The2002–03 FA Cup was the 122nd staging of the world's oldest cup competition, theFA Cup. The competition was won byArsenal with a 1–0 victory in thefinal at theMillennium Stadium,Cardiff againstSouthampton, courtesy of aRobert Pires goal.

All participating clubs that were not members of thePremier League orFootball League entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round wereRuncorn Halton,Morecambe,Southport,Harrogate Railway Athletic,Doncaster Rovers,Barrow,Chester City,Scarborough,Burton Albion,Northwich Victoria,Vauxhall Motors,Harrogate Town,Guiseley,Moor Green,Stafford Rangers,Hereford United,St Albans City,Boreham Wood,Slough Town,Hastings United,Stevenage Borough,Crawley Town,Farnborough Town,Havant & Waterlooville,Margate,Dover Athletic,Tiverton Town,Dagenham & Redbridge,Heybridge Swifts,Forest Green Rovers,Team Bath andYeovil Town.

Harrogate Railway Athletic, Harrogate Town and Team Bath were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Additionally, Hastings United (formerlyHastings Town) and Dover Athletic were appearing at this stage for the first time in their own right after the originalHastings United and the originalDover FC had last qualified for the first round in1981-82. The Ellesmere Port-based Vauxhall Motors was also featuring in the main draw for the first time in their own right after their now-defunct corporate rivalsVauxhall Motors (Luton) had reached the first round in1947-48.

Of the others, Crawley Town had last appeared at this stage in1994–95, Stafford Rangers had last done so in1992-93, and Moor Green had last done so in1979-80.

At this stage the 48Second andThird Division clubs joined the 32 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. Step 8 sides Harrogate Railway Athletic, from theNorthern Counties East League, and Team Bath, from theWestern League, were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 16 November 2002, with replays in the week commencing 25 November.

The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 7 December 2002, with replays in the week commencing 16 December. Harrogate Railway Athletic was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

This round was the first in which Division 1 and Premier League (top-flight) teams entered the competition. The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 4 January 2003, with replays in the week commencing 13 January. The round featured three clubs from theFootball Conference (Step 5): Farnborough Town, Morecambe and Dagenham & Redbridge.

Shrewsbury, who ended the season with relegation from theFootball League, achieved the biggest upset of the round (if not the whole competition), with a surprise 2–1 win over anEverton side who were pushing for a place in Europe and featuring a 17-year-old striker calledWayne Rooney – one of the most promising young players in the game.

• Matches played weekend of 25 January 2003
• Four replays played week commencing 3 February 2003
• Farnborough Town and Dagenham & Redbridge were again the lowest-ranked teams in the draw. By this stage, they were also the last non-league teams left in the competition.

• Matches played weekend of 15 February 2003
• One replay played 26 February 2003
• Third Division side Rochdale was the lowest-ranked team in the draw and the last team from the First Round left in the competition

Holders Arsenal moved closer to retaining the trophy by beating Chelsea 3–1 in a replay that followed a 2–2 draw. They were paired in the semi-finals with Sheffield United, while the other semi-final would be contested between Southampton and Watford.

8 March 2003

17:15

Arsenal (1)	2–2	Chelsea (1)
Jeffers 36' Henry 45'	(Summary)	Terry 3' Lampard 83'

Highbury,London

Attendance: 38,104

Referee:Paul Durkin (Dorset)

9 March 2003

11:30

Sheffield United (2)	1–0	Leeds United (1)
Kabba 78'	(Summary)

Bramall Lane,Sheffield

Attendance: 24,633

Referee:Steve Bennett (Kent)

9 March 2003

13:30

Watford (2)	2–0	Burnley (2)
Smith 74' Glass 80'	(Summary)

Vicarage Road,Watford

Attendance: 20,336

Referee:Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

9 March 2003

16:00

Southampton (1)	2–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers (2)
Marsden 56' Butler 81' (o.g.)	(Summary)

St Mary's,Southampton

Attendance: 31,715

Referee:Andy D'Urso (Essex)

25 March 2003

19:45

Chelsea (1)	1–3	Arsenal (1)
Terry 79'	(Summary)	Terry 25' (o.g.) Wiltord 34' Lauren 82'

Stamford Bridge,London

Attendance: 41,456

Referee:David Elleray (Middlesex)

For the 11th season running, the FA Cup final would be contested by top division clubs – Arsenal and Southampton. Their semi-final opponents (Sheffield United and Watford respectively) were both Division One sides.

13 April 2003

13:30

Arsenal (1)	1–0	Sheffield United (2)
Ljungberg 34'	Report

Old Trafford,Manchester

Attendance: 59,170

Referee:Graham Poll (Hertfordshire)

13 April 2003

16:30

Watford (2)	1–2	Southampton (1)
Gayle 88'	Report	Ormerod 43' Robinson 80' (o.g.)

Villa Park,Birmingham

Attendance: 42,602

Referee:Mike Riley (West Yorkshire)

The final took place on Saturday, 17 May 2003 at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff and ended 1–0 with a goal byRobert Pires separating the sides.

It was the third consecutive year the final was played at the Millennium Stadium, due to the ongoing reconstruction ofWembley Stadium, the final's usual venue. There were 73,726 spectators at the game. Arsenal retained the trophy, winning it for the ninth time in their history – a record second only to that of Manchester United.

It was also Southampton's first FA Cup final since 1976, when they won the trophy for the only time to date.

17 May 2003

15:00BST

Arsenal	1–0	Southampton
Pires 38'	Report

Millennium Stadium,Cardiff

Attendance: 73,726

Referee:Graham Barber (Hertfordshire)

In the United Kingdom, theBBC were the free to air broadcasters for the second consecutive season whileSky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the fifteenth consecutive season.^{[citation needed]}

The matches shown live on theBBC were:

• Forest Green Rovers 0-0Exeter City (R1)
• Oxford United 1-0Swindon Town (R2)
• Southampton 4-0Tottenham Hotspur (R3)
• Manchester City 0-1Liverpool (R3)
• Manchester United 6-0West Ham United (R4)
• Shrewsbury Town 0-4Chelsea (R4)
• Manchester United 0-2Arsenal (R5)
• Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1Rochdale (R5)
• Arsenal 2-2Chelsea (QF)
• Watford 2-0Burnley (QF)
• Arsenal 1-0Sheffield United (SF)
• Arsenal 1-0Southampton (Final)

The matches shown live onSky Sports were:

• Team Bath 2-4Mansfield Town (R1)
• Hereford United 0-1Wigan Athletic (R1)
• Burton Albion 2-2Oldham Athletic (R1 Replay)
• Macclesfield Town 2-0Vauxhall Motors (R2)
• Harrogate Railway 1-3Bristol City (R2)
• Manchester United 4-1Portsmouth (R3)
• Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2Newcastle United (R3)
• Coventry City 3-0Cardiff City (R3 Replay)
• Gillingham 1-1Leeds United (R4)
• Crystal Palace 0-0Liverpool (R4)
• Millwall 1-2Southampton (R4 Replay)
• Crystal Palace 1-2Leeds United (R5)
• Stoke City 0-2Chelsea (R5)
• Burnley 3-0Fulham (R5 Replay)
• Sheffield United 1-0Leeds United (QF)
• Southampton 2-0Wolverhampton Wanderers (QF)
• Chelsea 1-3Arsenal (QF Replay)
• Watford 1-2Southampton (SF)
• Arsenal 1-0Southampton (Final)

The second round replay between Carlisle United vs. Scunthorpe United was originally scheduled to be on Sky Sports on 19 December 2002, but because of weather conditions, the game was postponed.

• 2002/03 Results on www.thefa.com
• Results on Soccerbase

• 2002–03 FA Cup
• FA Cup seasons
• 2002–03 in English football cups

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