UPFRONT CONTENTS 30 May 2015
Arsenal v Aston Villa
This afternoon brings together two teams with a proud FA Cup history – and 18 trophies between them. For Arsenal it offers them an opportunity to secure back-toback triumphs in the competition and for Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa it provides the club a chance to roll back the years. It was 1957 when Villa last lifted the trophy. Then, the Midlanders defeated a Manchester United side containing Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton 2-1 in front of almost 100,000 under Wembley’s Twin Towers. For
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a club who first won the competition as far back as 1887, though, it remains their most recent golden FA Cup memory. They have reached the Final just once in the intervening period, in May 2000, when a Villa side managed by John Gregory lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the competition’s last finale at the old Wembley. Now, after a memorable 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the semi-final, Villa fans are once again hoping to see their club’s name on the famous old trophy. That would not only cap a remarkable turnaround in the
LET’S MAKE HISTORY!
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Upfront news The Road to Wembley The FA Cup in numbers BBC story of The FA Cup Arsenal Arsene Wenger Szczesny’s round by round Meet the Gunners Santi Cazorla
club’s fortunes this season but also illustrate the restorative powers that The FA Cup still possesses. Villa struggled early in the season, but after overcoming Premier League opposition in the last three rounds of the competition, there’s little doubt that the confidence engendered by the run has impacted positively as they’ve slowly but surely climbed the League table under Sherwood. For Arsenal, of course, FA Cup recollections are far fresher in the mind. Last season’s 3-2 victory over Hull City – secured after falling 2-0 behind in just
Francis Coquelin Martin Keown All-time FA Cup XI A foot in both camps Talking tactics Opta stats Past encounters Stateside supporters
eight minutes – has already entered FA Cup folklore and is, arguably, one of the most memorable Finals since it returned to its rightful home. That win was Arsene Wenger’s fifth in the competition and another this afternoon would see him leapfrog his old nemesis Sir Alex Ferguson in the all-time FA Cup winning managers’ list. That, of course, will be the farthest thing from Wenger’s mind as his Arsenal side run out in search of another record. The Gunners currently boast 11 FA Cup Final victories, a tally that puts them on a par with
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Aston Villa Tim Sherwood Westwood’s round by round Meet the squad Fabian Delph
Manchester United. A win today would create another piece of FA Cup history. The presence of a former Spurs player and manager in the Wembley dugout will add some extra drama to a Cup Final chock full of sub-plots. “We will be underdogs,” said Sherwood, after Villa’s semi-final win. “The pressure is on Arsenal as holders.” That situation will be nothing new to Wenger’s men who showed themselves capable of carrying that burden against Hull 12 months ago. A treat awaits.
80 Ron Vlaar 82 Peter McParland 85 All-time FA Cup XI 86 Where are they now? 90 The ultimate FA Cup winner 92 Roll of honour 94 History of The FA Cup 98 #FACupAdventure 100The The FA competitions
ALFIE YOUNG Ten-year-old Aston Villa fan Alfie Young was football crazy. However, eight months ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Alfie made a recent visit to Wembley to watch England against Norway last September, where he met some of Roy Hodgson’s squad, and was also here as his beloved Villa beat Liverpool in last month’s semi-final and was looking forward to a chance to see them in the Final. Sadly, a few days after their victory over the Reds, Alfie passed away. The thoughts of all at The FA and Wembley are with Alfie’s family and loved ones during this emotional time.
102 Women’s football 104 The FA People’s Cup 106 England 109 Battle of the broadcasters 112 Quiz and competitions 114 Squad lists
CLUBS WIN BIG FROM THE FA CUP Northern Premier League Division One North outfit Warrington Town were one of the big winners in this season’s FA Cup. After joining the competition at the second stage – the preliminary round – way back in August, it wasn’t until six games later their run finally came to an end. A 1-0 win over North Ferriby United, who would go on to lift The FA Trophy, sent Warrington into the first round for the first time in their history. And it got even better when they beat League 2 Exeter City, four divisions higher, in front of a 2,400 sell-out crowd and the BBC cameras. Conference Premier side Gateshead woke them from their
dream in the second round, but the club’s run earned them a whopping £194,000. A total of £26m was handed out by The FA to clubs in the Cup this season through their prize and broadcast funds. Other clubs to earn a healthy portion from The FA were Blyth Spartans, who scooped £164,000 for winning six ties and reaching the third round, Preston North End who earned over £500,000 before Manchester United beat them in the fifth round and FA Cup giant-killers Bradford City, who claimed nearly £900,000 after an amazing run that sent them past Premier League winners Chelsea and Sunderland.
PAT HAMMOND Today we remember lifelong Arsenal fan Pat Hammond. Pat was unable to attend The FA Cup Final here at Wembley last year when the Gunners came from behind to beat Hull City as he was too ill in hospital. He sadly passed away on 24 April 2015 after his team had secured their place in this year’s Final. Arsenal have lost one of their biggest supporters, who is loved and missed by all who knew him.
MASTERS OF CEREMONIES
Military personnel from the British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines will carry out the ceremonial duties of placing The FA Cup pitchside before kick-off and taking the Cup and medals to the Royal Box ready for the presentations. Sergeant Adam Fowler joined the Royal Marines in 2004 and now specialises as a physical training instructor at 40 Commando. Chief Petty Officer Samantha Covey is a physical training instructor based at the Regional Rehabilitation Unit, HMS Nelson.
She joined the Royal Navy in 1996. Sergeant Dip Prasad Pun CGC was born in Nepal and enlisted into the Brigade of Gurkhas in 2000. He is currently based at the Infantry Battle School in Brecon, Wales. Captain Sean Birchnall joined the Army as a Junior Soldier in 1990. A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) officer, he is based at The Defence Logistics School at Deepcut and is a UEFA B qualified coach. Senior Aircraftwoman Rachael Rutherford serves as a Supplier at RAF Brize Norton after joining the Royal Air Force in 2014.
THE FA CUP 2015 FINAL
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Olivier Giroud has scored seven and assisted four goals in his 13 FA Cup appearances, and has scored in each of his last three games against Villa.
FOUR
Danny Welbeck has scored four goals in his last four appearances against Aston Villa.
MATCHES
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WON
22
LOST
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Arsenal have won 22 and lost just three of the last 34 matches in all competitions against Aston Villa (W22 D9 L3). All three of those defeats came at the Emirates.
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Mesut Ozil has two goals and two assists in three appearances against Aston Villa.
NINETEEN This will be Arsenal’s 19th FA Cup Final, a record for any team, and they have won a joint-high 11 Finals.
1998 2003 2014 Each of the last three times Arsenal have faced second-tier opposition in the semi-final they’ve gone on to win the trophy (1998, 2003 and 2014).
STAT’S A FACT
When it comes to statistics, Opta have the Final covered
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ARSENAL v ASTON VILLA 30 MAY 2015
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STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
ASTON VILLA HAVE PLAYED IN THE FA CUP FINAL 10 TIMES, WINNING SEVEN. They last won The FA Cup in 1957, beating West Bromwich Albion (in the semi-finals) along the way.
Christian Benteke has scored three goals in his last three appearances against Arsenal.
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2
3
SIX
Only George Ramsay (6 with Aston Villa) has won The FA Cup as a manager more times than Arsene Wenger (5).
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THREE TWO
7-3 Arsenal and Aston Villa have been drawn together 10 times in The FA Cup with the Gunners winning seven and the Villans three. Overall there have been 13 matches with three draws.
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Aston Villa have kept just two clean sheets in their last 21 FA Cup matches
The last FA Cup meeting between these two sides came in 2012 when Villa led 2-0 at half-time only to see the Gunners overturn the deficit in a sevenminute period in the second half to record a 3-2 win.
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Eight of the last nine FA Cup matches involving Aston Villa have been settled by a one-goal margin. Six of the last eight have ended with a 2-1 scoreline.
ARSENAL v ASTON VILLA 30 MAY 2015
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#JOHN
CAPPED INTERNATIONALLY
93%
PAUL SCHARNER (AUSTRIA) EMMERSON BOYCE (BARBADOS) VINCENT KOMPANY (BELGIUM) NIKO KRANJCAR (CROATIA) ROGER ESPINOZA (HONDURAS) HERMANN HREIDARSSON (ICELAND) JAMES McCARTHY (REPUBLIC OF IRELAND) MARIO BALOTELLI (ITALY) ANTOLIN ALCARAZ (PARAGUAY) LUKASZ FABIANSKI (POLAND) PAPA BOUBA DIOP (SENEGAL) AARON RAMSEY (WALES)
12 PLAYERS ARE THEIR NATION’S ONLY WINNER: 8
6 4
3
48% 12% 12% 10% 10% 5% 2% 1%
FORMER HONOURS
5
2
1. BLUE 2. LIGHT BLUE 3. RED 4. BLACK 5. YELLOW 6. GREEN 7. GREY 8. ORANGE
37 former FA Cup winners Six previous wins for Ashley Cole by the time he won with Chelsea in 2012 48 Premier League winners 13 UEFA Champions League winners: Nicolas Anelka (twice), Mario Balotelli, Milan Baros, Juliano Belletti, Jose Bosingwa (twice), Kanu, Paulo Ferreira, Claude Makelele, Pedro Mendes, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure 3 UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League winners: Paulo Ferreira, Kanu, Joel Robles 41 First-tier champions outside England 63 Cup winners, other than FA Cup 4 FIFA World Cup winners: Juliano Belletti, Juan Mata, David Silva, Patrick Vieira
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SHIRT COLOUR
THE ULTIMATE FA CUP WINNER
Most common winners’ name: John (eight times)
We’ve analysed each FA Cup Final since the Cup returned to Wembley in 2007 to find out what makes a winner…
Daniel Sturridge is the youngest winner
David James is the oldest winner
FRENCH 13 SPANISH 6
The most common star sign: Sagittarius (21)
ENGLISH 30 CZECH 6
IVORIAN 9 *Top five
NATIONALITY
37 mins: Kanu (left) is the only player to have scored a first-half winner
Four Finals scored in by Didier Drogba
11 from open play (eight winners) Three corners (two winners) Two free-kicks (two winners)
13 inside the area (nine winners) Three outside (three winners)
Eight scored right-footed (seven winners) Six scored left-footed (three winners) Two headers (two winners)
Seven scored by forwards (five winners) Six scored by midfielders (six winners) Three scored by defenders (one winner)
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GOAL SCORERS
Average age of an FA Cup winner
27 19 37
6’0” AVERAGE HEIGHT OF A WINNER
6’5” PER MERTESACKER IS THE TALLEST WINNER
ARGENTINA, AUSTRIA, BARBADOS, BELGIUM, BRAZIL, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, NETHERLANDS, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GHANA, HONDURAS, ICELAND, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, ITALY, IVORY COAST, NIGERIA, PARAGUAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, SCOTLAND, SENEGAL, SERBIA, SPAIN, WALES
26 NATIONS REPRESENTED ON THE WINNERS’ PODIUM AT NEW WEMBLEY
5’5” SHAUN WRIGHTPHILLIPS IS THE SHORTEST WINNER
Left-footed (30), Right-footed (77)
28% 72%
5 UEFA EURO winners: Nicolas Anelka (twice), Santi Cazorla, David Silva, Patrick Vieira 1 Copa Libertadores winner: Carlos Tevez (2003) 2 Copa Sudamericana winners: Pablo Zabaleta (2002), Carlos Tevez (2004) 2 FIFA Club World Cup winners: Carlos Tevez (2008), Yaya Toure (2009) 2 FIFA Confederations Cup winners: Nicolas Anelka, Patrick Vieira (both 2001)
THE FA CUP FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 26 27 34 35 36 39 42 43 45 47 49 70 73
Wojciech SZCZESNY Mathieu DEBUCHY Kieran GIBBS Per MERTESACKER GABRIEL Laurent KOSCIELNY Tomas ROSICKY Mikel ARTETA Jack WILSHERE Mesut OZIL Olivier GIROUD David OSPINA Theo WALCOTT Alex OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN Aaron RAMSEY Alexis SANCHEZ Nacho MONREAL Santi CAZORLA Mathieu FLAMINI Calum CHAMBERS Danny WELBECK
Abou DIABY Emiliano MARTINEZ Serge GNABRY Francis COQUELIN Gedion ZELALEM Krystian BIELIK Hector BELLERIN Isaac HAYDEN Ryan HUDDART Alex IWOBI Glen KAMARA Matt MACEY Ainsley MAITLAND-NILES Stefan O’CONNOR Manager Arsene WENGER Kit Colours Arsenal Yellow and blue shirts, blue shorts, yellow and blue socks. Goalkeeper: All black
EMERGENCY PROCEDURE Please respect your fellow spectators by refraining from persistent standing. Smoking is not permitted anywhere within the Stadium. In the event of an emergency, you will hear a message over the public address system – listen to the message carefully and follow the instructions of Wembley staff. Evacuation of the Stadium is a last resort and we may ask you to move from your immediate area initially. Please remain vigilant at all times and report anything you consider suspicious to a member of Wembley staff. The following acts are offences under the Football (Offences) Act 1991, as amended: the throwing of any object within the Ground without lawful authority or excuse; the chanting of anything of an indecent, racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic or transphobic nature; the entry onto the playing area or any adjacent area to which spectators
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Brad GUZAN Nathan BAKER Ron VLAAR Jores OKORE Ciaran CLARK Leandro BACUNA Tom CLEVERLEY Scott SINCLAIR Andreas WEIMANN Gabby AGBONLAHOR Joe COLE Philippe SENDEROS Ashley WESTWOOD Fabian DELPH Kieran RICHARDSON Christian BENTEKE
Alan HUTTON Aly CISSOKHO Carlos SANCHEZ Carles GIL Libor KOZAK Rushian HEPBURN-MURPHY Shay GIVEN Matthew LOWTON Riccardo CALDER Jack GREALISH Manager Tim SHERWOOD Match Officials Referee Jon Moss (West Riding FA) Assistant Referees Darren England (Sheffield & Hallamshire FA) and Simon Bennett (Staffordshire FA) Fourth Official Craig Pawson (Sheffield & Hallamshire FA) Reserve Assistant Referee Harry Lennard (Sussex FA) Aston Villa Claret shirts with sky pinstripes and sky sleeves, white shorts with sky trim, sky socks with claret hoops. Goalkeeper: Green shirt and shorts with black trim, green socks with black hoops
MIND YOUR LANGUAGE are not generally admitted without lawful authority or excuse. Remember that drinking alcohol in view of the pitch is a criminal offence, as is being drunk on the premises. CCTV cameras are in use around and in the Ground and WNSL may itself use, or pass to the police or any event organiser or other relevant authority, any recordings for use in any proceedings.
ARSENAL v ASTON VILLA 30 MAY 2015
The FA will investigate all allegations of discriminatory abuse and anti-social behaviour. If you experience a racist, sexist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, or transphobic incident today please report it to the police or a steward. If necessary you can raise it afterwards by calling 0800 085 0508 or emailing reportdiscrimination@thefa.com The FA treats discriminatory anti-social behaviour seriously and expects all visitors to treat staff and fellow visitors with respect. If you experience anti-social behaviour close to you, please send a text to 87474 with: FOUL (language & behaviour); RACISM (Racist chanting & shouting); HPH (Homophobic chanting); DRINK (Drinking alcohol in view of the pitch); SMOKE (Smoking in the stadium); STAND (Standing up); PYRO (use of or intended use of any pyrotechnic or smoke bomb), along with your location and the location of the
offence – Block, Row, Seat. Each message costs one standard message at your local rate. In addition the Kick It Out downloadable phone app, available for free from the App store and Google Play, allows you to file complaints confidentially and anonymously. The app is quick, easy and discreet to use, and supplements current mechanisms in place across the game such as text reporting lines, anti-discrimination hotline numbers and email reporting services. When reporting an incident, it’s a simple case of clicking on the ‘Report It!’ button which takes you through to a form requesting further information on what has happened, when and where it occurred, and descriptions of the offender. Once this report has been filed, it is submitted to Kick It Out and the relevant authorities, and then investigated.
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