Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette
using the FA Cup to copy their goalscoring celebration,
which is usually a handshake.
Today, Arsenal won the Football Association Cup Final, coming from behind to beat Chelsea, 2-1, in front of a Coronavirus-mandated empty new Wembley Stadium in London. It redeemed a season in which Arsenal finished in 8th place in the Premier League, its worst performance in 25 years.
It was the 3rd time the North Londoners had beaten the West Londoners in the FA Cup Final, following 2002 and 2017. It also avenged a defeat to Chelsea in last season's UEFA Europa League Final, a ghastly loss.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal's Captain, scored both Arsenal goals, matching the feat of Reg Lewis in the 1950 Final win over Liverpool. Auba one-upped Lewis, though, because he scored 1 from open play and 1 on a penalty. In fact, it was the 1st penalty converted for Arsenal in an FA Cup Final, not counting the 2005 Final against Manchester United going to penalty kicks.
Mikel Arteta, who captained the 2014 Final win over Hull City, became the 2nd man to win the FA Cup for Arsenal as both a player and as the manager. George Graham had done it in 1971 as a player and 1993 as the manager.
Arsenal Cup Finals
April 23, 1927, FA Cup Final, at the original Wembley Stadium, West London: Arsenal lose to Cardiff City of Wales, 1-0. In their 1st Cup Final, Arsenal are victimized by a freak play. A shot by Hughie Ferguson of Cardiff is stopped by Arsenal goalkeeper Dan Lewis, but the ball squeezes through his elbow and back into the net.
This is the only time a team from outside England has won the FA Cup. Cardiff also reached the Final, but lost, in 1925 and 2008. They are 1 of 5 teams in Wales eligible to play in English competitions, the others being Swansea City, Newport County, Wrexham and Merthyr Town.
Queen's Park of Glasgow, Scotland lost the Final in 1884 and 1885, but an 1887 ruling by the Scottish FA made Scottish teams ineligible for England's FA Cup.
April 26, 1930, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal defeat Huddersfield Town of Yorkshire, 2-0. The goals are scored by Alex James and Jack Lambert -- no relation to the later legendary Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker. It is The Arsenal's 1st major trophy. They win their 1st Football League title the next season.
The game began with both teams walking out together, as Arsenal's manager was Herbert Chapman, who had built the Huddersfield team that had won a few trophies in the 1920s. This was the 1st time it had been done, and it has been done ever since -- except in 2020, due to "social distancing."
April 23, 1932, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to Newcastle United of the North-East, 2-1. Bob John of Arsenal opens the scoring. Newcastle's 1st goal comes when Jimmy Richardson stops an errant pass at the end line, or over it (thus it was out of bounds, and should have been a goal kick to Arsenal) as many people thought, and crosses it back to Jack Allen, who scores it. Allen later adds the winner.
This may have been the 1st time in a big game that Arsenal had been robbed by the officials. It would not be the last.
April 25, 1936, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal defeat Sheffield United of Yorkshire, 1-0. This game is notable for a labor dispute that forbids newsreel cameras inside the stadium, so news services send airplanes, and one uses an early helicopter, to try to film the action from above. They get some great shots of the stadium, but not of the only goal of the game, scored by Ted Drake.
This may have been the 1st time in a big game that Arsenal had been robbed by the officials. It would not be the last.
April 25, 1936, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal defeat Sheffield United of Yorkshire, 1-0. This game is notable for a labor dispute that forbids newsreel cameras inside the stadium, so news services send airplanes, and one uses an early helicopter, to try to film the action from above. They get some great shots of the stadium, but not of the only goal of the game, scored by Ted Drake.
May 4, 1941, Football League War Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal and Preston North End of Lancashire play to a 1-1 draw. A replay is necessary.
May 31, 1941, Football League War Cup Final Replay, Ewood Park, Blackburn, Lancashire: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Preston. Ewood Park, then as now, was the home ground of Blackburn Rovers.
May 31, 1941, Football League War Cup Final Replay, Ewood Park, Blackburn, Lancashire: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Preston. Ewood Park, then as now, was the home ground of Blackburn Rovers.
May 15, 1943, Football League War Cup Final, Stamford Bridge, West London: Arsenal lose 4-2 to Blackpool of Lancashire. Stamford Bridge, then as now, was the home ground of Chelsea.
April 29, 1950, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal defeat Merseyside club Liverpool, 2-0. Reg Lewis scores both goals. Arsenal Captain Joe Mercer had long played for the other major team in Liverpool, Everton, but goes out of his way to praise Liverpool when interviewed for the official newsreel of the match.
May 3, 1952, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 1-0 to Newcastle. Right back Walley Barnes twists his knee in the 35th minute, with the score still 0-0. No substitutes were allowed in English soccer, so The Arsenal are down to 10 men for the last 55 minutes of the game. There would be several more Cup Finals marred by injuries, until substitutes were finally allowed in the 1966-67 season.
May 3, 1952, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 1-0 to Newcastle. Right back Walley Barnes twists his knee in the 35th minute, with the score still 0-0. No substitutes were allowed in English soccer, so The Arsenal are down to 10 men for the last 55 minutes of the game. There would be several more Cup Finals marred by injuries, until substitutes were finally allowed in the 1966-67 season.
George Robledo, a Chilean playing in England, scores the goal. Arsenal would win the League the next season, but didn't play for a major trophy again for 15 years.
March 2, 1968, Football League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 1-0 to Leeds United of Yorkshire. The League Cup began in 1960. While every team in England, over 700 of them at various levels (plus the aforementioned 5 in Wales), are eligible for the FA Cup, only the 92 teams in the 4 divisions of The Football League (including, from 1992-93 onward, the Premier League) are eligible for the League Cup.
March 2, 1968, Football League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 1-0 to Leeds United of Yorkshire. The League Cup began in 1960. While every team in England, over 700 of them at various levels (plus the aforementioned 5 in Wales), are eligible for the FA Cup, only the 92 teams in the 4 divisions of The Football League (including, from 1992-93 onward, the Premier League) are eligible for the League Cup.
March 15, 1969 League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 3-1 to Swindon Town of Wiltshire in extra time. The pitch (field) was a mess because of a previous event. Then, half the Arsenal team was stricken by the flu -- similar to the lasagne story at Tottenham in 2006, although not with sinister implications.
Then it rained, making the pitch even worse. On the day before the game, the Arsenal players who felt well enough to get out of bed went to look at the pitch, and told the officials it was unplayable, and the game should be postponed. It wasn't. The officials screwing Arsenal over did not begin with Arsène
Then it rained, making the pitch even worse. On the day before the game, the Arsenal players who felt well enough to get out of bed went to look at the pitch, and told the officials it was unplayable, and the game should be postponed. It wasn't. The officials screwing Arsenal over did not begin with Arsène
Wenger becoming their manager, or even with the start of the Premier League in 1992.
Despite Swindon being a 3rd division team, they lead Arsenal from the 35th minute until the 86th, when Bobby Gould scored. But the weakened players can't handle extra time on a bad pitch, and allow 2 goals by Don Rogers, the 1st one on a defensive error by centreback Ian Ure, who would be abused by Arsenal fans for this mistake for the rest of his career.
This may still be the most disastrous loss in Arsenal history, ahead of the famous losses to Walsall in the 1933 FA Cup and the 1983 League Cup, and "The Wrexham Disaster" in the 1992 FA Cup. (Note that none of these happened in Finals.)
April 22, 1970, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, 1st Leg, Stade Constant Vanden Stock, Anderlecht, Belgium: Arsenal lose 3-1 to Anderlecht. Trailing 3-0 in the 82nd minute, Ray Kennedy, not quite 19 years old, scores a goal, giving them a lifeline -- or a "Ray of hope," as the newspapers called it. But Arsenal would have to win by at least 2 goals in the home leg to take this trophy -- 3 if Anderlecht got an away goal.
April 28, 1970, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, 2nd Leg, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, North London: Arsenal beat Anderlecht, 3-0. Eddie Kelly scores in the 25th minute, and then come goals by John Radford in the 75th and Jon Sammels just 1 minute later. Thus, Arsenal win 4-3 on aggregate. Given the away goals rule, Sammels' goal was not necessary, but it was welcomed.
The Fairs Cup began in 1958. It was renamed the UEFA Cup for the 1971-72 season, and the UEFA Europa League for the 2010-11 season.
May 8, 1971, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1. Regulation ends scoreless, and Steve Heighway gives Liverpool the lead in extra time. But Arsenal follow with goals by Eddie Kelly and the iconic blast and the lie-on-the-ground celebration by Charlie George. Having already won the League, by beating Tottenham away 5 days earlier, Arsenal thus clinch "The Double."
May 6, 1972, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to Leeds 1-0. The Centenary Cup Final has a pregame ceremony where many previous Cup Final heroes were introduced. But, having just missed another League title, Arsenal fall short of successfully defending the Cup, losing on a diving header by Allan Clarke.
Starting goalkeeper Bob Wilson was injured, and his replacement, Geoff Barnett, has been blamed for allowing the goal. This is unfair: I've seen the video many times, and it was a great shot. I don't think Wilson would have stopped it, either.
May 6, 1978, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to Suffolk team Ipswich Town 1-0. Liam Brady is played even though injured, and Roger Osborne scores the only goal, in the 77th minute.
May 12, 1979, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-2. Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton score in the 1st half, and Arsenal lead 2-0 late. But United score in the 86th and the 88th to tie it. Then Alan Sunderland scores in the 89th to win it. Brady assists on all 3 Arsenal goals. It becomes known as "The Five-Minute Final."
May 10, 1980, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to East London team West Ham United 1-0. Trevor Brooking scores early, and the Gunners can't equalize. The Hammers remain the last team from outside the top division to win the Cup -- and this remains their last major trophy, unless you want to count the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
May 14, 1980, European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium: Arsenal play Spanish team Valencia to a 0-0 draw, then lose 5-4 on penalties. Brady is soon lured away by the money of Juventus. A year later, Stapleton is lured away by Manchester United.
In 1985, Heysel would host the European Cup Final, at which 39 fans were killed due to a wall collapse inside. The game was played anyway, and Juventus (with Brady already having been sold) beat Liverpool. I've talked to some Arsenal fans who were at the 1980 Final, and they said the stadium was already unsuitable for a major event then.
April 5, 1987, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1. There was a daunting statistic: Liverpool had never lost when Ian Rush scored, and, sure enough, he opens the scoring for the Scousers. It looks like Arsenal's bid for a 1st trophy in 8 years would end with a bit of a hangover from their dramatic Semifinal win over arch-rival Tottenham.
But Charlie Nicholas, one of the highest-profile, and thus most disappointing, acquisitions in Arsenal history, justifies the team's 1983 faith in him by scoring twice, netting the winner in the 83rd minute.
April 24, 1988, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lost 3-2 to Luton Town of Bedfordshire. In one of their few seasons in the top division, Luton win their only major trophy, as a ghastly mistake by backup Arsenal centreback Gus Caesar gifts Danny Wilson an equalizer in the 82nd minute, and Mark Stein gets the winner at the death.
As with Ian Ure in the League Cup Final 19 years earlier, Caesar was never forgiven by Arsenal fans. As with Ure, Arsenal would find some glory in the next few years -- in this case, the League title in 1989 and 1991 -- but he wouldn't be a part of it.
April 18, 1993, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Sheffield Wednesday of Yorkshire, 2-1. This was the 1st match in the history of European soccer in which players wore uniform numbers of their own choosing and their names on the back. Previously, numbers were assigned to positions, not players, and thus putting names on the back would have been cost-prohibitive.
John Harkes of Wednesday, a native of Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey, becomes the 1st American to score a goal at Wembley, and gives the Owls the lead in the 8th minute. But Paul Merson equalizes in the 20th, and Steve Morrow wins it in the 68th.
Ironically, Morrow does not receive his winner's medal at the postgame ceremony. Arsenal Captain Tony Adams tries to pick him up and carry him off the pitch on his shoulders, but slips, and Morrow lands on his arm and breaks it. He is given his medal at the FA Cup Final the next month.
May 15, 1993, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal and Wednesday play to a 1-1 draw. By a weird turn of events, the only time this has ever happened, the opponents for the FA Cup Final are the same opponents as were in the League Cup Final. Arsenal take a 1-0 lead on an Ian Wright goal, but Wednesday find an equalizer. The game goes to a replay. It will be the last time: From the 1993-94 season onward, if the Final is still tied at the end of extra time, it will go to a penalty shootout.
May 20, 1993, FA Cup Final Replay, Wembley: Arsenal beat Wednesday 2-1. As he had in the 1st game, Ian Wright opens the scoring. Former Tottenham star Chris Waddle equalizes for Wednesday. Extra time is played, and just when it looks like there will be penalties, in the 119th minute, Arsenal take a corner, and rarely-used centreback Andy Linighan heads the ball into the net.
His partner in central defense was David O'Leary, making his 722nd and last appearance for The Arsenal, still a team record.
May 4, 1994, European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark:
Despite Swindon being a 3rd division team, they lead Arsenal from the 35th minute until the 86th, when Bobby Gould scored. But the weakened players can't handle extra time on a bad pitch, and allow 2 goals by Don Rogers, the 1st one on a defensive error by centreback Ian Ure, who would be abused by Arsenal fans for this mistake for the rest of his career.
This may still be the most disastrous loss in Arsenal history, ahead of the famous losses to Walsall in the 1933 FA Cup and the 1983 League Cup, and "The Wrexham Disaster" in the 1992 FA Cup. (Note that none of these happened in Finals.)
April 22, 1970, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, 1st Leg, Stade Constant Vanden Stock, Anderlecht, Belgium: Arsenal lose 3-1 to Anderlecht. Trailing 3-0 in the 82nd minute, Ray Kennedy, not quite 19 years old, scores a goal, giving them a lifeline -- or a "Ray of hope," as the newspapers called it. But Arsenal would have to win by at least 2 goals in the home leg to take this trophy -- 3 if Anderlecht got an away goal.
April 28, 1970, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, 2nd Leg, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, North London: Arsenal beat Anderlecht, 3-0. Eddie Kelly scores in the 25th minute, and then come goals by John Radford in the 75th and Jon Sammels just 1 minute later. Thus, Arsenal win 4-3 on aggregate. Given the away goals rule, Sammels' goal was not necessary, but it was welcomed.
The Fairs Cup began in 1958. It was renamed the UEFA Cup for the 1971-72 season, and the UEFA Europa League for the 2010-11 season.
May 8, 1971, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1. Regulation ends scoreless, and Steve Heighway gives Liverpool the lead in extra time. But Arsenal follow with goals by Eddie Kelly and the iconic blast and the lie-on-the-ground celebration by Charlie George. Having already won the League, by beating Tottenham away 5 days earlier, Arsenal thus clinch "The Double."
May 6, 1972, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to Leeds 1-0. The Centenary Cup Final has a pregame ceremony where many previous Cup Final heroes were introduced. But, having just missed another League title, Arsenal fall short of successfully defending the Cup, losing on a diving header by Allan Clarke.
Starting goalkeeper Bob Wilson was injured, and his replacement, Geoff Barnett, has been blamed for allowing the goal. This is unfair: I've seen the video many times, and it was a great shot. I don't think Wilson would have stopped it, either.
May 6, 1978, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to Suffolk team Ipswich Town 1-0. Liam Brady is played even though injured, and Roger Osborne scores the only goal, in the 77th minute.
May 12, 1979, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-2. Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton score in the 1st half, and Arsenal lead 2-0 late. But United score in the 86th and the 88th to tie it. Then Alan Sunderland scores in the 89th to win it. Brady assists on all 3 Arsenal goals. It becomes known as "The Five-Minute Final."
May 10, 1980, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose to East London team West Ham United 1-0. Trevor Brooking scores early, and the Gunners can't equalize. The Hammers remain the last team from outside the top division to win the Cup -- and this remains their last major trophy, unless you want to count the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
May 14, 1980, European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium: Arsenal play Spanish team Valencia to a 0-0 draw, then lose 5-4 on penalties. Brady is soon lured away by the money of Juventus. A year later, Stapleton is lured away by Manchester United.
In 1985, Heysel would host the European Cup Final, at which 39 fans were killed due to a wall collapse inside. The game was played anyway, and Juventus (with Brady already having been sold) beat Liverpool. I've talked to some Arsenal fans who were at the 1980 Final, and they said the stadium was already unsuitable for a major event then.
April 5, 1987, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1. There was a daunting statistic: Liverpool had never lost when Ian Rush scored, and, sure enough, he opens the scoring for the Scousers. It looks like Arsenal's bid for a 1st trophy in 8 years would end with a bit of a hangover from their dramatic Semifinal win over arch-rival Tottenham.
But Charlie Nicholas, one of the highest-profile, and thus most disappointing, acquisitions in Arsenal history, justifies the team's 1983 faith in him by scoring twice, netting the winner in the 83rd minute.
April 24, 1988, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lost 3-2 to Luton Town of Bedfordshire. In one of their few seasons in the top division, Luton win their only major trophy, as a ghastly mistake by backup Arsenal centreback Gus Caesar gifts Danny Wilson an equalizer in the 82nd minute, and Mark Stein gets the winner at the death.
As with Ian Ure in the League Cup Final 19 years earlier, Caesar was never forgiven by Arsenal fans. As with Ure, Arsenal would find some glory in the next few years -- in this case, the League title in 1989 and 1991 -- but he wouldn't be a part of it.
April 18, 1993, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Sheffield Wednesday of Yorkshire, 2-1. This was the 1st match in the history of European soccer in which players wore uniform numbers of their own choosing and their names on the back. Previously, numbers were assigned to positions, not players, and thus putting names on the back would have been cost-prohibitive.
John Harkes of Wednesday, a native of Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey, becomes the 1st American to score a goal at Wembley, and gives the Owls the lead in the 8th minute. But Paul Merson equalizes in the 20th, and Steve Morrow wins it in the 68th.
Ironically, Morrow does not receive his winner's medal at the postgame ceremony. Arsenal Captain Tony Adams tries to pick him up and carry him off the pitch on his shoulders, but slips, and Morrow lands on his arm and breaks it. He is given his medal at the FA Cup Final the next month.
May 15, 1993, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal and Wednesday play to a 1-1 draw. By a weird turn of events, the only time this has ever happened, the opponents for the FA Cup Final are the same opponents as were in the League Cup Final. Arsenal take a 1-0 lead on an Ian Wright goal, but Wednesday find an equalizer. The game goes to a replay. It will be the last time: From the 1993-94 season onward, if the Final is still tied at the end of extra time, it will go to a penalty shootout.
May 20, 1993, FA Cup Final Replay, Wembley: Arsenal beat Wednesday 2-1. As he had in the 1st game, Ian Wright opens the scoring. Former Tottenham star Chris Waddle equalizes for Wednesday. Extra time is played, and just when it looks like there will be penalties, in the 119th minute, Arsenal take a corner, and rarely-used centreback Andy Linighan heads the ball into the net.
His partner in central defense was David O'Leary, making his 722nd and last appearance for The Arsenal, still a team record.
May 4, 1994, European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark:
Arsenal beat Parma of Italy, 1-0. Given the presence in the Parma lineup of Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Aspirlla and Thomas Brolin, and the absence from the Arsenal lineup of Wright, suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Parma were solidly favored.
But a mistake in the 20th minute leads to an Alan Smith goal, and "the famous back four" of right back Lee Dixon, centrebacks Tony Adams and Steve Bould, and left back Nigel Winterburn hold on for the quintessential "One-nil to The Arsenal" victory. Along with the League title win over Liverpool in 1989, this is considered manager George Graham's masterstroke.
May 10, 1995, European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Parc des Princes, Paris: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Real Zaragoza of Spain. The worst Arsenal season in 19 years includes a 12th-place finish, and Graham being fired, not for poor performance, but for managerial improprieties. Arsenal were still in the CWC, due to being defending Champions. The game goes to extra time, but Zaragoza's Turkish midfielder Mohamed Ali Amar, who goes by the nom de soccer Nayim, lobs the ball over Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman in the last minute.
Nayim played 5 seasons for Tottenham. To this day, Tottenham fans sing Nayim's name, because his goal defeated and embarrassed Arsenal, even though the game in question had nothing to do with Tottenham. In the 2002 World Cup, Ronaldinho would score a very similar goal for Brazil, lobbing a ball over Seaman and into the net to defeat England.
But a mistake in the 20th minute leads to an Alan Smith goal, and "the famous back four" of right back Lee Dixon, centrebacks Tony Adams and Steve Bould, and left back Nigel Winterburn hold on for the quintessential "One-nil to The Arsenal" victory. Along with the League title win over Liverpool in 1989, this is considered manager George Graham's masterstroke.
May 10, 1995, European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Parc des Princes, Paris: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Real Zaragoza of Spain. The worst Arsenal season in 19 years includes a 12th-place finish, and Graham being fired, not for poor performance, but for managerial improprieties. Arsenal were still in the CWC, due to being defending Champions. The game goes to extra time, but Zaragoza's Turkish midfielder Mohamed Ali Amar, who goes by the nom de soccer Nayim, lobs the ball over Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman in the last minute.
Nayim played 5 seasons for Tottenham. To this day, Tottenham fans sing Nayim's name, because his goal defeated and embarrassed Arsenal, even though the game in question had nothing to do with Tottenham. In the 2002 World Cup, Ronaldinho would score a very similar goal for Brazil, lobbing a ball over Seaman and into the net to defeat England.
May 16, 1998, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Newcastle 2-0. Having already won the League, this clinches The Double. There would be no repeat of the upset wins of 1932 and 1952 for "The Toon," as Paul Merson in the 1st half and Nicolas Anelka in the 2nd dust them.
This was Arsenal's 1st cup final under manager Arsène Wenger. Under him, Arsenal would play in 13 cup finals. Under all other managers combined: 25, not counting replays and 2-legged finals.
It would also be their last game at the old Wembley. The old stadium, which opened in April 1923, the same month as the original Yankee Stadium, with an FA Cup Final (Bolton Wanderers over West Ham), was closed in 2000, demolished, replaced with a new one, and opened in time for the 2007 FA Cup Final (Chelsea over Manchester United).
May 17, 2000, UEFA Cup Final, Parken Stadium: Arsenal lose to Galatasaray of Istanbul, Turkey, 4-1 on penalties following a scoreless game. The Copenhagen stadium, site of the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup Final, would not be the site of a 2nd great Arsenal win on this occasion.
This was Arsenal's 1st cup final under manager Arsène Wenger. Under him, Arsenal would play in 13 cup finals. Under all other managers combined: 25, not counting replays and 2-legged finals.
It would also be their last game at the old Wembley. The old stadium, which opened in April 1923, the same month as the original Yankee Stadium, with an FA Cup Final (Bolton Wanderers over West Ham), was closed in 2000, demolished, replaced with a new one, and opened in time for the 2007 FA Cup Final (Chelsea over Manchester United).
May 17, 2000, UEFA Cup Final, Parken Stadium: Arsenal lose to Galatasaray of Istanbul, Turkey, 4-1 on penalties following a scoreless game. The Copenhagen stadium, site of the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup Final, would not be the site of a 2nd great Arsenal win on this occasion.
May 12, 2001, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales (then named the Millennium Stadium): Arsenal lose to Liverpool, 2-1. With Wembley having been closed, the national stadium of Wales was now the biggest stadium in the United Kingdom, and thus, for the 1st time, the Final was held outside England, and wouldn't return until the new Wembley opened in 2007.
As with Arsenal against Newcastle, Liverpool find the 3rd time against Arsenal to be the charm. Liverpool commit some blatant handballs, but referee Steve Dunn doesn't call them. Still, Freddie Ljungberg gives Arsenal the lead in the 72nd minute. But Michael Owen scores in the 83rd and the 88th, giving Liverpool the win.
May 4, 2002, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal beat Chelsea of West London, 2-0. As with the year before, the game is scoreless well into the 2nd half. As with the year before, Arsenal break the deadlock, this time with a screamer by Ray Parlour in the 70th minute. But unlike the year before, Arsenal manage to get a 2nd, by Ljungberg in the 80th, and that that ices it. Four days later, Arsenal beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, and won their 3rd Double.
May 17, 2003, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal beat Southampton of Hampshire, 1-0. Robert Pires, who seemed to specialize in scoring against Southampton, does so again, in the 38th minute, and Arsenal hold on.
May 21, 2005, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal beat Manchester United, 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw. The season before, Man U had beaten Arsenal in the Semifinal before winning the Final and taking the Cup away. They had also famously beaten Arsenal in the 1999 Semifinal. Earlier this season, they had cheated their way to ending Arsenal's 49-game League unbeaten streak.
This is a very rough game, as most AFC-MUFC games have been from the 1980s onward, but Arsenal hold on, and extend the game to penalties. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Lauren trade successful conversions, but Jens Lehmann stops Paul Scholes, and that makes the difference. Ljungberg scores for Arsenal. Both 3rd round shooters make theirs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie. So do both 4th round shooters, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole. Roy Keane makes his in the 5th round, but Patrick Vieira, in his last act as an Arsenal player, makes his, and Arsenal get the Cup back.
May 17, 2006, UEFA Champions League Final, Stade de France, Saint-Denis, outside Paris: Arsenal lose 2-1 to FC Barcelona. Arsenal's 1st game for the European Cup is ruined in the 18th minute, when goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is wrongly sent off by referee Terje Hauge, for how he stopped Samuel Eto'o, making him the 1st player ever sent off in a European Cup/Champions League Final.
Then Wenger makes a key mistake: He has to take an attacking player off, so that he could send in backup keeper Manuel Almunia, but he choses Pires, instead of a younger, less-proven player like
As with Arsenal against Newcastle, Liverpool find the 3rd time against Arsenal to be the charm. Liverpool commit some blatant handballs, but referee Steve Dunn doesn't call them. Still, Freddie Ljungberg gives Arsenal the lead in the 72nd minute. But Michael Owen scores in the 83rd and the 88th, giving Liverpool the win.
May 4, 2002, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal beat Chelsea of West London, 2-0. As with the year before, the game is scoreless well into the 2nd half. As with the year before, Arsenal break the deadlock, this time with a screamer by Ray Parlour in the 70th minute. But unlike the year before, Arsenal manage to get a 2nd, by Ljungberg in the 80th, and that that ices it. Four days later, Arsenal beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, and won their 3rd Double.
May 17, 2003, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal beat Southampton of Hampshire, 1-0. Robert Pires, who seemed to specialize in scoring against Southampton, does so again, in the 38th minute, and Arsenal hold on.
May 21, 2005, FA Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal beat Manchester United, 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw. The season before, Man U had beaten Arsenal in the Semifinal before winning the Final and taking the Cup away. They had also famously beaten Arsenal in the 1999 Semifinal. Earlier this season, they had cheated their way to ending Arsenal's 49-game League unbeaten streak.
This is a very rough game, as most AFC-MUFC games have been from the 1980s onward, but Arsenal hold on, and extend the game to penalties. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Lauren trade successful conversions, but Jens Lehmann stops Paul Scholes, and that makes the difference. Ljungberg scores for Arsenal. Both 3rd round shooters make theirs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie. So do both 4th round shooters, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole. Roy Keane makes his in the 5th round, but Patrick Vieira, in his last act as an Arsenal player, makes his, and Arsenal get the Cup back.
May 17, 2006, UEFA Champions League Final, Stade de France, Saint-Denis, outside Paris: Arsenal lose 2-1 to FC Barcelona. Arsenal's 1st game for the European Cup is ruined in the 18th minute, when goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is wrongly sent off by referee Terje Hauge, for how he stopped Samuel Eto'o, making him the 1st player ever sent off in a European Cup/Champions League Final.
Then Wenger makes a key mistake: He has to take an attacking player off, so that he could send in backup keeper Manuel Almunia, but he choses Pires, instead of a younger, less-proven player like
Cesc Fàbregas or Aleksandr Hleb.
Incredibly, Arsenal take the lead in the 37th minute, on a goal by a defender, no less, Sol Campbell. The 10 Gunners hold the lead against the 12 Blaugrana until the 76th minute, when Eto'o scores a goal that was clearly offside. In the 80th, Juliano Belletti scores the winner.
This was probably the most crushing defeat in Arsenal's history, and it was the end of the era: Not only was it the final season for Highbury, but it was the final game in Arsenal's colors for Campbell (though he would briefly return in 2010), Pires, Cole and Dennis Bergkamp. Henry remained for 1 more year.
February 25, 2007, League Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Chelsea. As has become his habit, Wenger starts mostly kids in a League Cup match: The only players in his starting XI who were in his usual XI are Fàbregas and Kolo Touré. In contrast, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has all of his usual starters at the start.
It almost works: Theo Walcott scores in the 12th minute. But Didier Drogba, the diving master from the Ivory Coast, equalizes in the 20th. In the 63rd, Abou Diaby goes for the ball, and accidentally kicks Chelsea captain John Terry in the jaw. As Terry is one of the most execrable people in the sport in the last 20 years, this earns Diaby goodwill that his performance never does. Drogba scores the winner in the 84th.
February 27, 2011, League Cup Final, new Wembley Stadium, London: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Birmingham City. It isn't Arsenal's 1st visit to the new Wembley: That was the 2009 FA Cup Semifinal, a 2-1 loss to Chelsea.
For once, Wenger goes against his kids-in-the-League-Cup policy, and goes for it. Like everyone else, he had heard the whine of "Arsenal haven't won a trophy in X years" reach 6, and he wanted it.
But Fàbregas was unavailable due to injury, and Arsenal really could have used him. Birmingham City, known for being a dirty team -- their Martin Taylor had infamously broken Diaby's leg in 2006 -- were terrible, and would be relegated at the end of the season. Even a half-strength Arsenal team should have handled them.
But Nikola Zigic scores for the Brummies in the 28th. van Persie scores in the 39th, and it remains 1-1 until the 89th, looking like it will go to extra time. That's when Zigic shoots, and, in attempt to block it, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny collides with centreback Laurent Koscielny, allowing a loose ball that Obafemi Martins fires into the net.
It is probably the most humiliating Arsenal loss since the 1969 edition of the event, against Swindon Town. And it was the beginning of the idiotic #WengerOut movement.
May 17, 2014, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Hull City of Yorkshire, 3-2 in extra time. The trophy drought had reached 9 years. And when Hull score 2 goals in the 1st 8 minutes, it looks as if it would be extended to a 10th season, and perhaps be the end of the line for Wenger.
But Santi Cazorla scores in the 17th. A long lull follows, including halftime. Koscielny scores in the 71st to tie it. It goes to extra time, and, in the 109th minute, off a cheeky backheel by Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey scores. He copies Charlie George's 1971 celebration, sliding on the (new) Wembley turf and lying on his back.
The last 12 minutes of the game are agony for Arsenal fans, especially those of us in America who had joined, thanks to the growth of satellite TV, since the last trophy in 2005, and had never won one with the team. When it is over, there is so much joy and relief. And yet, Wenger looks happier than any of us.
May 30, 2015, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Aston Villa of Birmingham, 4-0. I watched this game at Mulligan's in Hoboken, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. There, the TV screens are on the ground floor, and the bathroom is in the basement.
Incredibly, Arsenal take the lead in the 37th minute, on a goal by a defender, no less, Sol Campbell. The 10 Gunners hold the lead against the 12 Blaugrana until the 76th minute, when Eto'o scores a goal that was clearly offside. In the 80th, Juliano Belletti scores the winner.
This was probably the most crushing defeat in Arsenal's history, and it was the end of the era: Not only was it the final season for Highbury, but it was the final game in Arsenal's colors for Campbell (though he would briefly return in 2010), Pires, Cole and Dennis Bergkamp. Henry remained for 1 more year.
February 25, 2007, League Cup Final, Principality Stadium: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Chelsea. As has become his habit, Wenger starts mostly kids in a League Cup match: The only players in his starting XI who were in his usual XI are Fàbregas and Kolo Touré. In contrast, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has all of his usual starters at the start.
It almost works: Theo Walcott scores in the 12th minute. But Didier Drogba, the diving master from the Ivory Coast, equalizes in the 20th. In the 63rd, Abou Diaby goes for the ball, and accidentally kicks Chelsea captain John Terry in the jaw. As Terry is one of the most execrable people in the sport in the last 20 years, this earns Diaby goodwill that his performance never does. Drogba scores the winner in the 84th.
February 27, 2011, League Cup Final, new Wembley Stadium, London: Arsenal lose 2-1 to Birmingham City. It isn't Arsenal's 1st visit to the new Wembley: That was the 2009 FA Cup Semifinal, a 2-1 loss to Chelsea.
For once, Wenger goes against his kids-in-the-League-Cup policy, and goes for it. Like everyone else, he had heard the whine of "Arsenal haven't won a trophy in X years" reach 6, and he wanted it.
But Fàbregas was unavailable due to injury, and Arsenal really could have used him. Birmingham City, known for being a dirty team -- their Martin Taylor had infamously broken Diaby's leg in 2006 -- were terrible, and would be relegated at the end of the season. Even a half-strength Arsenal team should have handled them.
But Nikola Zigic scores for the Brummies in the 28th. van Persie scores in the 39th, and it remains 1-1 until the 89th, looking like it will go to extra time. That's when Zigic shoots, and, in attempt to block it, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny collides with centreback Laurent Koscielny, allowing a loose ball that Obafemi Martins fires into the net.
It is probably the most humiliating Arsenal loss since the 1969 edition of the event, against Swindon Town. And it was the beginning of the idiotic #WengerOut movement.
May 17, 2014, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Hull City of Yorkshire, 3-2 in extra time. The trophy drought had reached 9 years. And when Hull score 2 goals in the 1st 8 minutes, it looks as if it would be extended to a 10th season, and perhaps be the end of the line for Wenger.
But Santi Cazorla scores in the 17th. A long lull follows, including halftime. Koscielny scores in the 71st to tie it. It goes to extra time, and, in the 109th minute, off a cheeky backheel by Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey scores. He copies Charlie George's 1971 celebration, sliding on the (new) Wembley turf and lying on his back.
The last 12 minutes of the game are agony for Arsenal fans, especially those of us in America who had joined, thanks to the growth of satellite TV, since the last trophy in 2005, and had never won one with the team. When it is over, there is so much joy and relief. And yet, Wenger looks happier than any of us.
May 30, 2015, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Aston Villa of Birmingham, 4-0. I watched this game at Mulligan's in Hoboken, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. There, the TV screens are on the ground floor, and the bathroom is in the basement.
I was trying to hold it until halftime, but I couldn't make it. I was finishing up, washing my hands, in the 40th minute, when a huge roar went up. Since there were about 100 Arsenal fans in the place, and only 6 people wearing Villa colors, I knew it was an Arsenal goal. As I got up the stairs, I yelled, "Who scored it?" The answer came back: "Walcott!"
Perfect: The previous season, in the 3rd Round game against Tottenham, Theo Walcott had scored, but had later gotten injured, and missed the rest of the season. That injury cost Arsenal dearly in the League, but not in the Cup. Still, he was just a spectator for the Final. This time, he was in it, and won it. Watching the halftime highlights, I saw the goal, and the look of elation on his face. It was easy to see just how much this meant to him.
The 2nd half started a little nervy. It looked like "a movie I'd seen before": An Arsenal player (sometimes Walcott himself) would score in the 1st half, and they'd hang on for dear life before allowing an equalizer. Not this time: Alex Sanchez scored a beauty in the 50th, Captain and centreback Per Mertesacker scored in the 62nd, and Giroud finished it off in the 90th.
The pressure was off -- but then, having won it the season before, there wasn't as much pressure anyway. This win was nice, and I'm glad Arsenal got it. But it would never mean as much to me as the one before did. It sure meant a lot to Theo, though.
May 27, 2017, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Chelsea, 2-1. Chelsea had been a "bogey team" for Arsenal since the 2004 Champions League Quarterfinal: It seemed, the bigger the game, the better Chelsea was, and the less effectiveness Arsenal had. Not this time: Alexis scores in the 4th minute to settle our nerves early.
But, again, it seems like one of those hang-on-for-dear-life games. Sure enough, in the 76th minute, Diego Costa, who had succeeded Drogba as Chelsea's Master of Cheating, equalizes. It looks like a game of "Name Your Poison": Would you rather lose in regulation, in extra time, or on penalties?
What do we say to the God of Defeat? Aaron Ramsey, once again, says, "Not today." As in 2014, he takes a Giroud pass and puts it into the net, this time a header in the 79th. Chelsea are completely deflated, and it is 3 FA Cups in 4 years.
February 25, 2018, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 3-0 to Manchester City. Every previous Arsenal cup final defeat had been by 1 goal or on penalties. Sergio Aguero scores in the 18th, but it is still only 1-0 as the hour mark approaches, so there is hope. But Vincent Kompany scores in the 58th, and that's it. David Silva's goal in the 65th is just a cherry on their sundae.
May 29, 2019, UEFA Europa League Final, Bakı Olimpiya Stadionu, Baku, Azerbaijan: Arsenal lose 4-1 to Chelsea. In spite of having an obvious penalty denied early on, Arsenal are the better team in the 1st 35 minutes, but begin to break down.
New manager Unai Emery needed to straighten them out at halftime. He doesn't: Giroud, having been sold to Chelsea, scores in the 49th, and it is all downhill from there. Alex Iwobi scores in the 69th to make it 3-1 and give some hope to those Gooners who somehow made it to Baku against long odds, but it wasn't going to happen.
The 2nd half started a little nervy. It looked like "a movie I'd seen before": An Arsenal player (sometimes Walcott himself) would score in the 1st half, and they'd hang on for dear life before allowing an equalizer. Not this time: Alex Sanchez scored a beauty in the 50th, Captain and centreback Per Mertesacker scored in the 62nd, and Giroud finished it off in the 90th.
The pressure was off -- but then, having won it the season before, there wasn't as much pressure anyway. This win was nice, and I'm glad Arsenal got it. But it would never mean as much to me as the one before did. It sure meant a lot to Theo, though.
May 27, 2017, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Chelsea, 2-1. Chelsea had been a "bogey team" for Arsenal since the 2004 Champions League Quarterfinal: It seemed, the bigger the game, the better Chelsea was, and the less effectiveness Arsenal had. Not this time: Alexis scores in the 4th minute to settle our nerves early.
But, again, it seems like one of those hang-on-for-dear-life games. Sure enough, in the 76th minute, Diego Costa, who had succeeded Drogba as Chelsea's Master of Cheating, equalizes. It looks like a game of "Name Your Poison": Would you rather lose in regulation, in extra time, or on penalties?
What do we say to the God of Defeat? Aaron Ramsey, once again, says, "Not today." As in 2014, he takes a Giroud pass and puts it into the net, this time a header in the 79th. Chelsea are completely deflated, and it is 3 FA Cups in 4 years.
February 25, 2018, League Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal lose 3-0 to Manchester City. Every previous Arsenal cup final defeat had been by 1 goal or on penalties. Sergio Aguero scores in the 18th, but it is still only 1-0 as the hour mark approaches, so there is hope. But Vincent Kompany scores in the 58th, and that's it. David Silva's goal in the 65th is just a cherry on their sundae.
May 29, 2019, UEFA Europa League Final, Bakı Olimpiya Stadionu, Baku, Azerbaijan: Arsenal lose 4-1 to Chelsea. In spite of having an obvious penalty denied early on, Arsenal are the better team in the 1st 35 minutes, but begin to break down.
New manager Unai Emery needed to straighten them out at halftime. He doesn't: Giroud, having been sold to Chelsea, scores in the 49th, and it is all downhill from there. Alex Iwobi scores in the 69th to make it 3-1 and give some hope to those Gooners who somehow made it to Baku against long odds, but it wasn't going to happen.
August 1, 2020, FA Cup Final, Wembley: Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1. The English media, always hating Arsenal, emphasizes the previous year's cup final loss to Chelsea, not the last time the teams met in the Final of this tournament. The American media goes nuts over Christian Pulisic, the next great hope of American soccer. And, in just the 5th minute, he becomes the 1st American ever to score in an FA Cup Final.
And, just as with the Ian Rush hex with Liverpool, it is mentioned that Chelsea have never lost an FA Cup Final in which they have scored first. (They had previously won the Cup in 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018.) But, just as with the Rush hex, it doesn't hold up.
Anthony Taylor, a referee with a history of robbing Arsenal, is the 1st man in over 100 years to be allowed to officiate at a 2nd FA Cup Final, due to the unusual circumstances caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. Arsenal fans don't want the referees to favor them, just to apply the rules correctly to both teams. And he awards 6 yellow cards to Chelsea -- including 2 to Mateo Kovačić, sending him off in the 73rd minute, and awards Arsenal a penalty in the 28th minute, which Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converts.
Aubameyang scores again in the 67th minute. Due to concerns over the virus, and the fact that the season's interruption had pushed the Final back to, as Neil Diamond would have said, a hot August night, there is a "drinks break" at the 22nd and 67th minutes, roughly the game's one-quarter and three-quarter marks. Because of this, the cards, the goal celebration, and an injury, an FA Cup Final record of 7 minutes' stoppage time is awarded -- and it ends up being twice that, 14 minutes, before Taylor finally blows his whistle, giving Arsenal the Cup.
Overall: Won 18, lost 21, drawn 1. 2-6 in European Finals, 16-15-1 in domestic ones.
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