1997 FA Cup final

1997 FA Cup final
	Match programme
Event	1996–97 FA Cup
Date	17 May 1997
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match	Roberto Di Matteo
Referee	Stephen Lodge (South Yorkshire)
Attendance	79,160
	← 1996 1998 →

Last updated February 18, 2025

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.

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).^[1] For Middlesbrough, it was a second final defeat of the 1996–97 season (having lost the League Cup Final to Leicester City the previous month), to go with their controversial relegation 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Match details

17 May 1997

15:00 BST

Chelsea	2–0	Middlesbrough
Di Matteo 1' Newton 83'	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 79,160

Referee: Stephen Lodge (South Yorkshire)

Chelsea

Middlesbrough



GK	30	Frode Grodås
RWB	2	Dan Petrescu
CB	6	Steve Clarke
CB	5	Frank Leboeuf
CB	20	Frank Sinclair
LWB	17	Scott Minto
CM	11	Dennis Wise (c)
CM	16	Roberto Di Matteo
CM	24	Eddie Newton
CF	10	Mark Hughes
CF	25	Gianfranco Zola	89'
Substitutes:
GK	13	Kevin Hitchcock
DF	8	Andy Myers
FW	9	Gianluca Vialli	89'
Manager:
Ruud Gullit



GK	25	Ben Roberts
RB	14	Curtis Fleming
CB	5	Nigel Pearson (c)
CB	18	Gianluca Festa
LB	17	Clayton Blackmore
RM	10	Juninho Paulista
CM	8	Robbie Mustoe	29'
CM	6	Emerson
LM	20	Phil Stamp
CF	11	Fabrizio Ravanelli	24'
CF	21	Craig Hignett	74'
Substitutes:
DF	4	Steve Vickers	29'
DF	7	Vladimír Kinder	74'
FW	9	Mikkel Beck	24'
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.

References

↑ "Where are they now? Chelsea's 1997 FA Cup winners". FourFourTwo. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
↑ "ROBERTO'S QUICKIE MAKES ROBBO SICKIE!; Blue heaven in 43 seconds". The People (London). 18 May 1997. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
↑ "Blue what a scorcher!". Sunday Mirror. 18 May 1997. Retrieved 21 November 2012.

External links

Game facts at soccerbase.com

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[1] "Where are they now? Chelsea's 1997 FA Cup winners". FourFourTwo. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

[2] "ROBERTO'S QUICKIE MAKES ROBBO SICKIE!; Blue heaven in 43 seconds". The People (London). 18 May 1997. Retrieved 21 November 2012.

[3] "Blue what a scorcher!". Sunday Mirror. 18 May 1997. Retrieved 21 November 2012.

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v t e FA Cup
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History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

v t e Middlesbrough F.C. matches
FA Cup Final	1997
League Cup Finals	1997 1998 2004
UEFA Cup Final	2006
Full Members' Cup Final	1990
Football League play-off Finals	1988 Second Division 2015 Championship
Other matches	Charlton Athletic 6–6 Middlesbrough (1960)