Football Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Football Wiki
1997 FA Cup Final
Old Wembley Stadium (external view)
Event1996–97 FA Cup
Date17 May 1997
VenueWembley Stadium, London
1996
1998

The 1997 FA Cup Final was the 116th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Middlesbrough, the North East club appearing in its first FA Cup Final.

Chelsea won 2–0 to win the FA Cup for the second time, the first having come in 1970. Their Dutch manager, Ruud Gullit, thus became the first foreign or non-white manager to win a major trophy with an English club.

For most of the Chelsea players, it was the first major honour of their career, but for Mark Hughes, it was the fourth time that he had featured in an FA Cup winning side (having played on the winning Manchester United teams of 1985, 1990 and 1994), and his eighth major honour in all. For Middlesbrough, it was a second final defeat of the 1996-97 season (having lost the League Cup Final to Leicester City the previous month), to go with their controversial relegation from the Premier League.

Road to Wembley[]

Chelsea[]

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Chelsea 3–0 W.B.A.

Round 4: Chelsea 4–2 Liverpool

Round 5: Leicester City 2–2 Chelsea

Replay: Chelsea 1–0 Leicester City

Quarter-Final: Portsmouth 1–4 Chelsea

Semi-Final: Wimbledon 0–3 Chelsea

(at Highbury, London)

Middlesbrough[]

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Middlesbrough 6–0 Chester City

Round 4: Hednesford Town 2–3 Middlesbrough

Round 5: Manchester City 0–1 Middlesbrough

 

Quarter-Final: Derby County 0–2 Middlesbrough

Semi-Final: Chesterfield 3–3 Middlesbrough

(at Old Trafford, Manchester)
Replay: Middlesbrough 3–0 Chesterfield
(at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield)

Match review[]

Chelsea took the lead just 42 seconds into the match, with Italian midfielder Roberto Di Matteo receiving the ball and firing it into the goal off the crossbar from 25 yards to record what was at the time the quickest ever goal in a Wembley FA Cup final (Louis Saha broke this record 12 years later in the 2009 final after just 25 seconds, coincidentally against Chelsea, though Chelsea won the match 2–1), breaking Jackie Milburn's 42-year record. Middlesbrough's prolific striker Fabrizio Ravanelli limped off after 21 minutes, further diminishing his side's chances of victory. Late in the first half Gianluca Festa put the ball in the net for Middlesbrough, but the goal was ruled out for offside. In a largely disappointing match, in which Chelsea were generally in control, Chelsea eventually added a second goal seven minutes from full-time with Eddie Newton steering the ball into the net from Gianfranco Zola's clever flick to seal a 2–0 win.

Match details[]

17 May 1997
15:00 BST
Chelsea 2–0 Middlesbrough Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 79,160
Referee: Stephen Lodge (South Yorkshire)
Di Matteo Goal 1'
Newton Goal 83'
Report
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body chelsea9697h
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts chelsea9697h
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long
Chelsea
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body middlesbrough9697h
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long
Middlesbrough
GK 30 Flag of Norway Frode Grodås
RWB 2 Flag of Romania Dan Petrescu
CB 6 Flag of Scotland Steve Clarke
CB 5 Flag of France Frank Leboeuf Booked
CB 20 Flag of Jamaica Frank Sinclair
LWB 17 Flag of England Scott Minto
CM 11 Flag of England Dennis Wise
CM 16 Flag of Italy Roberto Di Matteo Booked
CM 24 Flag of England Eddie Newton Booked
CF 10 Flag of Wales Mark Hughes
CF 25 Flag of Italy Gianfranco Zola Substituted off in the 89th minute 89'
Substitutes:
GK 13 Flag of England Kevin Hitchcock
DF 8 Flag of England Andy Myers
FW 9 Flag of Italy Gianluca Vialli Substituted on in the 89th minute 89'
Manager:
Flag of Netherlands Ruud Gullit
Chelsea vs Middlesbrough 1997-05-17.svg
GK 25 Flag of England Ben Roberts
RB 14 Flag of Republic of Ireland Curtis Fleming
CB 5 Flag of England Nigel Pearson
CB 18 Flag of Italy Gianluca Festa Booked
LB 17 Flag of Wales Clayton Blackmore
RM 10 Flag of Brazil Juninho
CM 8 Flag of England Robbie Mustoe Substituted off in the 29th minute 29'
CM 6 Flag of Brazil Emerson
LM 20 Flag of England Phil Stamp
CF 11 Flag of Italy Fabrizio Ravanelli Substituted off in the 24th minute 24'
CF 21 Flag of England Craig Hignett Substituted off in the 74th minute 74'
Substitutes:
DF 4 Flag of England Steve Vickers Substituted on in the 29th minute 29'
DF 7 Flag of Slovakia Vladimír Kinder Substituted on in the 74th minute 74'
FW 9 Flag of Denmark Mikkel Beck Substituted on in the 24th minute 24'
Manager:
Flag of England Bryan Robson

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Replay required if scores still level.
  • Three named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

External links[]

FA Cup
FA Cup seasons

1871–72 · 1872–73 · 1873–74 · 1874–75 · 1875–76 · 1876–77 · 1877–78 · 1878–79 · 1879–80 · 1880–81 · 1881–82 · 1882–83 · 1883–84 · 1884–85 · 1885–86 · 1886–87 · 1887–88 · 1978–79 · 1979–80 · 1980–81 · 1981–82 · 1982–83 · 1983–84 · 1984–85 · 1985–86 · 1986–87 · 1987–88 · 1988–89 · 1989–90 · 1990–91 · 1991–92 · 1992–93 · 1993–94 · 1994–95 · 1995–96 · 1996–97 · 1997–98 · 1998–99 · 1999–00 · 2000–01 · 2001–02 · 2002–03 · 2003–04 · 2004–05 · 2005–06 · 2007–08 · 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–12 · 2012–13 · 2013–14 · 2014–15 · 2015–16 · 2016–17 · 2017–18 · 2018–19 · 2019–20 · 2020–21 · 2021–22 · 2022–23 · 2023–24 ·

FA Cup finals

1872 · 1873 · 1874 · 1875 · 1876 · 1877 · 1878 · 1879 · 1880 · 1881 · 1882 · 1883 · 1884 · 1885 · 1886 · 1887 · 1888 · 1889 · 1890 · 1891 · 1892 · 1893 · 1894 · 1895 · 1896 · 1897 · 1898 · 1899 · 1900 · 1901 · 1902 · 1903 · 1904 · 1905 · 1906 · 1907 · 1908 · 1909 · 1910 · 1911 · 1912 · 1913 · 1914 · 1915 · 1920 · 1921 · 1922 · 1923 · 1924 · 1925 · 1926 · 1927 · 1928 · 1929 · 1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 ·

Template:1996–97 in English football

Advertisement