On This Day – 20th May
The last FA Cup Final to be played at the old Wembley Stadium was played on this day back in 2000. It’s hard to believe that this was twenty years ago now! Chelsea and Aston Villa played out the last FA Cup Final under the Twin Towers with the Londoners winning the game 1-0.
In the final season of the old Wembley Stadium, both FA Cup Semi-Finals were held at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea beat Newcastle United and Aston Villa needed a penalty shootout to beat Bolton Wanderers.
In a Final that failed to excite the fans, the only goal of the game came after 73 minutes. Roberto Di Matteo capitalised on a goalkeeping error by Villa’s David James, smashing the ball into the roof of the net after James fumbled a free-kick from Gianfranco Zola wide on the left.
Very little else happened in the Final, which was Villa’s first in 43 years and Chelsea’s third in seven years.
Man of the Match Dennis Wise went up to the Royal Box to lift the Cup holding his young son. It was a lovely moment and the perfect way to end 77 years of FA Cup Finals at the old stadium.
Wembley was demolished later that year and the next six FA Cup Finals were held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff whilst a new Wembley Stadium was built.
The new stadium was ready for the 2007 FA Cup Final, which also involved Chelsea. In that Final, The Blues also won 1-0, but this time their opponents were Manchester United.
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