2007–08 FA Cup


The 2007–08 FA Cup was the 127th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. A record 731 clubs' entries were accepted for the competition.
The competition culminated with the final held at Wembley Stadium, London on 17 May 2008. The match was contested by Portsmouth and Cardiff City, with Portsmouth taking the title 1-0, Nwankwo Kanu scoring the winning goal.
The appearance in the Cup Final by Cardiff City, a Level 2 team, marked the second time in 5 years that a team outside Level 1 of the English football pyramid appeared in the final game.
This was the last FA Cup to be broadcast by the BBC and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, before coverage was handed over to ITV and Setanta starting in August 2008.

Calendar

First Round Proper

This round is the first in which Football League teams from League One and League Two compete with non-league teams.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Oxford United0–0Southend United5,163
replaySouthend United3 – 0Oxford United2,740
2Swindon Town3–2Forest Green Rovers7,588
3Oldham Athletic1–0Crewe Alexandra3,900
4Northampton Town1–1Walsall3,887
replayWalsall1 – 0Northampton Town3,066
5Cambridge United1–0Weymouth4,552
6Millwall2–1Bournemouth4,495
7Staines Town0–5Peterborough United2,460
8Bradford City0–3Tranmere Rovers6,379
9Torquay United0–2Brighton & Hove Albion4,010
10Notts County0–1Havant & Waterlooville3,810
11Dagenham & Redbridge3–1Kidderminster Harriers1,493
12Port Vale1–1Chasetown5,875
replayChasetown1 – 0Port Vale1,986
13Bristol Rovers5–1Rushden & Diamonds4,816
14Huddersfield Town3–0Grimsby Town6,729
15Burton Albion1–1Barnet2,769
replayBarnet1 – 0Burton Albion1,379
16Bury1–0Exeter City2,725
17Luton Town1–0Nottingham Forest5,758
18Horsham1–1Swansea City2,731
replaySwansea City6 – 2Horsham5,911
19Hereford United2–0Hartlepool United3,801
20Harrogate Railway Athletic2–3Mansfield Town1,486

Third Round Proper

This round marks the first time Championship and Premier League teams play. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 5 January 2008. The draw was made on 2 December 2007 at 15:15 GMT by Kevin Beattie and Sammy Nelson, adjudicated by Sir Trevor Brooking.
Involved in the Third Round draw for the first time ever were Havant & Waterlooville and Chasetown. Chasetown are the lowest-ranked team ever to have reached this stage of the FA Cup. The draw itself produced few major ties, with the exception of Chelsea drawing their West London rivals, Queens Park Rangers, and Aston Villa drawing Manchester United as their Third Round opponents for the fourth time in seven seasons, and the second time in successive years.

Fourth Round Proper

The draw for the Fourth Round Proper was held at 13:30 GMT on Monday, 7 January 2008. The event was hosted by Sir Trevor Brooking, with Alan Cork and John Aldridge making the draw. Fourth Round matches were played on the weekend of 26 January 2008. For the first time since 1957, there were no replays for the Fourth Round as all ties were settled at the first game.
This was Havant & Waterlooville's first fourth round appearance. They lost 5 – 2 to Liverpool at Anfield. After Havant's elimination, Bristol Rovers became the lowest ranked team left in the Cup. They play in League One with fellow Fifth Round qualifiers Huddersfield Town.
The BBC's Match of the Day broadcast live matches from two stadia that it had never broadcast live matches before; from Field Mill, Mansfield for Mansfield Town's match with Middlesbrough and from the JJB Stadium, Wigan for Wigan's match with defending champions Chelsea.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1ArsenalNewcastle United60,046
2Coventry CityMillwall17,268
3Oldham Athletic0–1Huddersfield Town12,749
4Barnet0–1Bristol Rovers5,190
5Liverpool5–2Havant & Waterlooville42,566
6Southend United0–1Barnsley7,212
7Wigan Athletic1–2Chelsea14,166
8Derby County1–4Preston North End17,344
9Manchester United3–1Tottenham Hotspur75,369
10Portsmouth2–1Plymouth Argyle19,612
11Southampton2–0Bury25,449
12Hereford United1–2Cardiff City6,885
13Peterborough United0–3West Bromwich Albion12,701
14Mansfield Town0–2Middlesbrough6,258
15Sheffield United2–1Manchester City20,800
16Watford1–4Wolverhampton Wanderers12,719

Fifth Round Proper

The draw for the Fifth Round Proper was held at 13:25 GMT on Monday, 28 January 2008. Sir Trevor Brooking hosted the event held at FA premises at Soho Square, where he was joined by Jimmy Case and Ray Wilkins, who conducted the draw. The matches were held over the weekend of 16 February 2008.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance
1Bristol RoversSouthampton11,920
2Cardiff CityWolverhampton Wanderers15,339
3Sheffield UnitedMiddlesbrough22,210
replayMiddlesbrough'Sheffield United28,108
4LiverpoolBarnsley42,449
5Manchester UnitedArsenal75,550
6Preston North EndPortsmouth11,840
7Coventry CityWest Bromwich Albion28,163
8Chelsea'''Huddersfield Town41,324

Sixth Round Proper

The draw for the Sixth Round Proper was held on 18 February 2008 at 13:25 GMT at Soho Square. The draw was conducted by Geoff Thomas and Mark Bright, overseen by Sir Trevor Brooking.
For the second round in a row, the only all-Premier League tie of the round involved Manchester United, who were defeated at home by Portsmouth. Barnsley, who had already knocked out Liverpool in the previous round, produced a similar result in the Sixth Round, beating Chelsea 1 – 0 at Oakwell. West Bromwich Albion defeated Bristol Rovers away at the Memorial Stadium, whilst Cardiff City caused a third shock of the weekend by beating Premier League team Middlesbrough. There were no Quarter-Final Replays. The Sixth Round matches were played on the weekend of 8 March 2008.
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Semi-finals

The draw for the Semi-finals was held on 10 March 2008 at 13:25 GMT at Soho Square with Bryan Robson making the draw. Both semi-finals were played at Wembley Stadium and held on 5 April and 6 April 2008. There was only one club from the top flight in the draw for the first time since 1908.
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Final

The final was held at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2008, and Portsmouth's 1–0 victory gave them their first major trophy for 58 years and their first FA Cup for 69 years. It was also the first time that the winning team's manager was an Englishman since Joe Royle guided Everton to FA Cup glory 13 years earlier as well as being the first time a club from outside the Big Four of English football won the Cup since the aforementioned Everton side in 1995.