2000–01 FA Cup explained

FA Cup
Year:2000–01
Country:England
Wales
Champions:Liverpool
Count:6
Runner-Up:Arsenal
Top Goal Scorer:Sylvain Wiltord
Robert Earnshaw
(6 goals)
Prevseason:1999–2000
Nextseason:2001–02

The 2000–01 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by AXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 120th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Liverpool, who came from 1–0 behind against Arsenal to eventually win 2–1 in the final. The final was played outside England for the first time, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, because Wembley Stadium was being knocked down to be replaced with a new stadium.

First round proper

This round is the first in which teams from the Second Division and Third Division compete with non-League teams.

Tie noHome teamScoreAway team
1Blackpool3 - 1Telford United
2Chester City1 - 1Plymouth Argyle
replayPlymouth Argyle1 - 2Chester City
3Chesterfield0 - 1Bristol City
4Darlington6 - 1AFC Sudbury
5AFC Bournemouth2 - 0Swansea City
6Barnet2 - 1Hampton & Richmond Borough
7Barrow0 - 2Leyton Orient
8Bury1 - 1Northwich Victoria
replayNorthwich Victoria1 - 0Bury
9Canvey Island4 - 4Port Vale
replayPort Vale1 - 2Canvey Island
10Yeovil Town5 - 1Colchester United
11Reading4 - 0Grays Athletic
12Walsall4 - 0Exeter City
13Macclesfield Town0 - 1Oxford United
14Lincoln City4 - 0Bracknell Town
15Luton Town1 - 0Rushden & Diamonds
16Swindon Town4 - 1Ilkeston Town
17Wrexham0 - 1Rotherham United
18Hednesford Town2 - 4Oldham Athletic
19Wycombe Wanderers3 - 0Harrow Borough
20Kidderminster Harriers0 - 0Burton Albion
replayBurton Albion2 - 4Kidderminster Harriers
21Brentford1 - 3Kingstonian
22Northampton Town4 - 0Frickley Athletic
23Leigh RMI0 - 3Millwall
24Carlisle United5 - 1Woking
25Scunthorpe United3 - 1Hartlepool United
26Mansfield Town1 - 1Peterborough United
replayPeterborough United4 - 0Mansfield Town
27Cardiff City5 - 1Bristol Rovers
28Halifax Town0 - 2Gateshead
29Cheltenham Town4 - 1Shrewsbury Town
30Torquay United1 - 1Southend United
replaySouthend United2 - 1Torquay United
31Kettering Town0 - 0Hull City
replayHull City0 - 1Kettering Town
32Stoke City0 - 0Nuneaton Borough
replayNuneaton Borough1 - 0Stoke City
33Wigan Athletic3 - 1Dorchester Town
34Gravesend & Northfleet1 - 2Notts County
35Cambridge United2 - 1Rochdale
36Radcliffe Borough1 - 4York City
37Forest Green Rovers0 - 3Morecambe
38Dagenham & Redbridge3 - 1Hayes
39Aldershot Town2 - 6Brighton & Hove Albion
40Havant & Waterooville1 - 2Southport

Second round proper

Tie noHome teamScoreAway team
1Blackpool0 - 1Yeovil Town
2Chester City3 - 2Oxford United
3Darlington0 - 0Luton Town
replayLuton Town2 - 0Darlington
4AFC Bournemouth3 - 0Nuneaton Borough
5Bristol City3 - 1Kettering Town
6Walsall2 - 1Barnet
7Northwich Victoria3 - 3Leyton Orient
replayLeyton Orient3 - 2Northwich Victoria
8Lincoln City0 - 1Dagenham & Redbridge
9Swindon Town5 - 0Gateshead
10Kidderminster Harriers0 - 2Carlisle United
11Millwall0 - 0Wycombe Wanderers
replayWycombe Wanderers2 - 1Millwall
12Southend United2 - 1Canvey Island
13Scunthorpe United2 - 1Brighton & Hove Albion
14Cardiff City3 - 1Cheltenham Town
15Southport1 - 2Kingstonian
16Morecambe2 - 1Cambridge United
17York City2 - 2Reading
replayReading1 - 3York City
18Rotherham United1 - 0Northampton Town
19Wigan Athletic1 - 1Notts County
replayNotts County2 - 1Wigan Athletic
20Peterborough United1 - 1Oldham Athletic
replayOldham Athletic0 - 1Peterborough United

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.

Fourth round proper

Matches played the weekend of 27 January, with replays during the week of 6 February.

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.

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.--------------------

Semi-finals

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

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Final

See 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:

The matches shown live on Sky Sports were:

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

External links