The 1999–2000 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by AXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 119th staging of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Both the semifinals and final of the competition were played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

for the last time before reconstruction work began. The competition culminated with the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

between Chelsea and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. The game was won by a goal from Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo, giving them a 1–0 victory. The title holders

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, withdrew from the 1999–2000 competition due to their participation in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, to take place in early 2000, thus becoming the first FA Cup winners not to defend their title. Despite this being at the request of

the Football Association The Football Association (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 oldest footb ...

(FA), who believed the move would boost England's chances of winning the bid to host the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, they received criticism from journalists and television pundits. To keep the competition running smoothly, the FA chose to draw one team from among those lower-division teams defeated in the second round to progress as "lucky losers" to the third.

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

were the team drawn. The main competition started in November 1999 for clubs from the Football League and Premiership.

Calendar

Manchester United, who were the winners the previous season, did not enter.

Qualifying rounds

All participating clubs that were not members of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper. The winners from the fourth qualifying round were

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

, Eastwood Town,

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, Tamworth,

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. They won the FA Trophy in 2004. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of t ...

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, Stalybridge Celtic,

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bri ...

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

, Oxford City,

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, Whyteleafe,

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

, Welling United, Hayes, Kingstonian,

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

, Forest Green Rovers, Ilkeston Town, Yeovil Town, Bath City, Enfield, Chelmsford City,

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

, Burton Albion, Kettering Town, St Albans City, Hereford United and Cambridge City. Eastwood Town, Bamber Bridge, Whyteleafe and Forest Green Rovers were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Aldershot Town was also appearing at this stage for the first time in their own right, seven years after the mid-season demise of the original Aldershot FC. Of the others, only Oxford United, who had last featured in the first round in 1970-71, had not qualified for the main draw at least once in the last decade.

First round proper

This is the first round in which teams from the Second and Third Divisions of the Football League compete with non-League teams. *Ties were played over the weekend of 30 and 31 October 1999. *Replays were played on 8, 9 and 10 November 1999. *Five clubs from the various competitions at Step 7 of English football were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw: Eastwood Town, Worthing, Chelmsford City, Whyteleafe and Oxford City. *This was the first season since the establishment of the Alliance Premier League (later ''Conference National'' and the ''National League'') in 1979 that no clubs from Step 8 of the football pyramid (or lower) had qualified for the first round of the FA Cup. ‡ - Oxford City's replay with Wycombe Wanderers was abandoned after extra time due to a fire within the stadium. The score was 1–1.

Upsets

Second round proper

*Ties were played over the weekend of 20 and 21 November 1999. *Replays were played on 30 November 1999. *Six clubs from the various competitions at Step 6 of English football were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw: Hendon, Bamber Bridge, Aldershot Town, Ilkeston Town, Enfield and Stalybridge Celtic. = Darlington advanced as

lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw. This can occur when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness ...

Third round proper

This round marked the first time First Division and Premier League (top-flight) teams played. *Matches were played on the weekend of 11 and 12 December 1999. *Replays were played on 21 and 22 December 1999. *Two Second Division sides defeated Premier League opponents: Burnley beat Derby County 1-0 at Pride Park, and Wrexham defeated Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground. *Conference National (Step 5) sides Hereford United and Rushden & Diamonds were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

Fourth round proper

*Ties played on weekend of 8 and 9 January 2000. *Replays played on 18 and 19 January 2000. *Second Division side Gillingham qualified for the Fifth Round for the first time in 30 years after defeating Premier League opponents Bradford City 3-1 at Priestfield. *Plymouth Argyle, from the Third Division, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

Fifth round proper

*Ties played on weekend of 29 and 30 January 2000. *The shock result of the round came when Gillingham (who had yet to play in the top two tiers of English football) defeated

side Sheffield Wednesday 3–1 to qualify for the Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

Sixth round proper

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

Aston Villa booked their first FA Cup final appearance since 1957 by beating Bolton Wanderers on penalties after a goalless draw, while Chelsea reached their second final in four years with a narrow 2–1 win over Newcastle United (who had been finalists in the previous two seasons). *Aston Villa win 4–1 on penalties. Steve Stone, Lee Hendrie, Gareth Barry and Dion Dublin all scored for Aston Villa. Dean Holdsworth scored for Bolton. ----

Final

The 2000 FA Cup final was contested between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, with Chelsea coming out 1-0 winners. Roberto Di Matteo scored the winning goal 17 minutes from the end, three years after he had opened the scoring within the first minute of Chelsea's last FA Cup final win. This was Villa's first FA Cup final for 43 years.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free to air broadcasters for the third consecutive season while

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

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

ITV Sport ITV Sport is the Broadcasting of sports events, sports department of ITV plc, which produces and presents sports programming for the ITV (TV network), ITV network and ITVX. The branding was originally introduced in 1985 as an umbrella title fo ...

were: *

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

0-2

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(R3) *

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 ...

0-0 Leicester City (R4) *

3-2

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

(R5) * Tranmere Rovers 2-3

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

(QF) *

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

0-0

(SF) * Chelsea 1-0

(Final) The matches shown live on

were: *

2-0 Scunthorpe United (R1) * Barnet 0-1

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

(R1) * Kettering Town 0-2

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

(R1 Replay) *

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

2-2 Lincoln City (R2) * Hereford United 1-0 Hartlepool United (R2) * Lincoln City 0-1

(R2 Replay) *

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

1-1

(R3) * Ipswich Town 0-1

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

(R3) *

6-1

(R3 Replay) *

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

2-5

(R4) *

0-1 Blackburn Rovers (R4) * Leicester City 0-0

(R4 Replay) * Chelsea 2-1 Leicester City (R5) * Blackburn Rovers 1-2

(R5) * Everton 1-2

(QF) * Chelsea 2-1

(SF) * Chelsea 1-0

(Final)

References

External links

The FA websiteBBC FA Cup page
{{DEFAULTSORT:1999-2000 FA Cup FA Cup seasons