The 1998–99 FA Cup (known as The

AXA Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services. The Ax ...

sponsored FA Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th season of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. It was won by

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, who beat

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

2–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

at the

old Wembley Stadium The original Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor. Wembley hosted the FA Cup f ...

. The goals were scored by

Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...

after 11 minutes, less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute for

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

, and

Paul Scholes Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...

on 53 minutes. It was the second leg of a historic treble for Manchester United; having already won the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

title the previous weekend, they went on to win the Champions League the following Wednesday.

Calendar

First round proper

The First Round featured those non-league teams who had come through the qualifying rounds and the teams from the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system. The matches were played on 14 November 1998. There were ten replays, with three ties requiring a penalty shoot-out to settle.

Second round proper

The second round of the competition featured the winners of the first round ties. The matches were scheduled to be played on 5 December 1998, with eight replays and two penalty shoot-outs required, each of which featured a team who won on penalties in the previous round.

Third round proper

The third round of the season's FA Cup was scheduled for 2 January 1999. This round marked the point at which the teams in the two highest divisions in the English league system, the

and the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

(now known as the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

). There were six replays, with none of these games requiring a penalty shoot-out.

Fourth round proper

The Fourth Round ties were played with the thirty-two winners of the previous round. The matches were originally scheduled for 23 January 1999. There were three replays.

Fifth round proper

The Fifth Round matches were scheduled for 13 February 1999. There were three replays, and one game replayed, Arsenal had beaten Sheffield United in the original tie. However, both sides felt that Arsenal's winning goal had been gained unfairly. Arsenal's boss Arsene Wenger wrote himself into FA Cup folklore with an act of sportsmanship that saw him offer to play the game again after Marc Overmars scored following

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and ...

's failure to return the ball to the Blades following an injury.

Sixth round proper

The four quarter-final games were scheduled for 6 March 1999, although only the match between Arsenal and Derby County was played on this date. One of the ties, Manchester United–Chelsea, resulted in a draw and went to a replay, which United won. Barnsley, who lost 1–0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur, were the last team left in the competition from outside the Premier League. ---- ---- Replay ----

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 11 April 1999. The original match between Manchester United and Arsenal finished as a goalless draw, as

's goal for Manchester United was ruled out for offside, and the tie went to a replay; it was to be the last replay of a drawn semi-final, with all future ties decided by extra time and penalties. In the replay,

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 17th minute with a strike from 30 yards. Dennis Bergkamp equalised via a deflected shot from the same distance midway through the second half, before Arsenal had a second goal disallowed for offside against

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (; born 14 March 1979) is a French professional football manager and retired player who played as a forward. As a player, he regularly featured in his country's national team, often scoring at crucial moments. Known f ...

. In the immediate aftermath, Keane was sent off for a foul on Overmars that earned him a second yellow card. In the final minutes of normal time,

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teamma ...

conceded a penalty with a foul on

Ray Parlour Raymond Parlour (born 7 March 1973) is an English former professional footballer and sports radio pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport. He was a midfielder from 1992 to 2007, and spent his career playing for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Hul ...

, only for Manchester United goalkeeper

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

to correctly guess which way Bergkamp would shoot and save the kick. In extra time,

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

intercepted a wayward pass from

Patrick Viera Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one ...

just inside the Manchester United half, before dribbling past Vieira,

Lee Dixon Lee Michael Dixon (born 17 March 1964) is an English retired professional footballer and pundit who played as a right-back for Arsenal. Dixon was also capped 22 times for England. A childhood Manchester City fan, Dixon began his footballing ...

(twice),

Martin Keown Martin Raymond Keown (; born 24 July 1966) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1984 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he made over 400 appearances for the club a ...

and

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 ...

, and beating Arsenal goalkeeper

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country's ...

with a left-footed strike into the roof of the net. It was hailed almost immediately as one of the greatest goals ever scored in the history of the competition. The other semi-final between Newcastle and Tottenham was goalless after 90 minutes, but two extra-time goals from Newcastle's

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

(one from the penalty spot) put the Magpies into their second consecutive FA Cup final and ended Spurs' hopes of adding to the League Cup title they had earned earlier in the season. Replay ----

Final

The Final took place on 22 May 1999 and was played at the old

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, between

and

. Manchester United had finished as champions and Newcastle 13th in the

that season. The final was a slightly one-sided affair, Manchester United claiming a record 10th success with a 2–0 win. Goals from

and

were scored in the 11th and 53rd minutes respectively. It was the buildup to Manchester United's Treble. Manchester United also became the first team to win the double three times.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom,

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

were the free-to-air broadcasters for the second consecutive season, while

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

were the subscription broadcasters for the 11th consecutive season. The matches shown live on

ITV Sport ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.FA Cup Results at The FA Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Cup 1998-99 1998 1998–99 in English football 1998–99 domestic association football cups