1994 FA Cup final

1994 FA Cup Final
	The match programme cover
Event	1993–94 FA Cup
Date	14 May 1994
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	David Elleray (London)
Attendance	79,634
Weather	Rain
	← 1993 1995 →

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 (who scored twice), Mark Hughes and Brian McClair gave Manchester United their 8th FA Cup title.

It was the 49th FA Cup Final to be held since the Second World War. Manchester United went into the Final as Premier League champions, having won the title by eight points over Blackburn Rovers. They were bidding to become only the fourth team of the 20th century to complete "the Double" and the first in their own history. Chelsea, on the other hand, were playing in their first FA Cup Final since 1970 and first major final since the 1972 Football League Cup Final; they also finished 14th in the Premier League.

Route to the final

Results of all 1993–94 FA Cup matches:^[1]

Chelsea

Round	Opposition	Score
3rd	Barnet (A)	0–0
3rd (r)	Barnet (H)	4–0
4th	Sheffield Wednesday (H)	1–1
4th (r)	Sheffield Wednesday (A)	3–1
5th	Oxford United (A)	2–1
QF	Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)	1–0
SF	Luton Town (N)	2–0
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue; r = Replay.

Chelsea entered the competition in the third round as a Premier League side.^[2] Chelsea's cup run started with an away tie against Barnet which was played at Stamford Bridge instead of Underhill. The Second Division side held Chelsea to a 0–0 draw. The replay saw Chelsea prevail 4–0 thanks to goals by Craig Burley, Gavin Peacock, Neil Shipperley and Mark Stein. In the fourth round, Chelsea were drawn at home to Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday. A 1–1 draw at home thanks to a goal by Gavin Peacock set up a replay at Hillsborough. The replay was won 3–1 thanks to goals by John Spencer, Craig Burley and Gavin Peacock. In the fifth round, the Blues were drawn away to Oxford United of the First Division. Chelsea won 2–1 at Manor Ground with goals from John Spencer and Craig Burley, sending Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the competition. Oxford's Mike Ford also missed a late penalty as Chelsea hung on to progress to the next round.^[3] In the quarter-finals, Chelsea narrowly won 1–0 against First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[4] The semi-final which was held at the Old Wembley was played against First Division Luton Town. Two goals by Gavin Peacock sealed Chelsea's place in the 1994 FA Cup Final. This would be Chelsea's first appearance in an FA Cup Final in 24 years.^[5]

Manchester United

Round	Opposition	Score
3rd	Sheffield United (A)	1–0
4th	Norwich City (A)	2–0
5th	Wimbledon (A)	3–0
QF	Charlton Athletic (H)	3–1
SF	Oldham Athletic (N)	1–1
SF (r)	Oldham Athletic (N)	4–1
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

Also as a Premier League side, Manchester United entered the FA Cup in the third round of the competition.^[2] United started their run at Bramall Lane against Premier League Sheffield United.^[6] A second half goal by Mark Hughes sealed a 1–0 win. In the fourth round, United won 2–0 at Carrow Road with goals from Roy Keane and Eric Cantona either side of half time.^[6] In the fifth round, Manchester United were drawn at Premier League side Wimbledon.^[6] Three goals from Cantona, Paul Ince and Denis Irwin confirmed the Red Devils' place in the quarter-finals. Manchester United won 3–1 against First Division Charlton Athletic with a goal from Mark Hughes and a brace by Andrei Kanchelskis.^[7] In the semi-final at Wembley, United met relegation-threatened Oldham Athletic (a repeat of the 1990 FA Cup semi-final).^[6]^[7] After a goalless draw, the Latics took the lead in extra time thanks to Neil Pointon. A 119th minute goal by Mark Hughes forced a replay at Maine Road.^[7] In the replay, United won 4–1 thanks to goals by Irwin, Kanchelskis, Robson and Giggs.^[7] This set up a first FA Cup Final for Manchester United since the 1990 match against Crystal Palace.

Match

Summary

First half

The match took place on a rainy May afternoon, and, in the first half, Chelsea were considered the better team.^[8] Gavin Peacock had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes when his half-volley hit the crossbar in the 25th minute.^[8]

Second half

In the second half, Manchester United took control of the match with three goals in the space of nine minutes, with the first two goals coming from the penalty spot. The first penalty came after a poor challenge by Eddie Newton on Denis Irwin with Eric Cantona scoring the subsequent penalty in the bottom right corner, sending Dmitri Kharine the wrong way. The second penalty was considered more controversial after Sinclair had barged Andrei Kanchelskis. Cantona stepped up to take the penalty, opting for the same corner as the first penalty and again sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. Mark Hughes wrapped up the match for the Red Devils with a low finish to the bottom left corner after a slip by Sinclair.^[8] A fourth goal was scored in the second minute of stoppage time when Mark Hughes played a through ball to Paul Ince to leave him one on one with the goalkeeper. After going around Kharine in the Chelsea goal, Ince squared the ball for Brian McClair to tap the ball into an empty net.^[8]

Details

14 May 1994

15:00 BST

Chelsea	0–4	Manchester United
	Report	Cantona 61' (pen.), 67' (pen.) Hughes 69' McClair 90+3'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 79,634

Referee: David Elleray (Middlesex)

Chelsea

Manchester United


GK	1	Dmitri Kharine
RB	12	Steve Clarke
CB	5	Erland Johnsen	2'
CB	35	Jakob Kjeldbjerg
LB	6	Frank Sinclair
DM	18	Eddie Newton
RM	24	Craig Burley		68'
LM	11	Dennis Wise (c)
AM	10	Gavin Peacock
CF	7	John Spencer
CF	21	Mark Stein	66'	79'
Substitutes:
GK	13	Kevin Hitchcock
MF	20	Glenn Hoddle		68'
FW	9	Tony Cascarino		79'
Player-Manager:
Glenn Hoddle


GK	1	Peter Schmeichel
RB	2	Paul Parker
CB	4	Steve Bruce (c)	19'
CB	6	Gary Pallister
LB	3	Denis Irwin		86'
RM	14	Andrei Kanchelskis		86'
CM	8	Paul Ince
CM	16	Roy Keane
LM	11	Ryan Giggs
CF	10	Mark Hughes
CF	7	Eric Cantona
Substitutes:
GK	25	Gary Walsh
MF	5	Lee Sharpe		86'
MF	9	Brian McClair		86'
Manager:
Alex Ferguson

Linesmen:
- Graham Barber (Surrey)
- Paul Rejer (Staffordshire)
Reserve official: Gerald Ashby (Worcestershire)

Match rules

90 minutes
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
Replay on 19 May 1994 if scores still level
Three named substitutes, of which two may be used

Statistics

Post-match

By winning the final, Manchester United became only the fourth team in the 20th century to win both a League title and FA Cup in the same season.^[8] The victory sealed a joint record eighth FA Cup victory for Manchester United, pulling level with Tottenham Hotspur in the all-time rankings.^[8]

Referee David Elleray has since stated that he regrets giving the second penalty to Manchester United, stating "It was my big game and I made a disappointing decision."^[9] Elleray explained post-match that he had a better view of Sinclair's challenge than the linesman.^[8]

Chelsea, despite losing their first FA Cup Final since they won the trophy 24 years earlier, qualified for the 1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as United had also won the Premier League title and would be competing in the UEFA Champions League.^[8] As a result of the League and cup victory for the Red Devils, Manchester United qualified for the 1994 FA Charity Shield. United faced the runners-up of the 1993–94 Premier League season Blackburn Rovers. Goals by Eric Cantona and Paul Ince saw United win the match 2–0.^[10]

References

^ "1993-94 Results Archive". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b "FA Cup: Round-by-round details about this year's tournament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ "The Manor of their downfall". The Guardian. 22 January 1999. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
^ Smyth, Rob (14 January 2009). "The forgotten story of ... the 1993-94 FA Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
^ "Where are they now: Luton FA Cup semi-final". Chelsea FC. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "League Stats - Manchester United". English Football Stats. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ganley, Joe (14 May 2020). "Glory Days: How United's first Double was won". Manchester United. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Lacey, David (16 May 1994). "Small beer, large Double". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ "Sporting Spotlight: David Elleray". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
^ Shaw, Phil (14 August 1994). "Football/Charity Shield: Ince quells the Blackburn resistance: Seven players booked under the new rules as under-strength Rovers succumb to United's class". The Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

External links

Game facts Archived 23 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine at soccerbase.com

[1] "1993-94 Results Archive". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[FA_Cup:_Round-by-round_details_about_this_year's_tournament-2] "FA Cup: Round-by-round details about this year's tournament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[3] "The Manor of their downfall". The Guardian. 22 January 1999. Retrieved 11 November 2022.

[4] Smyth, Rob (14 January 2009). "The forgotten story of ... the 1993-94 FA Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2022.

[5] "Where are they now: Luton FA Cup semi-final". Chelsea FC. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2022.

[English_Football_Stats-6] "League Stats - Manchester United". English Football Stats. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[Joe_Ganley-7] Ganley, Joe (14 May 2020). "Glory Days: How United's first Double was won". Manchester United. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[Small_beer,_large_Double-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Lacey, David (16 May 1994). "Small beer, large Double". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[9] "Sporting Spotlight: David Elleray". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.

[10] Shaw, Phil (14 August 1994). "Football/Charity Shield: Ince quells the Blackburn resistance: Seven players booked under the new rules as under-strength Rovers succumb to United's class". The Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

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v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
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