FA Cup Final 2003 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 2003 FA Cup Final saw the holders Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, beat Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

. The match took place on Saturday, 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...

in Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

and ended 1–0 with a 38th minute goal by Robert Pirès

Robert Pirès

Robert Emmanuel Pirès is a former French international footballer. He is perhaps best known for his time with Arsenal, with whom he won three FA Cups and two FA Premier League titles including the club's famous unbeaten season of 2003–04...

separating the sides.

It was the third consecutive year the final was played at the Millennium Stadium, due to the ongoing reconstruction of Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

, the final's usual venue. There were 73,726 spectators at the game and due to poor weather conditions, the game was effectively played indoors.

Arsenal had won the FA Cup on eight previous occasions (1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, and 2002). Three of these wins had yielded a League / FA Cup "double

The Double

The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...

" (1971, 1998, and 2002), and one win yielded an FA Cup/League Cup "cup double" (1993). Southampton had won the FA Cup on one previous occasion (1976), and reached the final in 1900 and 1902. The 2002–03

FA Premier League 2002-03

The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...

season saw Arsenal finish second and Southampton eighth in the Premier League.

The two Premiership matches played between the clubs that season resulted in a home win each time. Southampton had beaten Arsenal 3–2 at St. Mary's Stadium on 23 November, with James Beattie

James Beattie (footballer)

James Scott Beattie is an English footballer who currently plays for Sheffield United as a striker.Born in Lancaster, Lancashire he came through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers eventually signing professionally for them in 1995...

(2) and Agustin Delgado

Agustín Delgado

Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá is a retired Ecuadorian footballer. Nicknamed Tín, Delgado is the all-time top scorer for the Ecuadorian national team with 31 goals in 71 games. He played professional club football in Ecuador, Mexico and England.-Southampton:Delgado moved to Southampton in 2001...

scoring for the home side. On 7 May, Arsenal won 6–1, with Jermaine Pennant

Jermaine Pennant

Jermaine Lloyd Pennant is a footballer who plays for Stoke City in the Premier League.Born in Nottingham, Pennant played for his local side Notts County as a youngster. He earned promising reviews in the youth team at County and Arsenal signed him in 1999...

and Robert Pirès

Robert Pirès

both scoring hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

s, although both teams fielded weakened sides for this match.

Goalkeeper David Seaman

David Seaman

David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury...

captained Arsenal in the absence of the injured Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira is a retired French footballer of Senegalese descent who is the Football Development Executive at Manchester City....

. It was to be his last appearance for the club. In defence for Southampton, Chris Baird

Chris Baird

Christopher Patrick "Chris" Baird is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Fulham and the Northern Ireland national football team.-Southampton:...

made only his second competitive start, having made his debut in March. Chris Marsden

Chris Marsden

Christopher "Chris" Marsden is an English former footballer who played in the Football League and Premier League for Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town, Coventry City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Notts County, Stockport County, Birmingham City, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday, and in the Korean...

captained Southampton in the absence of the injured club captain, Jason Dodd

Jason Dodd

Jason Robert Dodd is an English former footballer and manager, who spent most of his playing career with Southampton, where he was briefly First-Team Coach...

. It was the first FA Cup Final in which a goalkeeper came on as a substitute - Paul Jones replacing the injured Antti Niemi.

Graham Barber

Graham Barber

Graham P. Barber is an English former football referee. He was based in Tring in Hertfordshire during his career, but now lives in Spain.-Career:...

from Tring

Tring

Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

was the referee, with Nigel Miller and Keith Stroud

Keith Stroud (referee)

Keith Paul Stroud is an English football referee, who officiates in the Coca-Cola Football League. He is based in Gillingham, Dorset.-Career:...

as his assistants, and Mike Dean

Mike Dean (referee)

-Coin-throwing incident:On 5 April 2009 in the South Wales derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City, Dean suffered a cut to the forehead resulting from what appeared to be a coin thrown by a Cardiff supporter. He later awarded Cardiff a debatable penalty, which was converted to earn a draw for...

as the fourth official.

Arsenal had finished second in the Premier League that season, but had led the table by eight points as recently as 2 March and a loss of form during the final weeks of the season had ended their hopes of a unique fourth double as well as the chance of becoming the first club to win the double in successive seasons.

Match details


style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">	ARSENAL:
GK	1	David Seaman David Seaman David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury... (c)
RB	12	Lauren Lauren Etame Mayer Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer , commonly known as Lauren, is a retired Cameroonian footballer of Equatoguinean origin, who formerly played for the Cameroonian national team.-Early career:...
CB	5	Martin Keown Martin Keown Martin Raymond Keown is a former English footballer. Widely regarded as one of the best man-markers of his generation, Keown played for six different football clubs during his career but it was with Arsenal that he will be best remembered. Keown made over three hundred appearances for Arsenal...
CB	22	Oleg Luzhny
LB	3	Ashley Cole Ashley Cole Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
RM	7	Robert Pirès Robert Pirès Robert Emmanuel Pirès is a former French international footballer. He is perhaps best known for his time with Arsenal, with whom he won three FA Cups and two FA Premier League titles including the club's famous unbeaten season of 2003–04...
CM	15	Ray Parlour Ray Parlour Raymond "Ray" Parlour , is a retired English footballer. He spent his career playing for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Hull City. During his Arsenal career he was nicknamed "The Romford Pelé"; although the nickname was given with an ironic sense of humour, on account of his solid performance but...
CM	19	Gilberto Silva Gilberto Silva Gilberto Aparecido da Silva, commonly known as Gilberto Silva, is a Brazilian footballer. He currently plays for Grêmio.Gilberto was raised in a poor family and as a child he balanced playing football with various labour jobs. He began his football career in 1997 with América Mineiro, where good...
LM	8	Fredrik Ljungberg Fredrik Ljungberg Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg is a Swedish footballer who currently plays as a right winger for Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan. Ljungberg was captain of the Swedish national team until he announced his international retirement after UEFA Euro 2008.Ljungberg was a model for Calvin Klein underwear...
SS	10	Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Bergkamp , is a former Dutch professional footballer who is currently the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. At club level he played for Ajax, Internazionale, and Arsenal, and also represented the Netherlands at international level...
CF	14	Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...
Substitutes:
GK	13	Stuart Taylor
DF	28	Kolo Touré Kolo Touré Kolo Habib Touré is an Ivorian footballer who plays for Manchester City and Ivory Coast. Touré is a central defender. He is the elder brother of Manchester City team-mate Yaya Touré and Makasa's Ibrahim Touré.-Arsenal:...
MF	16	Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst OON , known as Gio in Spain, is a retired Dutch footballer of Moluccan descent who served as the captain of the Dutch national team from August 2008 until his retirement....
FW	11	Sylvain Wiltord Sylvain Wiltord Sylvain Claude Wiltord is a French footballer who currently plays for FC Nantes. With the French national team, Wiltord has won Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup....
FW	25	Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu, OON , or simply Kanu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Portsmouth. He was also a member of the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010...
Manager:
Arsène Wenger Arsène Wenger Arsène Wenger, OBE is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996...

style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> SOUTHAMPTON: | GK 14

Antti Niemi RB 32

Chris Baird

Christopher Patrick "Chris" Baird is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Fulham and the Northern Ireland national football team.-Southampton:...

CB 5

Claus Lundekvam

Claus Lundekvam is a former Norwegian footballer, who spent most of his career at English side Southampton. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final against Arsenal .-Playing career:...

CB 11

Michael Svensson

Michael Lennart Svensson is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Halmstads BK in Superettan. He is best known at club level for his playing career with Southampton...

LB 3

Wayne Bridge

Wayne Michael Bridge is an English footballer who plays as a left back for Manchester City.A graduate of the Southampton Academy where he made his debut in 1998, he has also played for Chelsea and Fulham during his Premiership career....

RM 33

Paul Telfer

Paul Telfer (footballer)

Paul Norman Telfer is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a full-back for various clubs, including Luton Town, Coventry City, Southampton and Celtic. He also made one appearance for the Scotland national football team...

CM 8

Matthew Oakley

Matthew "Matt" Oakley is an English midfielder playing for League One side Exeter City on loan from Npower Championship side Leicester City where he was captain from 2008 to 2011. He had previously played for Southampton and Derby County....

CM 12

Anders Svensson LM 4

Chris Marsden

Brett Ormerod

Brett Ryan Ormerod is an English professional football player who plays as a forward for Blackpool. He is the only player to have scored in all four divisions for the club.-Early career: Accrington Stanley and Blackpool:...

CF 9

James Beattie

James Beattie (footballer)

Substitutes: GK 1

Paul Jones

Paul Jones (footballer)

Paul Steven Jones is a retired Welsh international football goalkeeper. During his playing career, he played for several clubs, including Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stockport County and Southampton.-Career history:...

DF 6

Paul Williams

Paul Williams (footballer born 1971)

Paul Darren Williams is an English professional footballer who was an unused substitute for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final, and played for long periods for Coventry City and Derby County...

DF 19

Danny Higginbotham

Daniel John "Danny" Higginbotham is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Stoke City.Higginbotham started his career at his local side Manchester United he made seven appearances at Old Trafford as well as a loan spell with Belgium side Royal Antwerp before joining...

MF 29

Fabrice Fernandes

Fabrice Fernandes is a French former footballer who played for several clubs, most particularly Southampton.-Playing career:He first joined an English team in 2000, after signing a season-long loan deal at Fulham...

FW 21

Jo Tessem

Jo Tessem , is a Norwegian footballer who is currently unattached.Tessem is known for his versatility as a player, being able to play anywhere on the pitch. In recent years he has played mostly as an attacking midfielder or as a forward.-Norway:Tessem hails from Brekstad in Sør-Trøndelag, and his...

Manager:

Gordon Strachan

Gordon David Strachan OBE is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough,...

MATCH OFFICIALS

Assistant referees:
- Nigel Miller
- Kevin Stroud
Fourth official: Mike Dean
Mike Dean (referee)
-Coin-throwing incident:On 5 April 2009 in the South Wales derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City, Dean suffered a cut to the forehead resulting from what appeared to be a coin thrown by a Cardiff supporter. He later awarded Cardiff a debatable penalty, which was converted to earn a draw for...

MAN OF THE MATCH Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...

(Arsenal)

MATCH RULES

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Penalty shootout if scores still level.
Five named substitutes.
Maximum of three substitutions.

Arsenal

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Arsenal 2–0 Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

(Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Nicolaas Bergkamp , is a former Dutch professional footballer who is currently the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. At club level he played for Ajax, Internazionale, and Arsenal, and also represented the Netherlands at international level...

, Scott McNiven

Scott McNiven

Scott Andrew McNiven is an English-born Scottish footballer who is currently a free agent after being released by Hyde.He started his career at Oldham Athletic in 1995 before moving on to Oxford United in 2002...

(o.g.

Own goal

An own net occurs in goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team. It is usually accidental, and may be a result of an attempt at defensive play that failed or was spoiled by opponents....

))

Round 4: Farnborough Town

Farnborough Town F.C.

Farnborough Football Club is an English football team currently in the Conference South after finishing top of Southern League Premier Division in 2009–10. Their home ground is known as the Rushmoor Stadium, formerly Cherrywood Road, based in Farnborough, Hampshire...

1–5 Arsenal (Sol Campbell

Sol Campbell

Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell is an English footballer who is currently a free agent. A central defender, Campbell has played for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United, as well as the English national team.Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell's...

, Francis Jeffers

Francis Jeffers

Francis Jeffers is an English football striker who currently plays for Newcastle United Jets in the A-League. In his career Jeffers has played for Barclays Premier League teams Everton and Arsenal...

(2), Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp

, Lauren

Lauren Etame Mayer

Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer , commonly known as Lauren, is a retired Cameroonian footballer of Equatoguinean origin, who formerly played for the Cameroonian national team.-Early career:...

)

Round 5: Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

0–2 Arsenal (Edu, Sylvain Wiltord

Sylvain Wiltord

Sylvain Claude Wiltord is a French footballer who currently plays for FC Nantes. With the French national team, Wiltord has won Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup....

)

Round 6: Arsenal 2–2 Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

(Francis Jeffers

Francis Jeffers

Francis Jeffers is an English football striker who currently plays for Newcastle United Jets in the A-League. In his career Jeffers has played for Barclays Premier League teams Everton and Arsenal...

, Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry

)

Replay: Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

1–3 Arsenal (John Terry

John Terry

John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...

(o.g.

Own goal

), Sylvain Wiltord

Sylvain Wiltord

Sylvain Claude Wiltord is a French footballer who currently plays for FC Nantes. With the French national team, Wiltord has won Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup....

, Lauren

Lauren Etame Mayer

Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer , commonly known as Lauren, is a retired Cameroonian footballer of Equatoguinean origin, who formerly played for the Cameroonian national team.-Early career:...

)

Semi-final: Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

1–0 Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

(Fredrik Ljungberg

Fredrik Ljungberg

Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg is a Swedish footballer who currently plays as a right winger for Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan. Ljungberg was captain of the Swedish national team until he announced his international retirement after UEFA Euro 2008.Ljungberg was a model for Calvin Klein underwear...

)

(at Old Trafford

Old Trafford

Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...

)

|width=50% valign=top|

Southampton

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Southampton 4–0 Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

(Michael Svensson

Michael Svensson

Michael Lennart Svensson is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Halmstads BK in Superettan. He is best known at club level for his playing career with Southampton...

, Jo Tessem

Jo Tessem

, Anders Svensson, James Beattie

James Beattie (footballer)

)

Round 4: Southampton 1–1 Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

(Kevin Davies

Kevin Davies

Kevin Cyril Davies is an English footballer who currently plays for Bolton Wanderers and the England national football team as a striker. He was made Bolton team captain in January 2009....

)

Replay: Millwall

Millwall F.C.

1–2 Southampton (Matthew Oakley

Matthew Oakley

(2))

Round 5: Southampton 2–0 Norwich City

Norwich City F.C.

Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

(Anders Svensson, Jo Tessem

Jo Tessem

)

Round 6: Southampton 2–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

(Chris Marsden

Chris Marsden

, Paul Butler (o.g.

Own goal

))

Semi-final: Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

1–2 Southampton (Brett Ormerod

Brett Ormerod

, Paul Robinson (o.g.

Own goal

))

(at Villa Park)

Both clubs received a bye to round three.

External links

Game facts at soccerbase.com
Match Report at thefa.com
Saints fans view at SaintsForever.com

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.