FA Cup 2007–08

The FA Cup 2007–08 was the 127th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. A record 731 clubs' entries were accepted for the competition.

The competition culminated with the FA Cup Final, held at Wembley Stadium, London on 17 May 2008. The match was contested by Portsmouth and Cardiff City, with Portsmouth taking the title 1–0, Nwankwo Kanu scoring the winning goal.

This was the last FA Cup to be broadcast by the BBC and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, before coverage is handed over to ITV and Setanta starting in August 2008.

For information on the matches played from the Extra Preliminary Round to the Fourth Round Qualifying, see FA Cup 2007-08 Qualifying Rounds.

Calendar

Third Round Proper

This round marks the first time Championship and Premier League (top-flight) teams play. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 5 January 2008. The draw was made on 2 December 2007 at 15:15 GMT by Kevin Beattie and Sammy Nelson, adjudicated by Sir Trevor Brooking.

Involved in the Third Round draw for the first time ever were Havant & Waterlooville and Chasetown. Chasetown are the lowest-ranked team ever to have reached this stage of the FA Cup. The draw itself produced few major ties, with the exception of Chelsea drawing their West London rivals, Queens Park Rangers, and Aston Villa drawing Manchester United as their Third Round opponents for the fourth time in seven seasons, and the second time in successive years.

ixth Round Proper

The draw for the Sixth Round Proper was held on 18 February 2008 at 13:25 GMT at Soho Square. The draw was conducted by Geoff Thomas and Mark Bright, overseen by Sir Trevor Brooking.cite news |title=Sixth Round draw |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/FAC6_drawdetails.htm |publisher=TheFA.com |date=2008-02-15 |accessdate=2008-02-16 ]

For the second round in a row, the only all-Premier League tie of the round involved Manchester United, who were defeated at home by Portsmouth. Barnsley, who had already knocked out Liverpool in the previous round, produced a similar result in the Sixth Round, beating Chelsea 1–0 at Oakwell. West Bromwich Albion defeated Bristol Rovers away at the Memorial Stadium, whilst Cardiff City caused a third shock of the weekend by beating Premier League team Middlesbrough. The Sixth Round matches were played on the weekend of 8 March 2008.

footballbox
date=2008-03-08
time=12:45
team1=Manchester United
score=0 – 1
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/FAC6P_united_pompey_report.htm (Report)]
team2=Portsmouth
goals1=
goals2=Muntari goal|78|pen.
stadium=Old Trafford, Manchester
attendance=75,463
referee=Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire) ----footballbox
date=2008-03-08
time=17:30
team1=Barnsley
score=1 – 0
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/03/FAC6P_BarnsleyChelsea.htm (Report)]
team2=Chelsea
goals1=Odejayi goal|67
goals2=
stadium=Oakwell, Barnsley
attendance=22,410
referee=Steve Bennett (Kent) ----footballbox
date=2008-03-09
time=14:00
team1=Middlesbrough
score=0 – 2
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/FAC6P_BoroCardiffreport.htm (Report)]
team2=Cardiff City
goals1=
goals2=Whittingham goal|9
Johnson goal|23
stadium=Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
attendance=32,986
referee=Mike Dean (Cheshire) ----footballbox
date=2008-03-09
time=18:00
team1=Bristol Rovers
score=1 – 5
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/FAC6P_BristolWestBromreport.htm (Report)]
team2=West Bromwich Albion
goals1=Coles goal|31
goals2=Morrison goal|16
Miller goal|30 goal|69 goal|85
Phillips goal|73
stadium=Memorial Stadium, Bristol
attendance=12,011
referee=Mark Clattenburg (County Durham)

emi-finals

The draw for the Semi-finals was held on 10 March 2008 at 13:25 GMT at Soho Square with Bryan Robson making the draw. Both semi-finals were played at Wembley Stadium and held on 5 April and 6 April 2008.cite news |title=Semi-Final draw
url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/03/FACSF_drawdetails.htm |publisher=TheFA.com |date=2008-03-08 |accessdate=2008-03-09 ] There was only one club from the top flight (Portsmouth) in the draw for the first time since 1908. [cite news |title=The Magic of The FA Cup |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/03/FAC6P_MagicOfCup.htm |publisher=TheFA.com |date=2008-03-09 |accessdate=2008-03-09]

footballbox
date=2008-04-05
time=12:15
team1=West Bromwich Albion
score=0 – 1
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/04/FAC_WBAPortsmouth_Report.htm (Report)]
team2=Portsmouth
goals1=
goals2=Kanu goal|54
stadium=Wembley Stadium, London
attendance=83,584
referee=Howard Webb (Sheffield & Hallamshire) ----footballbox
date=2008-04-06
time=16:00
team1=Barnsley
score=0 – 1
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/FAC_BarnsleyCardiff_report.htm (Report)]
team2=Cardiff City
goals1=
goals2=Ledley goal|9
stadium= Wembley Stadium, London
attendance=82,752
referee=Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

Final

The final was held at Wembley Stadium on the 17 May 2008.footballbox
date=2008-05-17
time=15:00 BST
team1=Cardiff City
score=0 – 1
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/05/FACFinal2008_RedknappReaction.htm (Report)]
team2=Portsmouth
goals1=
goals2=Kanu goal|37
stadium=Wembley Stadium, London
attendance=89,874
referee=Mike Dean (Cheshire)

References

External links

* [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/ The FA Cup] at TheFA.com
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/default.stm FA Cup] at BBC.co.uk
* [http://football.uk.reuters.com/facup/ FA Cup news] at Reuters.co.uk