2001–02 FA Cup


The 2001–02 FA Cup was the 121st season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 2–0 win against Chelsea, courtesy of goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg in the final 20 minutes of the game, completing a domestic Double for Arsenal.

First round proper

Matches were played 16, 17 and 18 November, with replays on 27 November and 28 November.

Second round proper

Matches were played on 8 December and 9 December, with replays on 18 December and 19 December.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Blackpool2–0Rochdale5,191
2Chesterfield1–1Southend United4,522
replaySouthend United2 – 0Chesterfield5,518
3Canvey Island1–0Northampton Town3,000
4Macclesfield Town4–1Swansea City2,025
5Swindon Town3–2Hereford United7,699
6Tranmere Rovers6–1Carlisle United7,428
7Wycombe Wanderers3–0Notts County4,725
8Brighton & Hove Albion2–1Rushden & Diamonds5,647
9Plymouth Argyle1–1Bristol Rovers6,141
replayBristol Rovers3 – 2Plymouth Argyle5,763
10Hull City2–3Oldham Athletic9,422
11Altrincham1–2Darlington3,302
12Exeter City0–0Dagenham & Redbridge4,082
replayDagenham & Redbridge3 – 0Exeter City2,660
13Scunthorpe United3–2Brentford3,457
14Mansfield Town4–0Huddersfield Town6,836
15Cardiff City3–0Port Vale9,650
16Halifax Town1–1Stoke City3,335
replayStoke City3 – 0Halifax Town4,356
17York City2–0Reading3,161
18Peterborough United1–0Bournemouth4,773
19Leyton Orient2–1Lincoln City4,195
20Hinckley United0–2Cheltenham Town2,661

Third round proper

Matches played 5 January and 6 January, replays on 15 January and 16 January.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Darlington2–2Peterborough United10,892
replayPeterborough United2 – 0Darlington
2Burnley4–1Canvey Island11,496
3Liverpool3–0Birmingham City40,875
4Watford2–4Arsenal20,105
5Walsall2–0Bradford City
6Leicester City2–1Mansfield Town
7Aston Villa2–3Manchester United38,444
8Grimsby Town0–0York City
replayYork City1 – 0Grimsby Town
9Macclesfield Town0–3West Ham United
10Wolverhampton Wanderers0–1Gillingham15,271
11Crewe Alexandra2–1Sheffield Wednesday
12Sunderland1–2West Bromwich Albion29,133
13Derby County1–3Bristol Rovers
14Sheffield United1–0Nottingham Forest14,696
15Stockport County1–4Bolton Wanderers5,821
16Newcastle United2–0Crystal Palace
17Wycombe Wanderers2–2Fulham
replayFulham1 – 0Wycombe Wanderers
18Manchester City2–0Swindon Town
19Barnsley1–1Blackburn Rovers
replayBlackburn Rovers3 – 1Barnsley
20Coventry City0–2Tottenham Hotspur
21Portsmouth1–4Leyton Orient
22Brighton & Hove Albion0–2Preston North End6,548
23Norwich City0–0Chelsea21,017
replayChelsea4 – 0Norwich City24,231
24Millwall2–1Scunthorpe United
25Wimbledon0–0Middlesbrough
replayMiddlesbrough2–0Wimbledon
26Southend United1–3Tranmere Rovers
27Cardiff City2–1Leeds United22,009
28Charlton Athletic2–1Blackpool
29Cheltenham Town2–1Oldham Athletic5,801
30Stoke City0–1Everton28,218
31Rotherham United2–1Southampton
32Dagenham & Redbridge1–4Ipswich Town

Fourth round proper

Matches played on the weekend of 26 January, replay on 6 February. The match between Arsenal and Liverpool was a rematch of the previous year's final.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Preston North End2–1Sheffield United13,068
2Gillingham1–0Bristol Rovers
3Middlesbrough2–0Manchester United
4West Bromwich Albion1–0Leicester City26,860
5Everton4–1Leyton Orient
6Ipswich Town1–4Manchester City
7Tranmere Rovers3–1Cardiff City
8Tottenham Hotspur4–0Bolton Wanderers
9Millwall0–1Blackburn Rovers
10Chelsea1–1West Ham United33,443
replayWest Ham United2–3Chelsea27,272
11Charlton Athletic1–2Walsall
12Arsenal1–0Liverpool38,092
13Cheltenham Town2–1Burnley7,300
14York City0–2Fulham
15Rotherham United2–4Crewe Alexandra
16Peterborough United2–4Newcastle United

Fifth round proper

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 noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Walsall1–2Fulham
2Middlesbrough1–0Blackburn Rovers
3West Bromwich Albion1–0Cheltenham Town27,179
4Everton0–0Crewe Alexandra
replayCrewe Alexandra1–2Everton
5Newcastle United1–0Manchester City
6Tottenham Hotspur4–0Tranmere Rovers
7Chelsea3–1Preston North End28,133
8Arsenal5–2Gillingham

Sixth round proper

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.
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Replay

Semi-finals

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 neighbours Chelsea, who won the semi-final tie 1–0.
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Final

Arsenal's 2–0 victory set them up for a third double and saw them equal Tottenham's eight FA Cup triumphs – putting them second only to Manchester United as the most frequent winners of the FA Cup.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters taking over from ITV who had it after four years while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the fourteenth consecutive season.
The BBC 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 the BBC were: Hereford United 1–0 Wrexham ; Canvey Island 1–0 Northampton Town ; Macclesfield Town 0–3 West Ham United and Aston Villa 2–3 Manchester United ; Arsenal 1–0 Liverpool and Ipswich Town 1–4 Manchester City ; Everton 0–0 Crewe Alexandra and Newcastle United 1–0 Manchester City ; Newcastle United 1–1 Arsenal and Middlesbrough 3–0 Everton ; Fulham 0–1 Chelsea ; and Arsenal 2–0 Chelsea.