 The match was played atStamford Bridge, Chelsea's home stadium | |||||||
| Event | 2014–15 FA Cup fourth round proper | ||||||
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| Date | 24 January 2015 | ||||||
| Venue | Stamford Bridge,London | ||||||
| Referee | Andre Marriner (Birmingham) | ||||||
| Attendance | 41,014 | ||||||
The2014–15 FA Cup fourth round match betweenChelsea andBradford City was played on 24 January 2015 atStamford Bridge inWest London. The match is considered not only one of the biggest FA Cupupsets in history, but also one of the most dramatic comebacks in thehistory of the competition, with Bradford City winning 4–2 away, despite being 2–0 down after 38 minutes.[1][2][3] In December 2019 readers of Bradford-based newspaperTelegraph & Argus voted it Bradford City's best match of the 2010s.[4]
Chelsea were leading 2–0 after 38 minutes with goals fromGary Cahill andRamires beforeJon Stead scored in the 41st minute to make it 2–1 at half-time. However, Bradford City staged a second half comeback asFilipe Morais,Andy Halliday, andMark Yeates each scored a goal (including one instoppage time) to help Bradford City win the game 2–4, thus allowing the Bantams to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 18 years. It also ended Chelsea's hopes of winning aquadruple that season.[5][6] The match became Chelsea's first home loss that season, and the first time they had conceded three goals at home to a lower division side in the FA Cup since their1991 third round match againstOxford United.
At the time, Chelsea were at the top of the table in thePremier League and Bradford City were 6th inLeague One, meaning there were 49 places between the two clubs. Bradford City entered the competition in the first round and went through to the fourth round after winning a replay againstMillwall 4–0 at home.[7]
The2014–15 FA Cup Fourth round is known as one of the most eventful in recent times. Only one of the then "big six" teams in England won at the first attempt which wasArsenal who beat then-Championship sideBrighton & Hove Albion away 3–2. Arsenal went on towin the competition. On that same day, then-defending Premier League championsManchester City also lost their fourth-round matchat home by a margin of 2 against then-Championship side,Middlesbrough.[8]Leicester City who were struggling with poor form going into the match, beatTottenham Hotspur atWhite Hart Lane. Meanwhile,Manchester United andLiverpool had been held to 0–0 draws with then-League Two clubsCambridge United andChampionshipBolton Wanderers respectively, forcing replays (which they won 3–0 and 2–1 respectively).[9]
At the time, Chelsea were comfortably sitting at the top ofthe Premier League table, 5 points ahead of eventual runners-upManchester City.[10] They had also finished at the top of theirUEFA Champions Leaguegroup and were in thesemi-finals of theFootball League Cup. Conversely, Bradford City were in theirsecond-consecutive season inLeague One, after winning the2013 Football League Two play-off final againstNorthampton Town.[11] Bradford City's Portuguese winger,Filipe Morais joinedChelsea's academy in 2003 when he was 16. WhileJosé Mourinho was in his first stint as Chelsea manager, he promoted Morais to the first team at the start of the2005–06 season, but he did not make any appearances as he was loaned out toMK Dons for most of the season.Billy Knott also spent time in Chelsea's academy, from 2007 to 2010, before transferring toSunderland.[12]
During apress conference before the match José Mourinho said that if they were to lose to Bradford City that afternoon, it would be a "big disgrace" due to the fact that the Blues were one of the stronger sides in England at the time.[13]
| Chelsea | Round | Bradford City | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Opponent | Result | |
| bye | First round proper | Halifax Town(5) | 1–2 (A) | |
| Second round proper | Dartford(5) | 4–1 (H) | ||
| Watford(1) | 3–0 (H) | Third round proper | Millwall(2) | 3–3 (A) |
| Third round replay | 4–0 (H) | |||
Chelsea took the lead in the 21st minute, whenGary Cahillvolleyed the ball into the net from a corner taken byOscar. Chelsea dominated possession until their next goal, which came in the 38th minute, afterRamires ran through the Bradford defence. Two minutes later, Bradford scored from afree kick; the ball was passed from Morais toAndrew Davies and then toJon Stead, who scored to make the score 2–1.
The early second half was marked by a number of chances for both teams.José Mourinho brought onWillian forMohamed Salah andCesc Fàbregas forJohn Obi Mikel, who had suffered a head injury. Morais scored an unexpectedequaliser in the 75th minute from athrow-in to bring the game to 2–2.Loïc Rémy was immediately substituted forEden Hazard, but Chelsea still failed to produce a goal.Phil Parkinson made his first substitution in the 80th minute, taking offBilly Knott forMark Yeates. Two minutes later,Andy Halliday scored to put Bradford in front. Chelsea were unable to score during seven minutes of stoppage time, while Yeates chipped the ball overPetr Čech in the 94th minute to secure a famous victory for Bradford City.
          Chelsea |    Bradford City |
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Match rules
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Immediately following the full-time whistle, the Bradford City players ran straight for the stand with the away supporters to celebrate their unlikely victory.[14] Chelsea manager, José Mourinho clapped in respect and walked into the tunnel with the team's substitutes. After the game, he went into Bradford City's dressing room and shook the hands of Parkinson, Bradford City's staff, and all of the players, congratulating them for their performance. Bradford City goalkeeper,Ben Williams, described Mourinho as "classy and humble" when he walked into their dressing room.[15]
Mourinho described the match as surprising and incredible, and that their comeback was one of the things that makes football and themagic of the FA Cup so special. However, he was very disappointed with his team's performance and committed to his words before the press conference and considered the result a "disgrace" on both his record and Chelsea's record.[16][17]
Bradford City manager, Phil Parkinson described the moment as "surreal" and was very impressed with his players due to the result of the match. He also said that this win against Chelsea was much more impressive than their run to the2013 Football League Cup Final, where they beat the likes ofArsenal,Aston Villa, andWigan Athletic, all of whom were in the Premier League at the time. They did however, lose that final 5–0 toSwansea City.[18] Billy Knott also thought that the game was impressive and said that it was the "greatest moment of his career". Chelsea legend,John Terry, even gave him his shirt after the match, which he then gave to his father, a Chelsea supporter.[19] Terry also complimentedJames Hanson's performance.[20] Filipe Morais stated that "bravery" played a huge role in staging their comeback against the Blues.[21]
The press and English football fans have dubbed the result as one of the most ridiculous upsets in the history of the competition.[22] Former Liverpool player,Robbie Fowler, and former Tottenham player,Jermaine Jenas, described the game as "the greatest FA Cup upset", as the Bantams had "too many odds against them".[23] Bradford won theFA Cup Giant-Killing Award as a result, for the biggest FA Cup giant-killing of the season.[24]
Because of that win, Bradford City progressed to the fifth round, where they would play against another Premier League club,Sunderland. They won the game intheir home stadium by a score of 2–0,[25] and reached the Quarter-finals. They did not make a trip toWembley Stadium though, as they lost 3–0away toReading after a replay, ending their FA Cup run.[26] It was also their first quarter-final appearance in the FA Cup since the1975–76 season. Bradford City would end upfinishing 7th in League One, just narrowly missing out on thepromotion play-offs by 4 points. They were not playing in any other competitions at the time, as they were knocked out of both theFootball League Trophy andFootball League Cup back in September.[27][28]
Chelsea did not let that upset affect the rest of their season. Three days after the upset, they would win their second-leg tie against Liverpool in theEFL Cup semi-finals by a score of 1–0 thanks to anextra time goal byBranislav Ivanović, allowing them to win 2–1on aggregate.[29] They would then go on and winthe final 2–0 againstLondon rivals,Tottenham Hotspur.[30] They would also stay first in thePremier League for the rest of the season, and securetheir 5th English title with 3 games to spare, after a 1–0 win againstCrystal Palace.[31] However, their hopes of progressing past theround of 16 of the UEFA Champions League ended after they tied the second leg 2–2 at Stamford Bridge, bringing the aggregate score to 3–3, allowingParis Saint-Germain to go to the next round onaway goals.[32] Bradford City were the only away side to win at Chelsea all season.[24]
