Since the FA Cup’s formation in 1871, 44 different teams have won the competition, but no side can match Arsenal’s phenomenal record of 14 titles. Although, Manchester United aren’t too far behind with 13. The Red Devils bounced back from defeat to Manchester City in 2023 to get the better of their noisy neighbours 12 months later.
It’s rare for an FA Cup final to be a derby and even more infrequent for the showpiece fixture to repeat itself. Ahead of the 2024 event, the same two clubs had not faced off in consecutive FA Cup finals since 1884 and 1885 – Blackburn Rovers defeated Scottish side Queens Park twice on the spin before the English Football League pyramid had even been invented.
The first FA Cup final was contested between Wanderers and Royal Engineers in 1872 before the permanent crossbar had been introduced. Morton Peto Betts, playing under the fake name
AH Chequers, scored the only goal of the game for Wanderers against an Engineers side that had been reduced to 10 fit players inside the opening exchanges after Lieutenant Cresswell broke his collarbone.
When Herbert Chapman joined Arsenal in 1925, he warned a club still waiting for its first major trophy that it would take five years for silverware to arrive. Right on schedule, the Gunners won the first of their record-breaking 14 FA Cup titles in 1930. Alex James opened
the scoring in a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield, the side that Chapman had left to transform Arsenal. Six decades later, Arsene Wenger played the role of the north London revolutionary, steering the Gunners to an unprecedented seven FA Cups.
Manchester City are some way off the pace with seven domestic crowns in the club’s entire history despite their recent dominance in English football. Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have all won the historic title eight times and sit joint-third for most triumphs.
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Record champions Arsenal have appeared in the FA Cup final a whopping 21 times, but Manchester United can better that tally with 22 outings in what is traditionally the biggest game on the English domestic calendar. The Red Devils only made it to one FA Cup showpiece before the Second World War – winning the tournament in 1909 against Bristol City – but have been provided a reliable presence in the subsequent years, particularly during Sir Alex Ferguson’s historically successful spell.
Next in line is Chelsea, who have appeared at the sharp end of the tournament on 16 occasions. The Blues have been a fixture of most FA Cup finals at the new Wembley Stadium since the venue was unveiled in 2007 but with mixed success. Chelsea reached three consecutive showpieces between 2020 and 2022 and proceeded to lose each game.
Liverpool have elbowed their way into 15 FA Cup finals, most of which came during the club’s golden era under the stewardship of Bob Paisley and later Kenny Dalglish. The club visited Wembley so frequently that fans impishly dubbed the London stadium ‘Anfield South’.
