2001 FA Cup Final
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The 2001 FA Cup Final was a
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
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
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 12 May 2001 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 ...
, Cardiff. It was the final match of the
2000–01 FA Cup The 2000–01 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by AXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 120th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Liverpool, who came from 1–0 behind against Arse ...
, the 119th 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 ...
, and the first in the competition's history to be staged outside England, due to the ongoing reconstruction of its usual venue,
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 ...
. Arsenal appeared in their fourteenth final to Liverpool's twelfth. Given 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. Each needed to progress through five rounds to reach the final. Arsenal's progress was relatively comfortable; after scoring six past
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 ...
, they knocked out holders
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 ...
in the fifth round and later came from behind to beat 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 ...
in the semi-final. Liverpool by contrast made hard work of overcoming lower-league opponents
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
and
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...
in the latter rounds of the competition. The final marked the first time that two managers born outside the British Isles had met in an FA Cup final – French compatriots
Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
and
Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...
. The match followed a familiar pattern of Arsenal dictating the pace and creating chances, but failing to breach the Liverpool defence. Arsenal had a penalty appeal turned down in the first half, when defender
Stéphane Henchoz Stéphane Henchoz (; born 7 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and a former professional player who played as a centre-back, most notably for the English club Liverpool. He was capped 72 times and played for the Switzerland national team ...
was judged not to have handled the ball to deny
Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...
a goalscoring opportunity. Henchoz's partner
Sami Hyypiä Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (; born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish football manager and former defender. Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping the ...
made a series of goalline clearances during the second half, but was helpless to stop Arsenal taking the lead in the 72nd minute. Liverpool responded by making changes and equalised in the 83rd minute; Arsenal's failure to deal with a free-kick presented
Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...
the chance to score. Owen then outpaced
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 ca ...
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 ...
to score his second and the match winner, two minutes before the end of normal time. Liverpool's victory marked the second part of their unique
treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...
of the 2000–01 season: they had won the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
in late February and added the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
four days later. As of 2021, this is the most recent time Arsenal have lost an FA Cup final, having won their next 7 appearances in a row. (
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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
)


Route to the final

The FA Cup is English football's primary
cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
. Clubs 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 ...
enter the FA Cup in the third round and are drawn randomly out of a hat with the remaining clubs. If a match is drawn, a replay comes into force, ordinarily at the ground of the team who were away for the first game. As with league fixtures, FA Cup matches are subject to change in the event of games being selected for television coverage and this often can be influenced by clashes with other competitions. This was the first season that
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
introduced guidelines to prevent the withdrawal of clubs from the competition. The final was scheduled a week before the final weekend of the Premier League, to aid any successful club playing European football.


Arsenal

Arsenal entered the competition in the third round and their cup run started with an away tie against
Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
. Although the home side created numerous chances in the opening minutes and looked likeliest to score, Arsenal took the lead in the 22nd minute through
Sylvain Wiltord Sylvain Claude Wiltord (born 10 May 1974) is a French former professional footballer. Mainly a right winger, he also played as a centre-forward, second striker and on the left wing. Wiltord had a four-season spell at Arsenal, with whom he won t ...
. Poor finishing from both teams thereafter meant Arsenal progressed by a slender scoreline. In the fourth round, Arsenal faced
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 ...
. The visitors' first goal came around the half-hour mark; 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 ...
cleared
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 ...
's goal-bound header and from that Arsenal launched a counterattack.
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 ca ...
's cross inadvertently met
Chris Plummer Christopher Scott Plummer (born 12 October 1976) is an English association football, football manager and former professional player. He is currently assistant manager of Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Playing career Plummer playe ...
who scored an
own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
. Wiltord extended Arsenal's lead a minute later, and QPR conceded another own goal early in the second half which sealed the tie in the visitors' favour. Arsenal finished as comfortable 6–0 winners, representing the club's best away win in the FA Cup for 64 years. In the fifth round, Arsenal played the cup holders Chelsea at home. Throughout the tie, Arsenal's centre-back partnership of
Oleh Luzhnyi Oleh Romanovych Luzhnyi ( uk, Олег Романович Лужний; born 5 August 1968) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Luzhnyi is a product of the Karpaty sports school (coached by Yur ...
and
Igors Stepanovs Igors Stepanovs (born 21 January 1976) is a Latvian former professional footballer, who played as a defender, and the manager of the Latvia under-17 national team. Stepanovs played 100 international matches and scored four goals for the Latv ...
struggled against the pace of
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to th ...
, who equalised for Chelsea after
Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...
gave the home side the lead. Wiltord replaced
Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French association football, football coach and former professional Football player, player. Pires played for French clubs FC Metz, Metz and Olympique de Marseille, Marseille prior to his time wi ...
in the second half and scored twice to settle the match. In the sixth round, Arsenal enjoyed a comfortable win against
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
of the First Division, where Wiltord continued his run scoring in each round of the competition. Arsenal faced
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 ...
in the semi-final and it was their local rivals who had taken the lead in the 14th minute.
Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...
equalised just after Tottenham captain
Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August 20 ...
was taken off the pitch to receive treatment. Tottenham managed to withstand pressure from Arsenal for most of the second half, but came unstuck in the 73rd minute when Pires scored the decisive goal.


Liverpool

Liverpool entered the competition in the third round, where they were drawn against Second Division side
Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
at
home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
.
Igor Bišćan Igor Bišćan (; born 4 May 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Croatia national under-21 team. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every position in th ...
was sent off in the tie for a second bookable offence, moments after
Emile Heskey Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...
had scored.
Dietmar Hamann Dietmar Johann Wolfgang "Didi" Hamann (; born 27 August 1973) is a German professional football coach, former player and media personality. Throughout his career, he has played for Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City ...
extended Liverpool's lead in the 73rd minute and a further goal by Heskey ensured their progress in the competition. Liverpool's opponent in the fourth round was
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
. The match was played at
Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...
on 27 January 2001 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 37,108. The home team enjoyed much of the possession, but struggled to find a breakthrough as Liverpool's defence stood firm. Two minutes before full-time, Barmby, on as a substitute, scored the winning goal, rebounding a shot that came off the post. Barmby then turned provider for Liverpool's second, setting-up Heskey to score. Anfield hosted
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 ...
in the fifth round. It was the start of a decisive week for Liverpool, as they faced
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
midweek in the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
, then
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
2001 Football League Cup Final The 2001 Football League Cup Final was a football match played between Birmingham City and Liverpool on 25 February 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 Football League Cup, the 41st season of the Foo ...
. Liverpool were awarded a penalty after five minutes, as goalkeeper
Nicky Weaver Nicholas James Weaver (born 2 March 1979) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is head of academy goalkeeping at EFL League One side Sheffield Wednesday. As as a player he was a goalkeeper who began his career wi ...
fouled
Vladimír Šmicer Vladimír Šmicer (, born 24 May 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his senior career at Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England where he played ...
inside the 18-yard box.
Jari Litmanen Jari Olavi Litmanen (; born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former footballer. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010. Litmanen is widely consider ...
converted the spot kick to give Liverpool the lead, which quickly became 2–0 when Heskey's shot found its way past Weaver.
Andrei Kanchelskis Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis ( uk, Андрій Антанасович Канчельскіс; russian: Андрей Антанасович Канчельскис; born 23 January 1969) is a professional football manager and former player. He ...
' goal in the 28th minute halved the scoreline, but Šmicer and
Markus Babbel Markus Babbel (; born 8 September 1972) is a German professional football coach and former player who last managed the Western Sydney Wanderers FC. He played as a defender for clubs in Germany and England. Babbel won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1996 ...
each scored in the second half to put Liverpool in a commanding lead. City persisted and in stoppage time scored their second goal of the match;
Shaun Goater Leonard Shaun Goater, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 25 February 1970) is a Bermuda, Bermudian former professional Association football, footballer, coach and pundit, he currently works as a youth coach at Manchester City F.C., Manchest ...
's deflected shot did enough to beat goalkeeper
Sander Westerveld Sander Westerveld (born 23 October 1974) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He was the goalkeeping coach of South African Premier Soccer League club Ajax Cape Town. The highlight of his playing ...
. Liverpool travelled to
Prenton Park Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...
to play
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
in the sixth round. Danny Murphy and
Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...
each scored in a first half in which the visitors dominated play. Steve Yates pulled a goal back for Tranmere after half-time, but in the 52nd minute
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 ...
headed-in a cross to restore Liverpool's two-goal advantage. A mistake by
Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...
gifted substitute
Wayne Allison Dr. Wayne Anthony Allison (born 16 October 1968) is an English former association football, footballer and coach. In a career spanning over 20 years, he played for eight clubs and scored more than 200 goals. He played as a Striker (association ...
the chance to score, but the striker made amends as he converted a penalty kick in the 81st minute. In the semi-final, Liverpool faced
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...
at
Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...
. Goals from Heskey and Fowler and a consolation scored by Wycombe's captain Keith Ryan ensured Liverpool won 2–1 and earnt a place in the final.


Pre-match


Stadium changes

In October 2000,
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 ...
, the final's traditional venue, was closed in anticipation of major redevelopment. Having considered alternative venues such as
Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
,
Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...
and
Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...
, the FA announced in January 2001 that the next three Cup finals would be staged at Cardiff's
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 ...
. This therefore marked the first time the showpiece event was held outside England. In the lead-up to the final, FA chief executive
Adam Crozier Adam Alexander Crozier (born 26 January 1964) is a Scottish businessman, and was formerly the chief executive officer of media company ITV plc, operator of the ITV television network covering most of the United Kingdom. After a career at Saatch ...
acknowledged concerns over transport and the quality of the pitch, saying, "We've done a lot of work with Cardiff and hopefully it will be a great occasion, but we'll take a view about how it's worked after the final and decide whether to still hold the match there." A new pitch was re-laid in May, and the police made attempts to ease traffic on the M4 by opening three more turn-offs than they did for the League Cup final. The finalists received a total allocation of approximately 52,000 tickets, which was an estimated increase of 10% on previous Wembley finals. Seat prices for the final exceeded £70, though some ticket touts charged as much as £1,000. The cheapest tickets cost £20; the rest were priced at £40 and £55.


Build-up

Arsenal were appearing in the final of the FA Cup for the 14th time, their first in over three years. They had won the cup seven times previously (in
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
,
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
,
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
,
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 ...
,
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
,
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
and
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
) and were beaten in the final six times. By comparison, Liverpool were making their 12th appearance in a FA Cup final. The club won the cup five times (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 ...
,
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
,
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 ...
) and lost six finals, most recent of which 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 ...
in
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 ...
. Arsenal and Liverpool had previously met thirteen times in the FA Cup, including four replays. Arsenal had a slender advantage in those meetings, winning five times to Liverpool's four. Both clubs were involved in the longest ever semi-final in FA Cup history in 1980, which required three replays after the original tie ended goalless.
Brian Talbot Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team. Talbot played in midfield for Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, ...
's goal at
Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game o ...
earnt Arsenal a 1–0 victory. The last meeting between the two teams had been in the Premier League on 23 December 2000. Liverpool recorded a 4–0 win at Anfield, their third-straight victory in all competitions.
Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...
, the manager of Liverpool, enjoyed success in the cup competitions during the 2000–01 season; under his management, the club ended their six-year spell without silverware by winning the League Cup, and in the calendar year defeated Roma,
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
and
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
to reach the
2001 UEFA Cup Final The 2001 UEFA Cup Final was a football match between Liverpool of England and Alavés of Spain on 16 May 2001 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2000–01 edition of Europe's secondary ...
. Houllier was indifferent that his side were considered the underdogs in the FA Cup final, and told reporters, "We have great work ethic and team ethic. There is a great desire to achieve something as a club." He confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Heskey would start the final, though had yet to make a final decision over who would partner the England forward. Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
admitted his team had underachieved during the season, but took criticism of failing to challenge Manchester United in the league and progressing further in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
as a "compliment to the club". He spoke in favour of moving FA Cup ties midweek to prevent fixture congestion, because the current system was too demanding for the big clubs: "In England a team that goes for the FA Cup automatically has a problem in the championship, especially if they play in the Champions League. There are then so many games something has to be sacrificed and I have sacrificed points in the championship to the FA Cup." When asked whether reducing the number of teams in the UEFA Champions League would help, Wenger commented it "... would mean less money and no one with the wages we pay can accept a drop in income. As for cutting the Premiership – they have done that in France and now those teams not involved in the cups are complaining." The match attracted considerable media interest because of the number of foreigners involved. It marked the first time that the two managers of opposing sides were born outside the British Isles, and it was anticipated the final would receive a large overseas audience because of the inclusion of several international players. Broadcast in 70 countries, viewing figures for the match totalled close to 600 million.


Match


Summary

Both clubs lined up in a traditional 4–4–2 formation: a four-man
defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
(comprising two
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
s and left and right full-backs), four
midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
s (two in the
centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
, and one on each
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
) and two
centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
s. Wenger opted to pair Gilles Grimandi with Vieira in midfield and Wiltord up front with Henry, leaving Bergkamp on the substitutes' bench.
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 ...
played in defence, ahead of
Sylvinho Sylvio Mendes Campos Júnior (born 12 April 1974), commonly known as Sylvinho (sometimes alternatively spelled Silvinho), is a Brazilian football manager and former player, currently managing Albania. Formerly a left back, he began his care ...
, who did not feature in the matchday squad. For Liverpool, Houllier named Owen in the starting line-up, and chose Šmicer and Murphy to play in midfield.
Gary McAllister Gary McAllister MBE (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. McAllister played primarily as a midfielder in a career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell b ...
,
Patrik Berger Patrik Berger (; born 10 November 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his career in his own country with Slavia Prague and spent a season in Germany playing for Borussia Dortmund. He moved to ...
and Fowler began the final as substitutes. Arsenal in their usual home strip of red shirts and white shorts kicked off the match and immediately won a corner, which was dealt with by Westerveld. A run by Heskey six minutes later resulted in the player taking a tumble under Gilles Grimandi's challenge, but his appeals for a penalty were ignored by referee Dunn. Arsenal began to dominate play, with Vieira at the heart of their best moves. The midfielder won a challenge with Heskey in the 17th minute and sent the ball in the direction of
Freddie Ljungberg Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal. He began his career at Hal ...
, who in turn passed it to Henry. The Frenchman went around Westerveld and shot the ball goalwards, which was cleared off the line by
Stéphane Henchoz Stéphane Henchoz (; born 7 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and a former professional player who played as a centre-back, most notably for the English club Liverpool. He was capped 72 times and played for the Switzerland national team ...
. Television replays later showed the ball hitting Henchoz's arm before going wide; although Henry appealed for a penalty, it was turned down as the incident was missed by both the referee and his assistant. Owen came close to scoring in the 20th minute, but for his shot to be blocked by
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 ...
. Arsenal continued to find the best openings, but struggled to split open the Liverpool defence. A long range effort by Grimandi was easily saved by Westerveld as the final approached the half-hour mark, and a duel between Wiltord and
Jamie Carragher James Lee Duncan Carragher (; born 28 January 1978) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool during a career which spanned 17 years. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's vic ...
on the right side resulted in a Liverpool corner. Two minutes before the interval Henry was penalised for drifting into an offside position, having collected a long pass. Liverpool resumed play and won a free-kick in the 48th minute; Murphy's delivery found Heskey, whose header forced a save from
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 ...
. Arsenal enjoyed their best spell of the match soon afterwards, but failed to make use of their set-pieces. A free-kick taken by Pires was easily handled by Westerveld, and nothing came out of the resulting corner. Pires and Henry combined in attack for Arsenal and the latter came close to scoring, had the Liverpool goalkeeper not intervened. The ball rebounded to Cole who shot goalwards, but
Sami Hyypiä Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (; born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish football manager and former defender. Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping the ...
cleared off the line. Hamann was shown a yellow card for fouling Vieira in the 57th minute, and Houllier responded by replacing him with McAllister four minutes later. The change had the desired effect as it brought composure to Liverpool's play, particularly in midfield. In the 62nd minute Ljungberg received a yellow card for a challenge on Šmicer. Arsenal squandered another chance, this time two minutes before the 70; Henry outpaced Henchoz and his rebounded shot found Ljungberg in the penalty area. The midfielder's effort, a chip over the advancing Westerveld, was cleared off the line by Hyypiä. With 19 minutes left, Arsenal finally scored. A poor clearance by Westerveld fell to Grimandi, who passed the ball to Pires. Ljungberg received it and rounded the goalkeeper to score, much to Wenger's delight. Henry missed a chance to give Arsenal a two-goal lead in the 74th minute, as his shot was point-blank saved by Westerveld and on the follow up cleared by Hyypiä. Both managers made changes in the final period of the game;
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 ...
came on for Wiltord in order to protect Arsenal's lead, whereas Liverpool made an attacking double substitution – Fowler and Berger on for Šmicer and Murphy. Liverpool survived the onslaught and found a foothold in the game when Owen equalised with eight minutes left. Arsenal failed to clear substitute McAllister's free-kick, and Owen pounced with a right-foot finish past Seaman from eight yards. Liverpool's comeback was completed six minutes later in the 88th minute, with extra time looming; Owen was released down the left by a weighted long ball pass from Berger, with the type of vision which had been earlier missing from their play, and he outpaced both
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 Dixon before shooting low and accurately past Seaman, beating him at the far post. Liverpool held on to their lead for the few minutes remaining to win the final.


Details


Statistics


Post-match and aftermath

Houllier was disappointed with Liverpool's start and noticed his players struggled with the humidity. He nevertheless saw set-pieces as an opportunity to score goals from and felt the equaliser turned the final in his team's favour: "Suddenly the confidence switches to the other camp. They're affected, they become a bit unsettled, and you keep going." Houllier revealed he gave a frank assessment of the task facing his players before the match; although in his words Arsenal were "... probably a bit better than us, probably more mature, more experienced, more ability in some areas", dealing with setbacks would make the difference on the day. He dismissed accusations that Liverpool were boring, rather describing his team as difficult to beat. Owen, the match winner, felt he answered his critics by scoring left-footed: "It's nice to prove people wrong when they say you haven't got a left foot. I was supposed to be the worst header and the worst player with my left foot in the league, and how could an England player play when they haven't got a left foot. ... It does go to show that I have improved and I am improving." Wenger lamented Arsenal's inability to make possession count, saying: "It has happened all season. We don't finish." He criticised the referee for not sending off Henchoz, especially as linesman
Kevin Pike J. Kevin Pike (born 9 May 1951) is an American film special effects supervisor, former below-the-line talent agent, and screenwriting consultant. Pike is best known for supervising the Special Effects of the 1985 film ''Back to the Future''. He a ...
told him the Liverpool defender had committed a foul. On reflection of the season, Wenger disagreed it was one of failure – "It is not easy to get to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the final of the FA Cup and to finish in the top three of the Premiership in the same season", but admitted he needed to make signings to strengthen the squad. Henry called for changes to Arsenal's forward line and felt the team would benefit from a "fox in the box", a player who would stay in and around the penalty area to score. "When I make wide runs and put in crosses there is often no-one there to put the ball in the net. Owen was the hero because he is always in the right place. We need a goalscorer like that", he concluded. Journalists and pundits reviewing the final praised Liverpool's tenacity; radio commentator Alan Green wrote in his ''
News Letter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737. The newspape ...
'' column of 14 May 2001: "Simply, they never give up and when you have a player like Michael Owen within your ranks you believe that any situation can be rescued, as it was in the magnificent Millennium Stadium." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' correspondent David Lacey declared "The Owen of France '98 was reborn in Cardiff," while
Hugh McIlvanney Hugh McIlvanney (2 February 1934 – 24 January 2019) was a Scottish sports journalist who had long stints with the British Sunday newspapers ''The Observer'' (30 years until 1993) and then 23 years with ''The Sunday Times'' (1993–2016). Aft ...
of ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' called Owen "the master executioner of English football." McIlvanney felt over the 90 minutes the Arsenal team were "unlucky to lose", lauding Vieira's show in midfield. James Lawton's match report in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' was not as empathetic; although in praise of Henry's performance his indecision compared to Owen, demonstrated how "effect, not style, is everything" in football. Clive White of '' The Herald'' criticised Henry's lack of end product, using the final and Arsenal's European failure against
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
to demonstrate how he would never be considered a "natural goalscorer".
Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nick ...
, writing in his tactics column for ''The Guardian'' noted Liverpool's winning goal only came about because of Arsenal's eagerness to attack, which left gaps in defence. The final was broadcast live in the United Kingdom by both
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 ...
and
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 ...
, with the former providing free-to-air coverage and Sky Sports 2 being the pay-TV alternative. ITV held the majority of the viewership, with an overnight peak audience of 7.8 million viewers. Four days after the final Liverpool beat Alavés by five goals to four, to win the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
and complete a treble of cup victories. Victory against
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
on 20 May 2001 ensured Liverpool finished third in the Premier League and with that earn a place in the
2001–02 UEFA Champions League The 2001–02 UEFA Champions League was the 47th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the 10th since its rebranding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won by R ...
. Arsenal ended the season as league runners-up; a draw against
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 ...
was enough for them to secure second spot. In his autobiography released a few years later, Gerrard reflected that Liverpool were fortunate to win, but was critical of Arsenal's "bitter" reaction: "Wenger and Ljungberg kept complaining about the hand-balls. Get real, boys. That's football. Grow up." He reserved special praise for his opponent Vieira however, saying a few days after the game: "It was my job to try and stop him, but he definitely got the better of me that day. He's such a great player. He's so fit, and he dictates the pace of a game. There are a lot of things you can learn just by watching him." Assessing his career in a column for the ''Telegraph'', Owen wrote that winning the cup was "...the best day of my career, the game I look back on more than any other and think it was the most exhilarating experience I ever had playing football."


See also

*
2001 Football League Cup Final The 2001 Football League Cup Final was a football match played between Birmingham City and Liverpool on 25 February 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 Football League Cup, the 41st season of the Foo ...
*
2001 FA Trophy Final The 2001 FA Trophy Final was the 32nd final of The Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. It was contested by Canvey Island and Forest Green Rovers on 13 May 2001 at Villa Park, Birmingham. ...


References

{{Liverpool F.C. matches
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 ...
FA Cup Final 2001 The 2001 FA Cup Final was a football match between Arsenal and Liverpool on 12 May 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 FA Cup, the 119th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition ...
FA Cup Final 2001 The 2001 FA Cup Final was a football match between Arsenal and Liverpool on 12 May 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 FA Cup, the 119th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition ...
2000–01 in Welsh football
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 ...
2000s in Cardiff May 2001 sports events in the United Kingdom Sports competitions in Cardiff