2000–01 FA Cup

Qualifying rounds

All participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Gateshead, Chester City, Barrow, Northwich Victoria, Radcliffe Borough, Leigh RMI, Morecambe, Southport, Frickley Athletic, Burton Albion, Telford United, Nuneaton Borough, Ilkeston Town, Rushden & Diamonds, Harrow Borough, Canvey Island, Dagenham & Redbridge, AFC Sudbury, Grays Athletic, Hednesford Town, Kettering Town, Forest Green Rovers, Havant & Waterlooville, Bracknell Town, Hayes, Gravesend & Northfleet, Dorchester Town, Yeovil Town, Aldershot Town, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Kingstonian and Woking.

Radcliffe Borough, Bracknell Town and Hampton & Richmond Borough were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Following recent amalgamations, AFC Sudbury and Havant & Waterlooville were also qualifying for the main draw for the first time in their own right, although predecessor clubs Sudbury Town (in 1996-97) and Waterlooville (in 1988-89) had reached the first round in previous seasons. Of the others, Frickley Athletic and Grays Athletic were also featuring at this stage for the first time since 1988-89 while Harrow Borough had last qualififed for the first round in 1983-84.

First round proper

This round is the first in which teams from the Second Division and Third Division compete with non-League teams. Most of the initial matches were played on the weekend of 17-19 November 2000, except for the Gravesend & Northfleet-Notts County fixture which was played at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium on 8 December. As was the case in the fourth qualifying round, Bracknell Town, from the Isthmian League Third Division at Step 9 of English football, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

Upsets

Second round proper

The initial matches were scheduled for the weekend of 8-10 December 2000, although the Wigan Athletic-Notts County match was played on the following Tuesday due to the late completion of Notts County's first round tie. Step 6 sides Gateshead, from the Northern Premier League, and Canvey Island, from the Isthmian League, were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

Upsets

Third round proper

This round marked the first time First Division and Premier League (top-flight) teams played. The draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup was taken on Sunday 10 December 2000. Football Conference (Step 5) sides Morecambe, Chester City, Kingstonian, Dagenham & Redbridge and Yeovil Town were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.

Fletcher Hessenthaler
Shaw Johnrose Ipoua Hamann
Bišćan Page Watson Angell Kanouté Izzet
Cresswell Bent Sibon Ricketts Thomson Phillips
Dichio Eranio Hughes George
Douglas Peacock Hadji Simpson
Rogers Huckerby
Goater Adebola Sheringham Parkinson
Roberts Hasselbaink
Guðjohnsen
Poyet Karlsson Stallard Willmott Patterson Beadle Rivers Armstrong
Wright

Fourth round proper

Matches played the weekend of 27 January, with replays during the week of 6 February. Kingstonian was again the lowest-ranked team in the round and, by this stage, was also the last non-league club left in the competition.

Dodd
Beattie Onuora Grønkjær Eranio Bent
Dunn
Jansen Vassell Gunnlaugsson
Davidson Nolan Euell
Hunt Ehiogu Koumas Parkin Wiltord
Rose
Pires
Bergkamp Svensson Anderton
Leonhardsen
Rebrov Heskey

Fifth round proper

Matches played weekend of 17 February, with replays on 20 February and 7 March.

The biggest surprises of the round saw Tranmere Rovers complete one of the greatest FA Cup comebacks ever when they beat Southampton 4–3 in a replay after they had been trailing 3–0 at half time. (with 36-year-old former Southampton striker Paul Rideout scoring a hat-trick for Tranmere), while Wycombe Wanderers reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history with a penalty shoot-out win over Wimbledon that follow two 2–2 draws.

Dunn Hignett , Hill
Izzet Barlow Tessem
Richards Davies ,
Flynn Brown Agyemang Gray Simpson
McCarthy Wiltord , Heskey
Šmicer
Babbel Goater

Sixth round proper

Matches were played on 10 & 11 March.

The most significant result of the round was Premier League side Leicester City's 2–1 home defeat to Division Two underdogs Wycombe Wanderers, who had only been in the Football League for eight seasons.

Blackburn Rovers and Tranmere Rovers, the last remaining Division One sides in the competition, were eliminated at this stage by Arsenal and Liverpool respectively.

Adams Pires

Essandoh

Allison Owen Gerrard Fowler

Todorov Doherty

Semi-finals

Unlike earlier rounds, matches were played on neutral grounds on Sunday, 8 April 2001.

13:30 Pires

16:00 Fowler

Final

Main article: 2001 FA Cup final

A 72nd-minute goal by Freddie Ljungberg looked to have won the trophy for Arsenal and ended their three-year trophy drought, but two late goals from Michael Owen gave the trophy to a Liverpool side who had already won the League Cup and would then go on to win the UEFA Cup as well. This success made Liverpool only the second side to win the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season - the first being Arsenal in 1993. This was the beginning of a streak in which Arsenal reached the final four times out of five, winning three of those.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free to air broadcasters for the fourth consecutive and final season before the BBC regained it while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the thirteenth consecutive season.

The matches shown live on ITV Sport were:

• Newcastle United 1-1 Aston Villa (R3)
• Manchester United 0-1 West Ham United (R4)
• Liverpool 4-2 Manchester City (R5)
• Tranmere Rovers 2-4 Liverpool (QF)
• Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Liverpool (SF)
• Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool (Final)

The matches shown live on Sky Sports were:

• Luton Town 1-0 Rushden & Diamonds (R1)
• Cardiff City 5-1 Bristol Rovers (R1)
• Nuneaton Borough 1-0 Stoke City (R1 Replay)
• Walsall 2-1 Barnet (R2)
• Blackpool 0-1 Yeovil Town (R2)
• Leyton Orient 3-2 Northwich Victoria (R2 Replay)
• Fulham 1-2 Manchester United (R3)
• Bradford City 0-1 Middlesbrough (R3)
• Leeds United 0-2 Liverpool (R4)
• Gillingham 2-4 Chelsea (R4)
• Kingstonian 0-1 Bristol City (R4 Replay)
• Sunderland 0-1 West Ham United (R5)
• Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea (R5)
• Tranmere Rovers 4-3 Southampton (R5 Replay)
• West Ham United 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur (QF)
• Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (SF)
• Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool (Final)

The third round replay between Dagenham & Redbridge vs. Charlton Athletic was originally scheduled to be on Sky Sports on 17 January 2001, but because of a frozen pitch, the game was postponed.

References