football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
match between
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on 5 May 2012. It was the final match of the
2011–12 FA Cup
The 2011–12 FA Cup (also known as The FA Cup with Budweiser for sponsorship reasons) was the 131st season of the world's oldest football knock-out competition, the FA Cup. The closing date for applications was 1 April 2011, and saw 825 clubs app ...
, the 131st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, 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 ...
. Chelsea were participating in their eleventh final, they had previously won six and lost four. Liverpool were appearing in their fourteenth final, they had won seven times and lost six. Scheduled to provide a clear four-week period between the end of the English season and the start of
UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
, the date of the final clashed with Premier League fixtures. To avoid having the final played at the same time as league games, the match kicked off at the later time of 5:15 p.m., rather than the usual 3:00 p.m., by which time the other fixtures had ended.
As both teams were in the highest tier of English football, 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 ...
, they entered the competition in the Third Round. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis, with a replay taking place if the match ended in a draw. Chelsea's matches ranged from comfortable victories to close affairs. They beat
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
5–1 in the semi-final, while they beat
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
1–0 in the Fourth Round. Liverpool's matches were similar, with three ending in a 2–1 scoreline, while the other two against
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
and
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
were won by at least four goals.
Watched by a crowd of 89,102,
Ramires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...
put Chelsea in front in the 11th minute after he dispossessed Liverpool midfielder
Jay Spearing
Jay Francis Spearing (born 25 November 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool, where he is also a coach at their academy.
He started his career with Liverpool as a youth- ...
and beat
Pepe Reina
José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal.
The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...
in the Liverpool area. They extended their lead in the 52nd minute when striker
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...
scored. Liverpool substitute
Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...
scored in the 64th minute to reduce the deficit to one goal. Carroll thought he had scored a second in the 81st minute, but his header was saved on the line by Chelsea goalkeeper
Petr Čech
Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as o ...
. Carroll ran off celebrating, as he thought the ball had crossed, but referee
Phil Dowd
Philip Dowd (born 26 January 1963) : 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 ...
team, Chelsea entered the competition in the Third Round, where they were drawn at home to
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. After a goalless first half
Juan Mata
Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray. He mostly plays as a central attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the wing.
A gr ...
struck early in the second, before
Ramires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...
hit two in two minutes and
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
scored in stoppage time to give Chelsea a 4–0 win. Chelsea then travelled to face local rivals
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
in the Fourth Round, where a controversial Mata penalty was enough to see them through.
Chelsea were drawn to play at home against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
in the Fifth Round, with Birmingham dominating the first half through a David Murphy goal.
Daniel Sturridge
Daniel Andre Sturridge (; born 1 September 1989) is an English professional footballer who last played as a striker. As well as representing England, he has played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool ...
scored in the second half to force a replay, which was played on 6 March at Birmingham, just two days after
André Villas-Boas
Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...
was relieved of his duties as Chelsea manager. Birmingham held Chelsea throughout the first half, and looked the stronger side at times, but after Mata and
Raul Meireles
Raul José Trindade Meireles (; born 17 March 1983) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder.
After starting out at Boavista, he signed with Porto in 2004, going on to appear in 198 official games and win ten major trophies ...
scored twice in five minutes, Chelsea dominated the remainder of the game until the final whistle. In the Sixth Round, Chelsea overcame
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
at home in a 5–2 thriller.
Gary Cahill
Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...
scored his first FA Cup goal for Chelsea from a corner in the 12th minute, with
Salomon Kalou
Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou (born 5 August 1985) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for Djiboutian club Arta/Solar7.
He previously played for Feyenoord from 2003 to 2006 and Chelsea from 2006 to 2012. ...
following up five minutes later. In the second half,
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...
ended a goal drought of over 25 hours to score, before
Jermaine Beckford
Jermaine Paul Alexander Beckford (born 9 December 1983) is an English Football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career as a trainee at Chelsea, and played for Wealdstone, Uxbridge, Leeds United, ...
gave Leicester a late lifeline. Torres scored again in the 85th minute to put the result beyond doubt, although Ben Marshall grabbed one back three minutes later, before Meireles scored in the 90th minute to send Chelsea through to the semi-final.
In the semi-final, Chelsea faced local rivals
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
at Wembley. The first half was even, with both sides enjoying long spells of possession, until
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...
put Chelsea ahead just before the break. Chelsea scored at the start of the second half. However, Juan Mata's goal that did not appear to cross the line, but referee
Martin Atkinson
Martin Atkinson (born 31 March 1971) is an English referee coach and retired professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League. He is a member of the West Riding County Football Association.
Atkinson made his first ...
awarded the goal.
Gareth Bale
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...
put Tottenham back in it with a goal shortly after a
Petr Čech
Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as o ...
challenge on
Emmanuel Adebayor
Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (; born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Togolese Championnat National club Semassi. He previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Ho ...
. Despite the goal, Tottenham never took control of the game and
Ramires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...
scored in the 77th minute, followed minutes later by a
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
free kick, and a
Florent Malouda
Florent Johan Malouda (born 13 June 1980) is a French football coach and former professional player.
A left winger, he spent most of his career at Lyon and Chelsea, winning four consecutive Ligue 1 titles with the former and the UEFA Champions ...
strike in the fourth minute of added time. This secured Chelsea's place in their first FA Cup Final since their
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
triumph over Portsmouth.
Liverpool
Liverpool – also a Premier League team – entered the competition in the Third Round too. Their opening match was a 5–1 home win against
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
.
Robbie Simpson
Robbie Simpson (born 15 March 1985 in Poole, Dorset) is an English semi-professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward. Simpson is currently manager at National League South club Chelmsford ...
opened the scoring for Oldham in the 28th minute, but
Craig Bellamy
Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...
equalised just two minutes later, with
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
scoring a penalty to give Liverpool the lead.Jonjo Shelvey scored his first goal for the club in the second half, before late goals from
Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...
and
Stewart Downing
Stewart Downing (born 22 July 1984) is an English former professional footballer. He played most of his career as a winger, where he operated predominantly on the left-hand side, though he could play on the right and go inside on to his stronge ...
ensured progression to the Fourth Round.
For the Fourth Round, Liverpool were drawn at their home ground,
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
against
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 ...
. The match took place in the wake of the racial abuse row between
Luis Suárez
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
and
Patrice Evra
Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His ...
, for which Suárez was serving an eight-match ban.
Daniel Agger
Daniel Munthe Agger (; born 12 December 1984) is a Danish professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of Danish 1st Division club HB Køge. As an active player, he played as a central defender for Brøndby and Liverpool a ...
opened the scoring with a header from a corner, before
Park Ji-sung
Park Ji-sung (; ; born 30 March 1981) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the South Korean capital Seoul, Park is the most successful Asian player in football history, having won 19 trophies in ...
equalised for United before half-time. With the match approaching full-time, Dirk Kuyt scored in the 88th minute to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory and secured their place in the Fifth Round. Their opponents were
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
, whom Liverpool beat 6–1 at Anfield, courtesy of goals from
Martin Škrtel
Martin Škrtel (born 15 December 1984) is a Slovak former professional footballer, a former player and captain of the Slovakia national team and Liverpool Football Club.
Škrtel previously played for FK AS Trenčín and Zenit Saint Petersburg ...
, Carroll and Suárez, as well as three own goals.
Liverpool faced
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
in the Sixth Round at Anfield. Suárez scored in the 23rd minute to give Liverpool the lead, before former player
Peter Crouch
Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...
equalised three minutes later. Downing scored in the second half to secure a 2–1 for the club and ensure their place in the semi-finals.Local rivals Everton were the opponents in the semi-final, held at
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 ...
.
Nikica Jelavić
Nikica Jelavić (; born 27 August 1985) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Jelavić began his career with Croatian side Hajduk Split of the Prva HNL in 2002, before moving to Belgian Pro League club Zulte Ware ...
scored in the 24th minute after a Liverpool defensive error, to give Everton a 1–0 lead. Liverpool equalised in the second half when Suárez scored after a back-pass from Everton defender
Sylvain Distin
Sylvain Distin (born 16 December 1977) is a French former professional footballer. He is left-footed and played as a central defender, and was also capable of playing at left-back.
Distin began his career playing for French amateur sides, workin ...
. The match looked to be heading towards extra time, before Carroll headed in a
Craig Bellamy
Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...
free kick in the 87th minute to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory and secure their place in the final for the first time since
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, when they defeated
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
.
Background
Appearing in the final for the fourteenth time, Liverpool had won the FA Cup seven times previously (in
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
,
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
,
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
and
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
), and had been beaten in the final six times (in
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
and
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
). Chelsea were appearing in the final for the eleventh time. They had won the FA Cup six times previously (in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
,
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
and
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
), and had been beaten in the final four times (in
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1 ...
,
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
,
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
and
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
). Liverpool and Chelsea had previously met nine times in the FA Cup, including two semi-finals (most recently in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
), although they had never met in the final before. Chelsea had the upper hand in those nine meetings, winning five times to Liverpool's four; however, Liverpool won both semi-finals between the two clubs, both on neutral grounds. The only domestic cup final to feature both teams was the 2005 League Cup final, which Chelsea won 3–2 at the
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...
in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
.
Liverpool and Chelsea had faced each other twice during the season, with Liverpool winning on both occasions. Liverpool won the first meeting in the 2011–12 Premier League 2–1, they won their second meeting in the 2011–12 Football League Cup 2–0, before winning the final against Cardiff City. As Liverpool and Chelsea had been due to play one another in 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 ...
at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
on 5 May 2012, the same day as the final, the FA announced that the league game would be postponed until Tuesday 8 May, meaning that the two sides would play each other twice in four days.
Both teams had injury concerns ahead of the final. Liverpool were expected to be without midfielders
Charlie Adam
Charles Graham Adam (born 10 December 1985) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Adam started his senior career with Rangers. He spent much of his early senior career on loan to Ross County and St Mirren. ...
and
Lucas Leiva
Lucas Pezzini Leiva (born 9 January 1987), known as Lucas or Lucas Leiva (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Grêmio.
Lucas began his career as a box-to-box midfielder at Grêmio where he won the ...
, who were both out with knee injuries, while Chelsea were missing defenders
David Luiz
David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Flamengo. Primarily a centre back, he can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder.
After starting out at Vitoria, David Luiz moved to Ben ...
and
Gary Cahill
Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...
to hamstring injuries. Liverpool captain
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
was determined to claim a domestic double with victory in the final: "The FA Cup is special, but we got a taste of success from winning the Carling Cup. That will help the younger players in the squad. Winning breeds confidence and you want more." Gerrard believed success in the final would compensate for a poor season in the Premier League: "We are all aware we have underachieved in the league and the squad of players is certainly better than where we are. We will assess the season and if we win two trophies I think it would alleviate the pressure slightly." Chelsea captain
John Terry
John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...
was hopeful Chelsea would win the final, to help caretaker manager
Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player.
During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chelse ...
's hopes of getting the job full-time: "To win it
he Cup
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
will put himself in a very good position. He's not thinking of that at the moment, he's not letting the players get distracted by anything. He's very passionate, he's Chelsea through and through, and that's certainly rubbed off on the players. So, if we can do it with the added bonus that Robbie can get the job at the end, that'd be great."
In addition to the later kick-off time, travelling supporters from Liverpool faced major difficulties getting to and from the final after
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...
cancelled the majority of its direct services between
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
and
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
with maintenance work taking place on the
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
over the May Day
bank holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...
weekend. Both teams were allocated 25,074 tickets for the final, which was 7,000 fewer than they received for the semi-finals. 17,000 tickets went to Club Wembley members, who are effectively season ticket holders at Wembley Stadium, while the remainder went to the grassroots football community.
Match
First half
Chelsea kicked off and had the first shot within the first minute when
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...
fired over the crossbar. Liverpool had more of the ball in the opening minutes, but striker
Luis Suárez
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
struggled to maintain possession of the ball against the Chelsea defence. Chelsea scored in the 10th minute when Liverpool midfielder
Jay Spearing
Jay Francis Spearing (born 25 November 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool, where he is also a coach at their academy.
He started his career with Liverpool as a youth- ...
lost possession of the ball to
Ramires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...
; the Brazilian subsequently went past defender
José Enrique José Enrique is a Spanish given name. It may refer to:
*José Enrique (footballer) (born 1986), Spanish footballer
* José Enrique Angulo (born 1995), Ecuadorian footballer
*José Enrique Arrarás (born 1937), Puerto Rican politician
* José Enriq ...
into the Liverpool penalty area, where his shot went through goalkeeper
Pepe Reina
José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal.
The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...
's legs and into the goal to give Chelsea a 1–0 lead. Liverpool responded by going on the attack; a
Glen Johnson
Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back.
Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was s ...
pass found striker
Craig Bellamy
Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...
, whose shot was cleared off the line by Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović. Liverpool were still struggling to maintain possession; with
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
playing deep in midfield, there was a lack of support for striker Suárez. Chelsea midfielder
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
profited from Liverpool's failure to hold on to possession when he received the ball from a misplaced
Jordan Henderson
Jordan Brian Henderson (born 17 June 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool and the England national team.
Henderson joined the Sunderland Academy at the age of eight, making his first-team ...
pass, but his shot away from goal went wide.
In the 33rd minute, a Chelsea free-kick, awarded after Ramires was brought down by Enrique, was cleared by the Liverpool defence; Enrique then had the chance to counter Chelsea's attack, but he delayed his run and was dispossessed. The first yellow card of the match was shown to Chelsea midfielder
Mikel John Obi
Mikel John Obi (born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna; 22 April 1987) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Mikel began his career with local club Plateau United, before joining Norwegian club Lyn at th ...
in the 36th minute after a mistimed tackle on Gerrard. A cross from midfielder
Stewart Downing
Stewart Downing (born 22 July 1984) is an English former professional footballer. He played most of his career as a winger, where he operated predominantly on the left-hand side, though he could play on the right and go inside on to his stronge ...
was headed out for a Liverpool corner in the 40th minute, but the subsequent corner was cleared by Chelsea goalkeeper
Petr Čech
Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as o ...
. Liverpool had another chance straight afterwards, but Suárez was unable to direct his header at goal after receiving the ball from Henderson. Towards the end of the half,
Daniel Agger
Daniel Munthe Agger (; born 12 December 1984) is a Danish professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of Danish 1st Division club HB Køge. As an active player, he played as a central defender for Brøndby and Liverpool a ...
was shown a yellow card for his challenge on Mikel.
Second half
Liverpool kicked off the second half, but it was Chelsea who had the first attack. Chelsea defender
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is consi ...
had space in the Liverpool penalty area, but his pass to
Juan Mata
Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray. He mostly plays as a central attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the wing.
A gr ...
was intercepted by the Liverpool defence. The Reds subsequently went on the attack and won a corner, but the ball into the Chelsea penalty area by Bellamy was cleared. Liverpool continued to attack but were denied a
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
in the 50th minute, when Gerrard went down in the Chelsea penalty area. The ball was subsequently put back into the Chelsea penalty area by Downing, but Henderson could only head the ball to Chelsea players. Liverpool were made to rue their missed chances, as two minutes later, Chelsea had extended their lead. Lampard got away from Spearing and passed to Drogba on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area; he advanced past Liverpool defender
Martin Škrtel
Martin Škrtel (born 15 December 1984) is a Slovak former professional footballer, a former player and captain of the Slovakia national team and Liverpool Football Club.
Škrtel previously played for FK AS Trenčín and Zenit Saint Petersburg ...
and shot through the legs of Reina and into the Liverpool goal to make the score 2–0. Liverpool went on the offensive after the second Chelsea goal. A Suárez shot was saved by Čech, and manager
Kenny Dalglish
Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...
replaced midfielder Spearing with striker
Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...
. The substation worked: In the 64th minute, Carroll scored when Downing won a tackle on the left-hand side of the pitch, which resulted in the ball breaking to Carroll. His subsequent shot beat Čech in the Chelsea goal to reduce the deficit to 2–1.
Liverpool continued to press forward following their goal. Carroll found Gerrard with a headed pass in the 71st minute, but Gerrard's shot went over the crossbar. Two minutes later, a Suárez shot was saved by Čech and went out for a Liverpool corner, but Agger's header from the resulting corner flew wide. Carroll had a number of chances in the subsequent minutes, but none of his headers hit the target. Chelsea replaced goalscorer Ramires with midfielder
Raul Meireles
Raul José Trindade Meireles (; born 17 March 1983) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder.
After starting out at Boavista, he signed with Porto in 2004, going on to appear in 198 official games and win ten major trophies ...
in the 76th minute, and a minute later, Bellamy was replaced by Dirk Kuyt for Liverpool. A minute after the substitution, Suárez worked his way into the Chelsea half and had his pass to Kuyt cleared, but it fell to Henderson, whose shot went over the Chelsea goal. Carroll thought he equalised in the 81st minute when his header from a Suárez cross was then palmed by Čech onto the underside of the bar and away to safety. Carroll ran away celebrating his second goal, but after consulting with his assistant, referee
Phil Dowd
Philip Dowd (born 26 January 1963) : The
Details
Statistics
Post-match
Chelsea's victory meant they won the FA Cup for the seventh time. Caretaker manager
Roberto Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player.
During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chelse ...
was relaxed about his prospects of securing the full-term following their victory: "The boss Roman_Abramovich_.html" ;"title="Roman_Abramovich.html" ;"title="Roman Abramovich">Roman Abramovich ">Roman_Abramovich.html" ;"title="Roman Abramovich">Roman Abramovich will make a decision at the end of the season. I'm very relaxed about it and the players will be fine, I am a very fortunate person so it is not an issue." Di Matteo was delighted with his players, as they survived Liverpool's attacks in the final minutes to secure victory: "I am very pleased for the players," said Di Matteo. "We have had a difficult season with a lot of criticism but they have responded to all the adversity we have faced. I'm very pleased and satisfied with our performance today." Chelsea captain
John Terry
John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...
was equally pleased with the performance, but turned his attention to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, where they would face FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich: "It's fantastic, it's what we live for. We've still got a massive trophy, the Champions League - that's the target for the owner from day dot. We've done Robbie the world of good and it can do him no harm."
Liverpool manager
Kenny Dalglish
Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...
was adamant that his players would improve following the defeat: "They've been in two cup finals in this season – they'll have enjoyed the first one more than the second, the lads will benefit from the experience. You can't give a team like Chelsea a two-goal head start." When asked about his future as manager of the club Dalglish stated: "We'll assess the season at the end of the season." Captain
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
echoed Dalglish's sentiments: "With the players we have in that dressing room, we could have done better. But we are Liverpool. We will bounce back. We will strengthen in the summer and come back fighting again. That's what Liverpool Football Club does." Striker
Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...
, who scored one goal and had another disallowed, thought the ball had crossed the line: "I thought it was over the line and you know better than me but I thought it was. I thought it hit the other side of the bar but I haven't seen it back."
The two sides met in the Premier League three days after the final, a match that Liverpool won 4–1. Liverpool finished the season in eighth place and Dalglish was subsequently sacked and replaced by Swansea City manager
Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...
. Chelsea would finish the season in sixth place; however, they won the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League
The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...
, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 in a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
after the final finished 1–1 after extra time. Chelsea's victory in the FA Cup final set up a Community Shield match against
Manchester City
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 Salford to the west. The tw ...
, the winners of the 2011–12 Premier League.
The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom, in HD on
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
and also on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. A peak of 11.2 million saw the climax of the game on ITV1 with 8.9 million viewers on average watching the live match coverage. It was the highest-rated final since the
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
final. ESPN's coverage of the final attracted 397,000 viewers.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Cup Final 2012
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
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 ...