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F. A. Cup

The first televised F.A. Cup was 1937: Sunderland v Preston North End.

The first period of extra time played in an FA Cup Final was in 1875, when the Royal Engineers and Old Etonians drew 1-1.  The Engineers won the replay 2-0. 

The first substitute in an FA Cup Final was West Bromwich Albion’s Dennis Clarke who replaced team mate Tony Kaye in the Midland club’s 1-0 win over Everton in 1968.   

In April 1908 Newcastle United fan Gladstone Adams  drove down to Wembley in a 1904 Daracq-Caron motor car, to see his team play against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup final. On the way back from the cup final, snow kept getting on the windscreen and Gladstone had to keep getting out of the car to clear it. This experience led to his invention of the windscreen wiper. 

As a result of winning the cup in 1939, Portsmouth held it for the next seven years until the competition re-started in 1945-46 -- the longest any club has managed to keep the cup for. 

Eric Cantona made history in the 1994 final when he became the first and so far only player to score two penalties in the final.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in FA Cup history with five victories in 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004. 

There have been many instances of fathers and later their sons playing in the FA Cup final. Chelsea's Frank Lampard emulated his father Frank senior (West Ham 1975 and 1980), when he played for Chelsea in 2002. However Chelsea lost that final to Arsenal. The last father and son to both win the FA Cup were Alec Herd (Manchester City 1934) and his son David (Manchester United 1963).

David Seaman,  at 39 years 232 days, was the third oldest FA Cup finalist of all time and the oldest goalkeeper in FA Cup final history if he plays as expected on Saturday. The oldest Cup finalist is Billy Hampson who played for Newcastle United against Aston Villa in 1924 aged 41 years 257 days. John Oakes was 40 years 226 days when he played for Charlton Athletic against Derby in 1946. Goalkeeper Ray Clemence was 38 years 285 days when he played for Spurs against Coventry in 1987.

In 1988 Wimbledon’s Dave Beasant became the first goalkeeper to captain a winning FA Cup side. He as also the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in a Wembley FA Cup Final.

The first FA Cup Final where both sets of players wore their names on the back of their shirts was in 1993 between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday.   

Numbered shirts were first worn in the 1933 FA Cup Final between Everton & Man City.

The first black player to captain an FA Cup Final side was Sheffield Wednesday’s Viv Anderson in 1993.

The 1993 FA Cup Final was the first occasion where the two team managers collected medals with their sides.

Tottenham’s Danny Blanchflower was the first man to captain a team to successive FA Cup Final wins, in 1961 and 1962.

Eric Cantona of Manchester United became the first foreign player to captain an FA Cup Final side when he led out United in the 1996 Final. 

Stoke City are the only founder members of the Football League still in the League who have not won the FA Cup. 

 Preston North End hold the record for the biggest win in the competition.  They beat Hyde FC 26-0 in the first round in 1887.

Queen’s Park are the only Scottish side to reach the FA Cup Final. They did so in consecutive years, 1884 and 1885, but lost both games.

The highest winning margin in the FA Cup Final is 6-0, when Bury beat Derby County in 1903. 

The last club outside the top flight to win the FA Cup was West Ham (then in the Second Division) in 1980. 

Four clubs have reached the FA Cup Final and been relegated in the same season: Manchester City in 1926, Leicester City in 1969, Brighton and Hove Albion in 1983 and Middlesbrough in 1997. 

The last club to win the FA Cup with eleven English players were West Ham in 1975. 

There have been only three FA Cup Final hat-tricks: Billy Townley for Blackburn Rovers in 1890, Notts County’s Jimmy Logan in 1894 and Stan Mortensen of Blackpool in 1953. 

Only two players have appeared in the FA Cup Final for three clubs.  Harold Halse for Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea, and Ernie Taylor for Newcastle, Blackpool and Manchester United

The record FA Cup final attendance before Wembley was the 120,028 that saw the 1913 final between Aston Villa and Suncerland at Crystal Palace.

The only manager to win the FA Cup with two different clubs is Billy Walker, who led Sheffield Wednesday to victory in 1935 and Nottingham Forest in 1959.

The fastest FA Cup Final goal at Wembley was scored by Chelsea’s Roberto di Matteo after 42 seasons of the 1997 Final.

The record FA Cup final attendance before Wembley was the 120,028 that saw the 1913 final between Aston Villa and Suncerland at Crystal Palace.

Tottenham Hotspur are not only the sole non-league club to win the FA Cup since the formation of the Football League, but at the celebration dinner in 1901 they tied blue and white ribbons on the handles of the trophy, a custom which has since become a tradition.  

Mark Lawrenson was the only English-born player in Liverpool’s F.A. Cup winning team of 1986.  Lawrenson was born in Preston.  Ironically he played his international football for the Republic of Ireland.

Floodlights, pioneered by several clubs in friendly matches, were first used in the FA Cup on 28 November 1955 for a second round replay between Carlisle and Darlington at Newcastle.