FA Cup Winners

---

---

---

FA CUP WINNERS 1980-2021

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

As the oldest national football competition in the world, it's fair to say that the FA Cup is not just the daddy, but the granddaddy of cup competitions. It dates right back to the 1871-72 season, when the Wanderers claimed the first trophy after defeating the Royal Engineers.

Taking its name from the Football Association (its full title is actually the Football Association Challenge Cup), it's open to all clubs from the Premier League right down to the tenth level of the English football league system.

Whilst it's still a prestigious trophy to win, the FA Cup was particularly huge in the 20th century, and the final itself was a proper must-see event. The build-up from lunchtime onwards was fantastic: the team's leaving their bases, the scenes down Wembley Way, the team buses arriving at Wembley, the players inspecting the pitch in their suits, the singing of Abide with me etc. It was an exciting, nail-biting affair even if your team hadn't made the final!

Winning the FA Cup not only gave you bragging rights over your mates for a good six months, it also opened the door to another couple of competitions - the Charity/Community Shield (the annual season opener, between the FA Cup winners and the English league winners) and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup (sadly no more, but UEFA's competition for winners of the domestic cups across Europe).

Arsenal are the kings of the FA Cup, the Gunners having appeared in 21 finals and won 14 of them, followed closely by Manchester United, who've lifted the trophy 12 times in 20 final appearances.

Above is our winners graphic, and below the full list of winners/runners-up and a table of how many times each team has won the FA Cup...