That first Wembley final was between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham. Two hundred thousand supporters turned up, vastly exceeding Wembley’s capacity of 125,000. They had to be be penned back to the sides of the pitch by mounted police, including one officer on a white horse named Billy (the horse, not the officer). Since then the 1923 final has been known as the “white horse” final. Bolton won 2-0, David Jack and J R Smith the scorers.

The final was played at Wembley every year, except for the war years, until 2000.


Apart from the game itself, Cup Final day has become famous for all the colourful pageantry attached to it. Ever-more elaborate face-painting, crazy mascots and inflatable objects are indispensable these days, and no Cup Final would be complete without the singing of Abide With Me, a tradition since 1927.

The match is now beamed to over 160 countries, and is thought to have a global audience of 400 million.

As former England manager Sir Bobby Robson says, with just a hint of gloating, “The FA Cup Final is the greatest single match outside the World Cup Final - and it’s ours!”


Some vital statistics:

* Manchester United have been FA Cup winners most often, with 11 titles, followed by Arsenal, with ten victories.

* The biggest margin of victory in any final was 6-0, when Bury hammered Derby County in 1903.

* Youngest-ever finalist so far is Curtis Weston of Millwall, who came on in the 2004 final against Manchester United at the tender age of 17 years and 119 days. Despite his efforts, United won 3-0.

* The fastest scorer of all time was Bob Chatt of Aston Villa , whose goal after 30 seconds lit up the 1895 final against West Bromwich Albion. It was the only goal of the match.

* Cardiff City are the only non-English winners. In the 1927 final, they beat Arsenal 1-0.

* The first final ever to be decided by a penalty shootout was in 2005, when Arsenal beat Manchester United after a match that had otherwise favoured the runners-up, but was still goalless after extra time.