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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | England Wales |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Arsenal(8th title) |
| Runners-up | Chelsea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Chris Greenacre Tony Naylor (5 goals) |
The2001–02 FA Cup (known asThe FA Cup sponsored byAXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of the world's oldest knockoutfootball competition, theFA Cup. The competition was won byArsenal with a 2–0 win againstChelsea, courtesy of goals fromRay Parlour andFreddie Ljungberg in the final 20 minutes of the game, completing a domestic Double for Arsenal.[1]
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 wereStalybridge Celtic,Morecambe,Northwich Victoria,Doncaster Rovers,Brigg Town,Worksop Town,Barrow,Altrincham,Southport,Lancaster City,Whitby Town,Cambridge City,Kettering Town,Tamworth,Farnborough Town,Hereford United,Worcester City,Aylesbury United,Bedford Town,Grays Athletic,Barnet,Newport County,Hayes,Welling United,Lewes,Gravesend & Northfleet,Forest Green Rovers,Aldershot Town,Tiverton Town,Hinckley United,Dagenham & Redbridge andCanvey Island.
Lewes and Hinckley United were appearing in the competition proper for the first time, although the recently merged Hinckley United was doing so for the first time in their own right after predecessor clubHinckley Athletic had last featured at this stage in1962-63. Of the others, Newport County had last participated in the first round of the Cup in1988-89, Bedford Town had last done so in1981-82, Worksop Town had last done so in1978-79, and Brigg Town had last done so back in1881-82.
Brigg Town also became the first club to progress from the extra preliminary round to the competition proper sinceLinby Colliery in1950-51 (although the extra preliminary round had been in abeyance for 50 of the intervening years). The Zebras defeatedGreat Harwood Town,Morpeth Town,Shildon,Gretna,Farsley Celtic andBoston United to book their place in the main draw and a first round date withTranmere Rovers atPrenton Park.
This round is the first in which teams from the Second Division and Third Division compete with non-League teams. Matches were played 16, 17 and 18 November, with replays on 27 November and 28 November. The round included two clubs from Step 8 of English football: Brigg Town from theNorthern Counties East League and Lewes from theIsthmian League Second Division.
Matches were played on 8-9 December, with replays on 18-19 December. The round featured one club from each of the three competitions at Step 6 of the football pyramid: Altrincham from theNorthern Premier League, Hinckley United from theSouthern League and Canvey Island from theIsthmian League.
This round marked the first time First Division and Premier League (top-flight) teams played. Matches played 5 January and 6 January, replays on 15 January and 16 January. Canvey Island was again the lowest-ranked team in the round - along withFootball Conference (Step 5) side Dagenham & Redbridge they were also the last non-league clubs left in the competition.
Matches were played on the weekend beginning 26 January, with the Chelsea-West Ham replay held on 6 February. Four Third Division clubs in Bristol Rovers, Leyton Orient, Cheltenham Town and York City were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.
The Arsenal-Liverpool tie was a rematch of the previous year's final.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston North End (2) | 2–1 | Sheffield United (2) | 13,068 |
| 2 | Gillingham (2) | 1–0 | Bristol Rovers (4) | |
| 3 | Middlesbrough (1) | 2–0 | Manchester United (1) | |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion (2) | 1–0 | Leicester City (1) | 26,860 |
| 5 | Everton (1) | 4–1 | Leyton Orient (4) | |
| 6 | Ipswich Town (1) | 1–4 | Manchester City (2) | |
| 7 | Tranmere Rovers (3) | 3–1 | Cardiff City (3) | |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur (1) | 4–0 | Bolton Wanderers (1) | |
| 9 | Millwall (2) | 0–1 | Blackburn Rovers (1) | |
| 10 | Chelsea (1) | 1–1 | West Ham United (1) | 33,443 |
| replay | West Ham United (1) | 2–3 | Chelsea (1) | 27,272 |
| 11 | Charlton Athletic (1) | 1–2 | Walsall (2) | |
| 12 | Arsenal (1) | 1–0 | Liverpool (1) | 38,092 |
| 13 | Cheltenham Town (4) | 2–1 | Burnley (2) | 7,300 |
| 14 | York City (4) | 0–2 | Fulham (1) | |
| 15 | Rotherham United (2) | 2–4 | Crewe Alexandra (2) | |
| 16 | Peterborough United (3) | 2–4 | Newcastle United (1) |
Matches played on the weekend of 16 February and 17 February, with the replay on 26 February.
West Bromwich Albion were the only non-Premiership side to progress to the last eight, at the expense of Cheltenham Town – the last remaining Division Three side in the competition.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walsall (2) | 1–2 | Fulham (1) | |
| 2 | Middlesbrough (1) | 1–0 | Blackburn Rovers (1) | |
| 3 | West Bromwich Albion (2) | 1–0 | Cheltenham Town (4) | 27,179 |
| 4 | Everton (1) | 0–0 | Crewe Alexandra (2) | |
| replay | Crewe Alexandra (2) | 1–2 | Everton (1) | |
| 5 | Newcastle United (1) | 1–0 | Manchester City (2) | |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur (1) | 4–0 | Tranmere Rovers (3) | |
| 7 | Chelsea (1) | 3–1 | Preston North End (2) | 28,133 |
| 8 | Arsenal (1) | 5–2 | Gillingham (2) |
Matches were played on the weekend of 9 March, with the replay on 23 March.
West Bromwich Albion were the last non-Premiership side remaining in the competition, and their hopes of further progression were ended when they lost the quarter-final tie at home to Fulham.
| Newcastle United (1) | 1–1 | Arsenal (1) |
|---|---|---|
Robert 52' | Report | Edu 14' |
| Tottenham Hotspur (1) | 0–4 | Chelsea (1) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Gallas 12' Guðjohnsen 48',66'Le Saux 54' |
| West Bromwich Albion (2) | 0–1 | Fulham (1) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Marlet 47' |
Matches played at a neutral venue on April 14, 2002.
Gianluca Festa, who had been on the losing side for Middlesbrough in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals five years earlier, endured further misfortune when he scored an own goal that ended his side's hopes of FA Cup glory and handed the initiative to Arsenal.
Fulham, who were playing their first top division season for more than 30 years, had been hoping to compensate for a disappointing Premier League campaign with glory in the FA Cup. These hopes were ended by their neighboursChelsea, who won the semi-final tie 1–0.
| Middlesbrough (1) | 0–1 | Arsenal (1) |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Festa 39' (o.g.) |
Arsenal's 2–0 victory set them up for a thirddouble (which was completed when they sealed the league title four days later) and saw them equal Tottenham's eight FA Cup triumphs – putting them second only to Manchester United (10 trophies) as the most frequent winners of the FA Cup.
In the United Kingdom, theBBC were the free to air broadcasters taking over fromITV who had it after four years whileSky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the fourteenth consecutive season.[citation needed]
TheBBC had a much-expanded rights package compared to previous terrestrial networks, showing live games from the first two rounds and multiple live matches from rounds 3 to 6. This meant two BBC live matches on a Sunday and matches being played at 7pm on a Sunday evening, which was not popular with travelling supporters and was discontinued after the fifth round; the quarter-final between Newcastle and Arsenal was the first FA Cup match other than finals to be shown live by the BBC on a Saturday.
The live matches shown on theBBC were:
The live matches shown onSky Sports were: