Who has won the most FA Cups? Five most successful football clubs in the world’s oldest competition
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Chelsea takes on Liverpool in the final of the 2021/22 FA Cup on Saturday at the Wembley Stadium. Thomas Tuchel’s men will seek revenge for their Carabao Cup final defeat which happened back in February. Jurgen Klopp’s men won that final 11-10 after a penalty shootout.
Interestingly, The FA Cup is the oldest national football competition in the world, having first been contested in the 1871-72 season. For much of football history, FA Cup final day has been one of the most important days of the domestic season, with fans of both teams, as well as neutrals around the world, tuning in to watch.
While the FA Cup doesn’t quite have the same prestige it once had, compared to the lucrative Premier League or European competitions, the cup is still massively important to fans of many teams, and cup final day in May continues to be a special event for the fans and teams that make it to Wembley Stadium.
Here is a list of the English football clubs which have won the prestigious trophy the most number of times:
Aston Villa and Liverpool: 7 Cup wins each
Villa won their seven FA Cup honours in the 1800s and 1900s, with their most recent triumph coming in 1957, when they beat Manchester United at Wembley. The 2000s have been less fruitful for them, having lost two finals to Chelsea and Arsenal in 2000 and 2015 respectively.
Despite winning 18 English league trophies, Liverpool has only backed that number up with a comparatively shy seven FA Cup triumphs. Their last win came in 2006 in what was branded ‘the Steven Gerrard final’ – a thrilling 3-3 draw with West Ham United which the Reds eventually won on penalties.
Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea: 8 Cup wins each
While the FA Cup – or any trophy – has eluded Tottenham over recent years, the north London club have a spectacular record in cup finals. Spurs have won eight out of the nine finals they have appeared in, with a 3-2 defeat to Coventry City in 1987 acting as their only defeat. Tottenham’s greatest cup final moment is arguably Ricky Villa’s sole goal to defeat Manchester City 3-2 in the 1981 final replay.
Just 25 years ago, Chelsea only had one FA Cup honour to their name – a 2-1 replay win over Leeds United in 1970. However, the Blues have won the competition seven times since 1997, four of them coming in a six-year period between 2006 and 2012. They last won the competition in 2018, beating Manchester United 1-0 in the final.
Manchester United: 12 Cup wins
Manchester United have played in 20 FA Cup finals and has won the competition 12 times. Five of United’s triumphs came under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson, while their last win came in Louis Van Gaal’s final game in charge in 2016 – a 2-1 extra-time victory over Crystal Palace.
Arsenal: 14 FA Cups
Arsenal holds the honour of being the team with the most FA Cup trophies to their name, having hoisted the iconic trophy 14 times. Former manager Arsene Wenger is the most decorated manager in the competition, with seven Cup wins with the Gunners.
Arsenal’s most recent win came in 2020 when they defeated Chelsea 2-1 at an empty Wembley.
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Sujeeth Shetty
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