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Event Information:
The FA Cup Final will be the
131st final of the FA Cup, the
world's oldest domestic football cup
competition, and will be contested
between Chelsea and Liverpool. It
will be the first FA Cup Final to be
sponsored by Budweiser.
The FA
Cup Final, commonly referred to in
England as just the Cup Final, is
the last match in the Football
Association Challenge Cup. With an
official attendance of 89,826 at the
2007 FA Cup Final, it is the second
best attended domestic club
championship event in the world and
the best attended domestic football
event. It is the culmination of a
knockout competition among clubs
belonging to The Football
Association in England, although
Scottish and Irish teams competed in
the early years and Welsh teams
regularly compete, with Cardiff City
winning the Cup in 1927 and reaching
the final in 2008.
Early
FA Cup Finals were held at various
venues including Fallowfield Stadium
but were mainly in London. In the
period from 1923 until 2000, the
final was held at Wembley Stadium,
English football's national stadium.
From 2001–2005, the final was moved
to the Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff, during the rebuilding of
Wembley Stadium. The Millennium
Stadium was used again in 2006 due
to construction delays in opening
the new Wembley Stadium.
Until
1993, if the final could not be
decided in a single match, the match
would be replayed. After only six
replays since 1923, The Football
Association then decided that all
future finals would be decided 'on
the day', putting an end to FA Cup
Final replays. This meant that a
draw at the end of normal time would
be followed by thirty minutes of
extra time (two fifteen minute
halves); if scores were still level
there would be a penalty shootout to
determine the winner of the
competition. Only two FA Cup Finals
have been decided by a penalty
shootout; those of 2005 and 2006.
Note that the Football League War
Cup is not considered part of the
official FA Cup competition. The FA
Cup Final is one of ten events
reserved for live broadcast on UK
terrestrial television under the
Ofcom Code on Sports and Other
Listed & Designated Events.
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