Robert Styles is an English football Referee from Waterlooville, Hampshire. Throughout his career he officiated in the multiple lower level leagues before making the national list in 1996. He refereed his first FA Premier League game in 2000, and became FIFA listed in 2002. Styles retired from refereeing in 2009.
The 1970 FA Cup final was contested by Chelsea and Leeds United. The match took place on 11 April 1970 at Wembley Stadium and ended 2–2, making it the first FA Cup final to require a replay since 1912. The replay was staged at Old Trafford and played on 29 April; after four hours of fiercely contested football, Chelsea eventually won 2–1. To date, this is the last time both the final and replay were scheduled to be played in April; all subsequent FA Cup final ties have been scheduled to be played in May, with only the 2020 FA Cup final delayed and played later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Philip Dowd is a retired English professional football referee who officiated primarily in the Premier League. He is based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and was a member of the Staffordshire Football Association.
Mike Dean is an English former professional football referee and currently a video assistant referee (VAR) primarily in the Premier League. He is based in Heswall, Wirral, in North West England, and is a member of the Cheshire County Football Association.
Andre Marriner is a retired English professional football referee based in Solihull, West Midlands. He is a member of the Birmingham County Football Association.
The 2006–07 FA Cup was the 126th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. This season's edition was the first to be sponsored by E.ON.
The 1994 FA Cup final was an association football match that took place on 14 May 1994 at Wembley Stadium in London to determine the winner of the 1993–94 FA Cup. It was contested between Chelsea and Manchester United. Four goals in the second half from Eric Cantona, Mark Hughes and Brian McClair gave Manchester United their 8th FA Cup title.
Christopher Foy is an English retired professional football referee. Following his first appointment as an official in the Football League in 1994 and his promotion in 2001 to the list of Select Group Referees who officiate in the Premier League, Foy refereed a number of notable matches, including the FA Community Shield and the finals of the FA Cup, Football League Cup and FA Trophy.
Anthony Taylor is an English professional football referee from Wythenshawe, Manchester. In 2010, he was promoted to the list of Select Group Referees who officiate primarily in the Premier League, and in 2013 became a listed referee for FIFA allowing him to referee European and international matches. In 2015, he officiated the Football League Cup final at Wembley Stadium when Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–0. Taylor returned to Wembley later that year to officiate the Community Shield as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1–0. He refereed the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals, both between Chelsea and Arsenal; Arsenal won on both occasions 2–1. Upon the selection, he became the first man to referee a second FA Cup final since Arthur Kingscott in 1901.
The history of the FA Cup in association football dates back to 1871–72. Aside from suspensions during the First and Second World Wars, the competition has been played every year since.
The 2008 FA Cup final was an association football match between Cardiff City and Portsmouth held at Wembley Stadium, London, on 17 May 2008. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the 2007–08 Football Association Challenge Cup, organised by The Football Association. It was the 127th FA Cup Final and the second to be held at the new Wembley Stadium following its redevelopment. Portsmouth won the match by a single goal, scored by Nwankwo Kanu in the 37th minute.
The 1996–97 FA Cup was the 116th season of the FA Cup. The tournament started in August 1996 for clubs from non-league football and the competition proper started in October 1996 for teams from the Premier League and the Football League.
The 2009 FA Cup final was the 128th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 30 May 2009 and marked the third time that the final has been staged at the stadium since it was rebuilt. The match was contested by Chelsea, who beat Arsenal 2–1 in their semi-final, and Everton who beat Manchester United 4–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw after extra time. After Louis Saha opened the scoring after just 25 seconds, which is the second fastest ever goal in an FA Cup Final, Didier Drogba equalised in the 21st minute before Frank Lampard scored the winner with 19 minutes left to play to give Chelsea their fifth FA Cup success.
The 2009 FA Community Shield was the 87th FA Community Shield, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was contested at Wembley Stadium, London, on 9 August 2009, and contested by 2008–09 Premier League champions Manchester United, and Chelsea as the winners of the 2008–09 FA Cup, a repeat of the 2007 match. The game ended in a 2–2 draw – the goals coming from Nani and Wayne Rooney for Manchester United, and from Ricardo Carvalho and Frank Lampard for Chelsea – with Chelsea winning 4–1 on penalties.
The 2009–10 FA Cup was the 129th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. As in the previous year, 762 clubs were accepted for the competition. One club, Newcastle Blue Star, folded before the fixtures were released. As they were scheduled to enter the competition in the first round qualifying, their opponents in this round received a walkover.
The 2012 FA Cup final was a football match between Chelsea and Liverpool on 5 May 2012. It was the final match of the 2011–12 FA Cup, the 131st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Chelsea were participating in their eleventh final, they had previously won six and lost four. Liverpool were appearing in their fourteenth final, they had won seven times and lost six. Scheduled to provide a clear four-week period between the end of the English season and the start of UEFA Euro 2012, the date of the final clashed with Premier League fixtures. To avoid having the final played at the same time as league games, the match kicked off at the later time of 5:15 p.m., rather than the usual 3:00 p.m., by which time the other fixtures had ended.
The 2017 FA Cup final was an association football match between London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea on 27 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 136th FA Cup final overall of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, organised by the Football Association (FA). This was a rematch of the 2002 FA Cup Final and the first final since 2003 in which the sides had won once in the Premier League against one another, with a 3–0 victory for Arsenal in September 2016, and a 3–1 win for Chelsea the following February. The game was broadcast live in the United Kingdom by both BBC and BT Sport. BBC One provided the free-to-air coverage and BT Sport 2 was the pay-TV alternative.
The 2018 FA Cup final was an association football match between Manchester United and Chelsea on 19 May 2018 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 137th FA Cup final overall and was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, organised by the Football Association (FA). It was the second successive final for Chelsea following their defeat by Arsenal the previous year. The teams had met twice before in the FA Cup Final, winning one each between them. The first was in 1994, which Manchester United won 4–0, and most recently in 2007, when Chelsea – then managed by the incumbent Manchester United boss José Mourinho – won 1–0 after extra time.
The 2019 FA Community Shield was the 97th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup. As Manchester City won both competitions in 2019, their opponents were the 2018–19 Premier League runners-up, Liverpool.
The 2020 FA Cup final, known officially as the Heads Up FA Cup final, was an association football match played behind closed doors between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in London, England on 1 August 2020; it was originally scheduled for 23 May, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the 139th FA Cup Final.
