The 2000 FA Cup final was the 119th final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, and the 72nd (excluding replays) and last to be played at the old

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. It took place on 20 May 2000 and was contested between Chelsea and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, the latter making its first FA Cup Final appearance since winning it in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

. Chelsea won 1–0 to secure their second FA Cup in four years, and their third in all. The goal was scored midway through the second half by Roberto Di Matteo, who had also scored in the 1997 final. Wembley Stadium closed five months later, and was subsequently rebuilt. The FA Cup Final was played at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

for the next six years, before returning to Wembley in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

(Chelsea would also win that final as well).

Road to Wembley

Match

Summary

Following a poor quality first half in which few chances were created, the match was brighter in the second, with Chelsea generally having the better of the play.

George Weah George Manneh Oppong Weah (born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional Association football, footballer who served as the 25th president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. Before his election for the presidency, Weah served ...

missed several chances and

Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He spent the majority of his career at Chelsea, from 1990 to 2001. Beginning his career at Wimbledon, ...

had a goal disallowed for offside, while Villa's

Gareth Southgate Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder. A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...

headed wide. On 73

minute A minute is a unit of time defined as equal to 60 seconds. It is not a unit in the International System of Units (SI), but is accepted for use with SI. The SI symbol for minutes is min (without a dot). The prime symbol is also sometimes used i ...

s, Roberto Di Matteo scored what proved to be the winning goal, capitalising on an error from Villa

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

David James to put the ball in the net from close range. James came roaring off his line to deal with Zola's free-kick from the left, he fumbled the ball against Gareth Southgate's chest with Di Matteo blasting the rebound into the roof of the net. Villa could not get back in the match, their best chance falling to

Benito Carbone Benito Carbone (born 14 August 1971) is an Italian association football, football manager and former professional player. Since August 2024, he is the head coach of Inter Milan's Inter Milan Youth Sector, under-18 side. As a player, he was play ...

, but his tame shot did not test Ed de Goey in goal.

Details

Statistics

Source: The People

References

External links

BBC Match ReportGame facts
at soccerbase.com
BBC FA Cup Final 2000 Section
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Cup Final 2000

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Chelsea F.C. matches Aston Villa F.C. matches 2000 in sport in London 2000 Fa Cup Final May 2000 sports events in the United Kingdom Football competitions in London