 | |||||||
| Event | 2003–04 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 22 May 2004 | ||||||
| Venue | Millennium Stadium,Cardiff | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Jeff Winter (North Yorkshire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 71,350 | ||||||
| Weather | Scattered clouds 13 °C (55 °F) 54%humidity[2] | ||||||
←2003 2005 → | |||||||
The2004 FA Cup final was the 123rdFA Cup Final and the fourth to be played at theMillennium Stadium, the Welsh national stadium in Cardiff, due to the ongoing reconstruction of the usual venue, London'sWembley Stadium. The match took place on 22 May 2004 and it was contested byManchester United, who had finished third in thePremier League that season, andMillwall, who had finished 10th in theFirst Division.
Manchester United secured a record 11th FA Cup victory with a headed goal fromCristiano Ronaldo and a brace fromRuud van Nistelrooy, which included apenalty kick. In contrast, it was Millwall's first appearance in a final of either the FA Cup or theFootball League Cup. At the trophy presentation after the match, the Manchester United players wore shirts bearing the name and number of midfielderJimmy Davis, who died in a road accident in August 2003.
The match wasrefereed byJeff Winter. Tony Green andRoger East were theassistant referees andMatt Messias was thefourth official.
Manchester United were appearing in their 16th FA Cup final and had won it on 10 of their previous 15 appearances. Two of these victories had yielded a League and FA Cupdouble (in 1994 and 1996) and in1999 they had won the FA Cup as part of an unprecedentedtreble ofPremier League,Champions League and FA Cup wins.
For Millwall, 2004 was their first appearance in an FA Cup final, although they had reached thesemi-finals on three prior occasions:1900,1903 and1937. Their appearance in the 1937 semi-final was notable as Millwall were the first team in the old Third Division to reach that stage. They also became only the second team from outside the top flight ofEnglish football to reach the final since 1982, and the first team from outside thePremier League since its foundation in 1992. Millwall reached the 2004 decider without having met any club from the Premier League along the way.
Manchester United[edit]Home teams listed first. Round 3:Aston Villa 1–2 Manchester United Round 4:Northampton Town 0–3 Manchester United Round 5: Manchester United 4–2Manchester City Round 6: Manchester United 2–1Fulham Semi-final:Arsenal 0–1 Manchester United (atVilla Park) | Millwall[edit]Home teams listed first. Round 3: Millwall 2–1Walsall Round 4:Telford United 0–2 Millwall Round 5: Millwall 1–0Burnley Round 6: Millwall 0–0Tranmere Rovers
Semi-final:Sunderland 0–1 Millwall (atOld Trafford) |
Due to the ongoing reconstruction of Wembley Stadium, the match was played at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff for the fourth year in a row.[3] The stadium was built in 1998 ahead of the1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, with a capacity of 72,500. While it was being built, theWales national rugby union team played its home matches at theold Wembley Stadium, so after Wembley was torn down in 2000, the Millennium Stadium was selected to host the finals of the FA Cup, theLeague Cup and theFootball League play-offs until at least 2003.[4] Delays to the construction of thenew Wembley meant that deal was later extended until 2006.[5]
The referee for the final wasJeff Winter fromMiddlesbrough,North Yorkshire, who was officiating in his last match as a professional referee, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 45.[6][7] Winter'sassistant referees wereRoger East and Tony Green, whileMatt Messias was thefourth official.
The match was broadcast live on television in theUnited Kingdom on bothBBC One andSky Sports 1.[8] The BBC broadcast was presented byGary Lineker, withAlan Hansen,Peter Schmeichel andMichael Owen in the studio, and commentary fromJohn Motson in his 25th FA Cup Final as lead commentator.[9] The BBC also provided live radio coverage onBBC Radio 5 Live, presented byMark Pougatch, with commentary fromAlan Green andMike Ingham, and analysis fromJimmy Armfield andSteve Claridge.[9]
Manchester United goalkeeperRoy Carroll appeared to have earned his place in the team for the FA Cup final after a run of good performances between the end of March and mid-April 2004, conceding just two goals in five games, including the semi-final win overArsenal on 3 April.[10] However, a 1–0 defeat away toPortsmouth on 17 April led to a recall for American goalkeeperTim Howard for the last five games of the season. Although Howard conceded three goals in that time, he retained his place in the team for the cup final. Following the recurrence of a knee injury against Arsenal on 28 March, strikerRuud van Nistelrooy was only able to play in one match in April 2004 and was expected to miss the last two league games againstChelsea andAston Villa to ensure his fitness for the final;[11] however, he recovered in time to play and score in both games, guaranteeing his place up front against Millwall. One surprise selection sawDarren Fletcher named in central midfield alongsideRoy Keane ahead of bothNicky Butt andPhil Neville.
Millwall went into the final with doubts over the fitness of player-managerDennis Wise (knee), captainKevin Muscat (knee) and midfielderPaul Ifill (groin);[12] Wise and Ifill recovered in time to play in the final, but Muscat was ruled out for the rest of the season.[13]Bob Peeters,Andy Roberts,Tony Warner andCharley Hearn also missed the game through injury, while strikerDanny Dichio was suspended.[14][15] Because they were unable to play in the game, and with manager Wise in the starting line-up, Muscat and Warner led the Millwall team out for the national anthem before kick-off.[16]
The first chances of the match fell to Manchester United'sPaul Scholes, who took a couple of long-range efforts at goal – one went just wide while another was tipped away by Millwall goalkeeperAndy Marshall. Scholes was presented with another opportunity on the six-yard line, when arabona cross fromCristiano Ronaldo found him unmarked; the midfielder seemed as surprised by the cross as everyone else and completely missed the ball with his hooked shot.[17]
Millwall's only chance of the first half came whenPaul Ifill broke down the right-hand side of the pitch and arrowed in towards the penalty area, only to have his shot blocked.[17] They looked to have survived the first half without conceding until a minute before the interval, whenRoy Keane played inGary Neville as the right-back moved into the penalty area and Neville chipped a cross back across the box; Millwall player-managerDennis Wise waited for the ball to arrive, but in doing so, he allowed Ronaldo to steal in and head the ball past Marshall, to give United a 1–0 lead going into the break.[17]
Manchester United went 2–0 up 20 minutes into the second half, whenRyan Giggs went on a run down the right wing into the Millwall box only to be brought down byDavid Livermore. RefereeJeff Winter awarded apenalty for the foul andRuud van Nistelrooy scored with a powerful shot into the top-corner to the goalkeeper's right.[18] United now held a comfortable advantage and Millwall struggled to find a way back into the match. United's defence keptNeil Harris andTim Cahill at bay, and the Red Devils eventually scored a third when Giggs went on a run down the left and crossed for Van Nistelrooy to tap in from three yards out. There were suggestions that Van Nistelrooy was offside at the moment of Giggs' pass, but television replays showed his feet were grounded in an onside position.[18]
Millwall had a chance near the end when substituteMark McCammon almost found a way through United's defence, while Scholes had a late effort for the Reds, beforeCurtis Weston (aged 17 years and 119 days) replaced Wise to become the youngest player to appear in an FA Cup final,[17] beating the record set byJames F. M. Prinsep ofClapham Rovers, when he appeared in the1879 FA Cup Final at the age of 17 years and 245 days. The match finished 3–0 to Manchester United, their 11th success in the FA Cup.[17]
| Manchester United | 3–0 | Millwall |
|---|---|---|
Ronaldo 44'Van Nistelrooy 65' (pen.),81' | Report |
          Manchester United |     Millwall |
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Man of the Match
Match officials
| Match rules
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Manchester United were presented with the FA Cup byEngland managerSven-Göran Eriksson, who selectedRuud van Nistelrooy as the man of the match. For the trophy presentation, the Manchester United squad changed into shirts bearing the name and squad number ofJimmy Davis, who died in a road accident while on loan toWatford in August 2003.[19] Eriksson's selection of Van Nistelrooy as man of the match was met with criticism from some members of the media, with both the BBC andThe Guardian namingCristiano Ronaldo as the game's best player.[20][21] Ronaldo received praise from both his manager Alex Ferguson and teammateGary Neville after the game,[22] as well as BBC pundit Alan Hansen[23] andThe Guardian'sAndy Gray.[24]
Dennis Wise claimed Ronaldo's goal at the end of the first half proved the turning point in the match, but he felt there were plenty of positives for his team to take from the game.[25] It wasTim Cahill's last game for Millwall, as he signed forEverton in July 2004,[26] andNicky Butt's last game for Manchester United, as he signed forNewcastle United later that same month.[27]
Since Manchester United had already qualified for the2004–05 UEFA Champions League by virtue of their league position, Millwall qualified for the first round of the2004–05 UEFA Cup.[28] Club ownerTheo Paphitis said the club had made around £2.5 million for making it to the FA Cup final, but that the club could stand to lose money if they failed to reach the group stage of the UEFA Cup.[29]
It was the last time that Manchester United won the FA Cup until2016.
