2001–02 FA Cup

The 2001–02 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by AXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 2–0 win against Chelsea, courtesy of goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg in the final 20 minutes of the game, completing a domestic Double for Arsenal.

Qualifying rounds

All participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League 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 Stalybridge Celtic, Morecambe, Northwich Victoria, Doncaster Rovers, Brigg Town, Worksop Town, Barrow, Altrincham, Southport, Lancaster City, Whitby Town, Cambridge City, Kettering Town, Tamworth, Farnborough Town, Hereford United, Worcester City, Aylesbury United, Bedford Town, Grays Athletic, Barnet, Newport County, Hayes, Welling United, Lewes, Gravesend & Northfleet, Forest Green Rovers, Aldershot Town, Tiverton Town, Hinckley United, Dagenham & Redbridge and Canvey Island.

Lewes and Hinckley United were appearing in the competition proper for the first time, although the recently merged Hinckley United was doing so for the first time in their own right after predecessor club Hinckley Athletic had last featured at this stage in 1962-63. Of the others, Newport County had last participated in the first round of the Cup in 1988-89, Bedford Town had last done so in 1981-82, Worksop Town had last done so in 1978-79, and Brigg Town had last done so back in 1881-82.

Brigg Town also became the first club to progress from the extra preliminary round to the competition proper since Linby Colliery in 1950-51 (although the extra preliminary round had been in abeyance for 50 of the intervening years). The Zebras defeated Great Harwood Town, Morpeth Town, Shildon, Gretna, Farsley Celtic and Boston United to book their place in the main draw and a first round date with Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park.

First round proper

This round is the first in which teams from the Second Division and Third Division compete with non-League teams. Matches were played 16, 17 and 18 November, with replays on 27 November and 28 November. The round included two clubs from Step 8 of English football: Brigg Town from the Northern Counties East League and Lewes from the Isthmian League Second Division.

Second round proper

Matches were played on 8-9 December, with replays on 18-19 December. The round featured one club from each of the three competitions at Step 6 of the football pyramid: Altrincham from the Northern Premier League, Hinckley United from the Southern League and Canvey Island from the Isthmian League.

Third round proper

This round marked the first time First Division and Premier League (top-flight) teams played. Matches played 5 January and 6 January, replays on 15 January and 16 January. Canvey Island was again the lowest-ranked team in the round - along with Football Conference (Step 5) side Dagenham & Redbridge they were also the last non-league clubs left in the competition.

Fourth round proper

Matches were played on the weekend beginning 26 January, with the Chelsea-West Ham replay held on 6 February. Four Third Division clubs in Bristol Rovers, Leyton Orient, Cheltenham Town and York City were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

The Arsenal-Liverpool tie was a rematch of the previous year's final.

Fifth round proper

Matches played on the weekend of 16 February and 17 February, with the replay on 26 February.

West Bromwich Albion were the only non-Premiership side to progress to the last eight, at the expense of Cheltenham Town – the last remaining Division Three side in the competition.

Sixth round proper

Matches were played on the weekend of 9 March, with the replay on 23 March.

West Bromwich Albion were the last non-Premiership side remaining in the competition, and their hopes of further progression were ended when they lost the quarter-final tie at home to Fulham.

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Replay

Semi-finals

Matches played at a neutral venue on April 14, 2002.

Gianluca Festa, who had been on the losing side for Middlesbrough in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals five years earlier, endured further misfortune when he scored an own goal that ended his side's hopes of FA Cup glory and handed the initiative to Arsenal.

Fulham, who were playing their first top division season for more than 30 years, had been hoping to compensate for a disappointing Premier League campaign with glory in the FA Cup. These hopes were ended by their neighbours Chelsea, who won the semi-final tie 1–0.

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Final

Arsenal's 2–0 victory set them up for a third double (which was completed when they sealed the league title four days later) and saw them equal Tottenham's eight FA Cup triumphs – putting them second only to Manchester United (10 trophies) as the most frequent winners of the FA Cup.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters taking over from ITV who had it after four years while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the fourteenth consecutive season.

The BBC had a much-expanded rights package compared to previous terrestrial networks, showing live games from the first two rounds and multiple live matches from rounds 3 to 6. This meant two BBC live matches on a Sunday and matches being played at 7pm on a Sunday evening, which was not popular with travelling supporters and was discontinued after the fifth round; the quarter-final between Newcastle and Arsenal was the first FA Cup match other than finals to be shown live by the BBC on a Saturday.

The live matches shown on the BBC were:
* Hereford United 1-0 Wrexham (R1)
* Canvey Island 1-0 Northampton Town (R2)
* Macclesfield Town 0-3 West Ham United (R3)
* Aston Villa 2-3 Manchester United (R3)
* Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool (R4)
* Ipswich Town 1-4 Manchester City (R4)
* Everton 0-0 Crewe Alexandra (R5)
* Newcastle United 1-0 Manchester City (R5)
* Newcastle United 1-1 Arsenal (QF)
* Middlesbrough 3-0 Everton (QF)
* Fulham 0-1 Chelsea (SF)
* Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea (Final)

The live matches shown on Sky Sports were:
* Hayes 3-4 Wycombe Wanderers (R1)
* Swansea City 4-0 Queen's Park Rangers (R1)
* Newport County 1-4 Blackpool (R1 Replay)
* Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Rushden & Diamonds (R2)
* Exeter City 0-0 Dagenham & Redbridge (R2)
* Dagenham & Redbridge 3-0 Exeter City (R2 Replay)
* Watford 2-4 Arsenal (R3)
* Cardiff City 2-1 Leeds United (R3)
* Chelsea 4-0 Norwich City (R3 Replay)
* Middlesbrough 2-0 Manchester United (R4)
* Peterborough United 2-4 Newcastle United (R4)
* West Ham United 2-3 Chelsea (R4 Replay)
* Walsall 1-2 Fulham (R5)
* Chelsea 3-1 Preston North End (R5)
* Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Everton (R5 Replay)
* Tottenham Hotspur 0-4 Chelsea (QF)
* West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Fulham (QF)
* Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle United (QF Replay)
* Middlesbrough 0-1 Arsenal (SF)
* Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea (Final)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 FA Cup

FA Cup seasons
FA Cup