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. It was also the club's first major trophy in 26 years.
It was the first major honour in the career of most Chelsea's players, 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). It was Middlesbrough's second defeat in a cup final in the 1996–97 season (they had also lost the League Cup final to Leicester City the previous month), and they were also relegated 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 43 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 controversially 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
GK 30 Frode GrodåsCB 6 Steve ClarkeCB 5 Frank Leboeuf CB 20 Frank SinclairRWB2 Dan PetrescuLWB17 Scott MintoCM 11 Dennis Wise (c)CM 16 Roberto Di Matteo CM 24 Eddie Newton CF 10 Mark HughesCF 25 Gianfranco Zola Substitutes:GK 13 Kevin Hitchcock DF 8 Andy MyersFW 9 Gianluca Vialli Manager: Ruud Gullit GK 25 Ben RobertsRB 18 Gianluca Festa CB 5 Nigel Pearson (c)CB 14 Curtis FlemingLB 17 Clayton BlackmoreDM 6 EmersonCM 8 Robbie Mustoe CM 20 Phil StampRF 21 Craig Hignett CF 11 Fabrizio Ravanelli LF 10 Juninho PaulistaSubstitutes:DF 4 Steve Vickers DF 7 Vladimír Kinder FW 9 Mikkel Beck Manager: 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.
See also Blue Day (Chelsea song, with Suggs) Let's Dance (Middlesbrough song, with Bob Mortimer)
References
External links Game facts at soccerbase.com