FA Cup 2004-05

The FA Cup 2004–05 was the 124th season of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup.

The competition began on 28 August 2004, with the lowest-ranked of the entrants competing in the Extra Preliminary Round. For England's top 44 clubs, from the Premier League and Football League Championship, the FA Cup began at the Third Round in January.

Ties were all single-legged and took place at the stadium of the club drawn first. If scores were level at the end of a match, the match was replayed at the away club's stadium, usually in the middle of the following week. If the scores are still level, extra-time and penalties (if necessary) are used to determine a winner. From the semi-finals onwards, the ties take place at a neutral stadium, and there are no replays. That is to say, extra-time and penalties are played if necessary to determine a winner in a single match.

The new Wembley Stadium was still at least a year away from being ready for use, so the final was staged at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 21 May 2005. The FA Cup Final was won by Arsenal on penalties after a goalless draw with Manchester United, the first time that the FA Cup Final had been decided on penalties.

Calendar

Third Round Proper

This round marks the first time Championship and Premier League (top-flight) teams play. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 8 January 2005.

ixth Round Proper

Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 12 March 2005.

emi-finals

*Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 16 April 2005.
*Both ties were played at neutral venues

footballbox
date=2005-04-16
time=12:15
team1=Arsenal
score= 3 – 0
report= [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=180575&league=ENG.FA&cc=5739 Report]
team2=Blackburn Rovers
goals1=Pires goal|42
van Persie goal|84 goal|90
goals2=
stadium=Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
attendance=52,077
referee=Steve Dunn ----footballbox
date=2005-04-17
time=13:00
team1=Newcastle United
score= 1 – 4
report= [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=180576&league=ENG.FA&cc=5739 Report]
team2=Manchester United
goals1=Ameobi goal|59
goals2=van Nistelrooy goal|19 goal|58
Scholes goal|45
Ronaldo goal|76
stadium=Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
attendance=69,280
referee=Mike Riley

Final

The 2005 FA Cup Final was contested between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Manchester United dominated the game but failed to take any of their opportunities, and ultimately they went on to lose in the first FA Cup Final penalty shoot-out. Paul Scholes missed his kick, leaving Patrick Vieira with the opportunity to win the Cup for the Gunners.

footballbox
date=2005-05-21
15:00 BST
team1=Arsenal
score=0 – 0 (a.e.t.)
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/04/FACup_Final_MatchReport.htm (Report)]
team2=Manchester United
goals1=Reyes sent off|0|120
goals2=
stadium=Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
attendance=71,876
referee=Rob Styles (Hampshire)

penshootoutbox
penalties1=Lauren pengoal
Ljungberg pengoal
van Persie pengoal
Cole pengoal
Vieira pengoal
penaltyscore=5 – 4
penalties2=pengoal van Nistelrooy
penmiss Scholes
pengoal Ronaldo
pengoal Rooney
pengoal Keane

External links

* [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/Archive/ The FA Cup Archive] at TheFA.com
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/default.stm FA Cup] at BBC.co.uk
* [http://football.uk.reuters.com/facup/ FA Cup news] at Reuters.co.uk