17/20/22 1971; Alvechurch won the sixth match 1–0)
• Longest penalty shootout: 20 penalties each, Tunbridge Wells v. Littlehampton Town (Preliminary Round Replay, 31 August 2005; Tunbridge Wells won 16–15)
• Most rounds played in a season: 9, for:
  • Brighton & Hove Albion (1932–33: 1st–4th Qualifying Rounds, 1st–5th Rounds)
  • New Brighton (1956–57: Preliminary, 1st–4th Qualifying Rounds, 1st–4th Rounds)
  • Blyth Spartans (1977–78: 1st–4th Qualifying Rounds, 1st–5th Rounds)
  • Harlow Town (1979–80: Preliminary, 1st–4th Qualifying Rounds, 1st–4th Rounds)
• Most games played in a season: 13, Bideford (1973–74: one First Qualifying, two Second Qualifying, five Third Qualifying, four Fourth Qualifying and one First Round)
• Fastest goal: 4 seconds, Gareth Morris (for Ashton United v. Skelmersdale United, 1st Qualifying Round, 17 September 2001)
• Most consecutive games without defeat: 22, Blackburn Rovers (First Round, 1884 through Second round, replay, 1886. Won three FA Cups.)
• Fastest hat-trick: 2 min 20 sec, Andy Locke (for Nantwich Town v. Droylsden, Preliminary Round, August 1995)
• Most career goals: 50 Harry Cursham (for Notts County in 12 tournaments from 1877–78 to 1888–89).
• Most goals by a player in a single FA Cup season: 19, Jimmy Ross (for Preston North End, 1887–88. Preston outscored opponents 50–5 over 7 matches, including "Biggest win" shown above.).
• Most goals by a player in a single FA Cup game: 9, Ted MacDougall (for AFC Bournemouth in 11–0 defeat of Margate, First Round Proper, 20 November 1971)
• Scoreline: Two examples of teams scoring 7 goals and not winning – Dulwich Hamlet 8–7 St Albans City (Fourth Qualifying Round Replay, 22 November 1922), and Dulwich Hamlet 7–7 Wealdstone (Fourth Qualifying Round, 16 November 1929).
• Youngest player: Andy Awford, 15 years and 88 days (for Worcester City v. Boreham Wood, 3rd Qualifying Round, 10 October 1987),
• Youngest goalscorer: Sean Cato, 16 years and 25 days (for Barrow Town v. Rothwell Town, Preliminary Round, 3 September 2011)
• Youngest goalscorer (proper rounds): George Williams, 16 years and 66 days (for Milton Keynes Dons v. Nantwich Town, First Round Proper, 12 November 2011)

Sponsorship

Since the start of the 1994–95 season, the FA Cup has been sponsored. However, to protect the identity of the competition, the sponsored name has always included 'The FA Cup' in addition to the sponsor's name, unlike sponsorship deals for the League Cup where the word 'cup' is preceded by only the sponsor's name. Sponsorship deals run for four years, though – as in the case of E.ON – one-year extensions may be agreed. Emirates Airline is the sponsor from 2015 to 2018, renaming the competition as 'The Emirates FA Cup', unlike previous editions, which included 'The FA Cup in association with E.ON' and 'The FA Cup with Budweiser'. This was later extended until 2021.

Period	Sponsor	Name
1871–72 to 1993–94	No main sponsor	The FA Cup
1994–95 to 1997–98	Littlewoods	The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods
1998–99 to 2001–02	AXA	The AXA sponsored FA Cup (1998–99) The FA Cup sponsored by AXA (1999–2002)
2002–03 to 2005–06	No main sponsor	The FA Cup
2006–07 to 2010–11	E.ON	The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
2011–12 to 2013–14	Budweiser	The FA Cup with Budweiser
2014–15	No main sponsor	The FA Cup
2015–16 to present	Emirates	The Emirates FA Cup

From 2006 to 2013, Umbro supplied match balls for all FA Cup matches. They were replaced at the start of the 2013–14 season by Nike, who produced the competition's official match ball for five seasons. Mitre took over for the 2018–19 season, beginning a three-year partnership with the FA.

From August 2006 to 2013, Umbro supplied match balls for all FA Cup matches. Since March 2013, Nike has supplied the official match ball.

External links

• The FA Cup Archive – England's official Football Association site, all results with dates, including all qualifying rounds
• The official FA Cup website
• Thomas Fattorini Ltd. makers of the 1911 FA Cup – manufacturers of the 1911 FA Cup and other sporting trophies
• FA Cup going under the hammer – BBC News story on the sale of the second trophy
• FA Supporters – Independent FA Cup Supporters Club