FA Cup Final 1997
Encyclopedia
The 1997 FA Cup Final took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was won by Chelsea
with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough
.
Chelsea were attempting to win their first FA Cup
final for 27 years, while Middlesbrough were contesting their first ever final. Chelsea took to the field on the back of something of a renaissance
under Dutch
manager Ruud Gullit
, having recorded their best league finish for a decade.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, began the final having been relegated from the Premiership and also been losing finalists in the League Cup
, thus becoming the first English team to finish in the last two of all three major tournaments - two years after Crystal Palace
became the last team to finish in the last four of these three competitions.
Chelsea's victory meant that Gullit was the first foreign or non-white manager to win a major trophy with an English club.
For most of the Chelsea players, it was the first major honour of their career, but it was the fourth time that Mark Hughes had featured in an FA Cup winning side (having played for Manchester United's FA Cup winners of 1985, 1990 and 1994) and he had also collected a further four major honours with his former club.
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, ironically 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 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.
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MIDDLESBROUGH:
|
GK
25
Ben Roberts
RB
14
Curtis Fleming
CB
5
Nigel Pearson
CB
18
Gianluca Festa
LB
17
Clayton Blackmore
RM
10
Juninho
CM
8
Robbie Mustoe
CM
6
Emerson
LM
20
Phil Stamp
CF
11
Fabrizio Ravanelli
CF
21
Craig Hignett
Substitutes:
DF
4
Steve Vickers
DF
7
Vladimír Kinder
FW
9
Mikkel Beck
Manager:
Bryan Robson
Round 3: Chelsea 3-0 W.B.A.
Round 4: Chelsea 4-2 Liverpool
Round 5: Leicester City
2-2 Chelsea
Quarter-Final: Portsmouth
1-4 Chelsea
Semi-Final: Wimbledon
0-3 Chelsea
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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
|}
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
.
Chelsea were attempting to win their first FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final for 27 years, while Middlesbrough were contesting their first ever final. Chelsea took to the field on the back of something of a renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
under Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
manager Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit
OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...
, having recorded their best league finish for a decade.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, began the final having been relegated from the Premiership and also been losing finalists in the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
, thus becoming the first English team to finish in the last two of all three major tournaments - two years after Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
became the last team to finish in the last four of these three competitions.
Chelsea's victory meant that Gullit was the first foreign or non-white manager to win a major trophy with an English club.
For most of the Chelsea players, it was the first major honour of their career, but it was the fourth time that Mark Hughes had featured in an FA Cup winning side (having played for Manchester United's FA Cup winners of 1985, 1990 and 1994) and he had also collected a further four major honours with his former club.
Match review
Chelsea took the lead just 42 seconds into the match, with Italian midfielder Roberto Di MatteoRoberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo is a Swiss-born Italian former professional footballer and the current assistant manager of Chelsea. As a midfielder, he enjoyed spells at Schaffhausen, Zürich Aarau, Lazio, and Chelsea. He was capped by Italy 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played...
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
Louis Saha
Louis Laurent Saha is a French footballer of Guadelupian origin who currently plays as a forward for Everton FC in the Premier League and the France national team. A former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, he started his career at Metz before playing on loan at Newcastle United...
broke this record 12 years later in the 2009 final after just 25 seconds, ironically against Chelsea, though Chelsea won the match 2-1), breaking Jackie Milburn
Jackie Milburn
John Edward Thompson 'Jackie' Milburn, , also known to fans as Wor Jackie and 'the first World Wor' in reference to his global fame, was a football player for Newcastle United and England...
's 42-year record. Middlesbrough's prolific striker Fabrizio Ravanelli
Fabrizio Ravanelli
Fabrizio Ravanelli is a former international Italian football player, who won five titles with Juventus, including a Serie A championship in 1995 and a Champions League title in 1996....
limped off after 21 minutes, further diminishing his side's chances of victory. Late in the first half Gianluca Festa
Gianluca Festa
Gianluca Festa is an Italian footballer former defender turned coach-Playing career:Festa played with several notable teams, including Internazionale, AS Roma and Middlesbrough, being one of the first Italians to play in the Premier League. Festa arrived at Middlesbrough from Inter Milan in the...
put the ball in the net for Middlesbrough, but the goal was 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
Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola, OBE, Ufficiale OMRI is a retired Italian footballer and manager, who most recently managed West Ham United from 2008 to 2010, after having been assistant manager of the Italy U-21 under Pierluigi Casiraghi...
's clever flick to seal a 2–0 win.
Match details
| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> | CHELSEA: | |||
| GK | 30 |  Frode GrodåsFrode Grodås Frode Grodås is a football coach and former national football team goalkeeper originally from Hornindal, Norway. Capped 50 times for his country, he participated at the 1998 FIFA World Cup as well as being an unused substitute at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.-Playing career:During his career he played... |
||
| RWB | 2 |  Dan PetrescuDan Petrescu Daniel Vasile Petrescu is a Romanian football manager and former player, currently the manager of Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League.... |
||
| CB | 6 |  Steve ClarkeSteve Clarke Stephen "Steve" Clarke is a Scottish association football player and coach, currently the assistant manager at Liverpool. He played for St. Mirren, Chelsea and Scotland, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career... |
||
| CB | 5 |  Frank LeboeufFrank Leboeuf Franck Alain James Leboeuf or Lebœuf is a former French international footballer who played as a defender... |
||
| CB | 20 |  Frank SinclairFrank Sinclair Frank Mohammed Sinclair is an English-born Jamaican footballer who plays for Hendon in the Isthmian League Premier Division.-Chelsea:... |
||
| LWB | 17 | Scott Minto Scott Minto Scott Christopher Minto is an English former footballer who played as a left back in the Football League and the Premier League for Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, West Ham United and Rotherham United, and for Benfica in Portugal... |
||
| CM | 11 | Dennis Wise Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United.... |
||
| CM | 16 | Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo is a Swiss-born Italian former professional footballer and the current assistant manager of Chelsea. As a midfielder, he enjoyed spells at Schaffhausen, Zürich Aarau, Lazio, and Chelsea. He was capped by Italy 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played... |
||
| CM | 24 | Eddie Newton Eddie Newton Edward John Ikem 'Eddie' Newton is a former English footballer who played most notably for Chelsea as a defensive midfielder... |
||
| CF | 10 | Mark Hughes Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals.... |
||
| CF | 25 | Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola, OBE, Ufficiale OMRI is a retired Italian footballer and manager, who most recently managed West Ham United from 2008 to 2010, after having been assistant manager of the Italy U-21 under Pierluigi Casiraghi... |
||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 13 | Kevin Hitchcock Kevin Hitchcock Kevin Hitchcock is an English former football goalkeeper who made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing for Mansfield Town, Chelsea and Northampton Town.-Career:... |
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| DF | 8 | Andy Myers Andy Myers Andrew Myers is a former Chelsea footballer now coach who played most recently for Brentford as a defender.... |
||
| FW | 9 | Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli is an Italian football manager and former player. Since retiring, he has gone into management and punditry and is a commentator for Sky Sport Italia.... |
||
| Manager: | ||||
 Ruud GullitRuud Gullit OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the... |
||||
Ben RobertsBen Roberts (footballer)
Ben James Roberts is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently goalkeeper coach at Charlton Athletic....
Curtis FlemingCurtis Fleming
Curtis Fleming is an english born Irish former international footballer. Fleming played his youth football at the famous Belvedere F.C.. Fleming played right back and won international honours for the Republic of Ireland at under-21, under-23 , and senior level. He started his career with St...
Nigel PearsonNigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson is an English football manager and former professional player. He is currently in his second spell as manager of Leicester City, having previously managed Hull City, Southampton and Carlisle United, and been assistant manager for England Under-21s and Newcastle United...
Gianluca FestaGianluca Festa
Gianluca Festa is an Italian footballer former defender turned coach-Playing career:Festa played with several notable teams, including Internazionale, AS Roma and Middlesbrough, being one of the first Italians to play in the Premier League. Festa arrived at Middlesbrough from Inter Milan in the...
Clayton BlackmoreClayton Blackmore
Clayton Graham Blackmore is a former Welsh international footballer. He was a combative player known for his attacking free kicks and a utility player who excelled at full back and in central defence but could play equally well in midfield or as an emergency forward.-Career:Blackmore once had...
JuninhoJuninho Paulista
Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior , better known as Juninho Paulista or simply Juninho, is a former Brazilian footballer...
Robbie MustoeRobbie Mustoe
Robin "Robbie" Mustoe is a retired English footballer who now works as a commentator for ESPN. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing as a midfielder for Oxford United, Middlesbrough, where he spent the majority of his career, Charlton Athletic and...
EmersonEmerson Moisés Costa
Emerson Moisés Costa , simply Emerson, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.As well as in his country, he played professionally in Portugal, England, Spain and Scotland...
Phil StampPhil Stamp
Philip Lawrence "Phil" Stamp is an English football midfielder. He made his first-team league debut, aged 17 for Middlesbrough on 10 October 1993, in a 2–0 defeat to Watford. He started for Middlesbrough in the 1997 FA Cup Final...
Fabrizio RavanelliFabrizio Ravanelli
Fabrizio Ravanelli is a former international Italian football player, who won five titles with Juventus, including a Serie A championship in 1995 and a Champions League title in 1996....
Craig HignettCraig Hignett
Craig Hignett, , is an English former professional footballer who now works as an agent and a commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live...
Steve VickersSteve Vickers (footballer)
Stephen "Steve" Vickers , is an English former association footballer who played as a central defender. He made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League and the Premier League, the majority of which were for Tranmere Rovers and Middlesbrough...
Vladimír KinderVladimír Kinder
Vladimír Kinder is a retired Slovak footballer. He is most notable for his spell playing as a Left Back with Middlesbrough in England between 1997 and 1999. He helped them reach three domestic cup finals as well as win promotion to the Premier League.He earned 1 cap for Czechoslovakia and 39...
Mikkel BeckMikkel Beck
Mikkel Venge Beck is a Danish former football player, who played for a number of clubs, most famously for Middlesbrough FC and Fortuna Koln...
Bryan RobsonBryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008...
MATCH RULES
|
Chelsea
Home teams listed first.Round 3: Chelsea 3-0 W.B.A.
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
Round 4: Chelsea 4-2 Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
Round 5: Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
2-2 Chelsea
- Replay: Chelsea 1-0 Leicester City
Quarter-Final: Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
1-4 Chelsea
Semi-Final: Wimbledon
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
0-3 Chelsea
-
- (at HighburyArsenal StadiumArsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
, London)
- (at Highbury
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Middlesbrough
Home teams listed first.Round 3: Middlesbrough 6-0 Chester City
Chester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
Round 4: Hednesford Town
Hednesford Town F.C.
Hednesford Town Football Club are an association football team based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They play at Keys Park.-History:...
2-3 Middlesbrough
Round 5: Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
0-1 Middlesbrough
Quarter-Final: Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
0-2 Middlesbrough
Semi-Final: Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
3-3 Middlesbrough
-
- (at Old TraffordOld TraffordOld Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
)
- (at Old Trafford
- Replay:
- (at Hillsborough StadiumHillsborough StadiumHillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
, SheffieldSheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
)
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External links
- Game facts at soccerbase.com