The FA Cup

The FA Cup is the popular name of The English Football Association Challenge Cup. The FA Cup is a knockout competition played by teams of all levels from England and Wales, and it is known to be the oldest football competition in the world having started in 1871. The FA Cup matches are usually played at the home field of one of the teams competing, and the final has been played at Wembley Stadium, ever since 1923. In order to get to the final of the FA Cup, it is a long and hard process. From the all the teams that qualify for the tournament only 8 actually get to fight for the title. There is also a women’s version of the FA Cup which is called FA Women’s Cup. The 2007-2008 edition of the FA Cup began with a record number of 731 teams. Manchester United is the team that has won the FA Cup Trophy the most times - with 11 titles - closely followed by Arsenal FC with 10. The 2009 FA Cup is sure to be another spectacular football tournament teams as Portsmouth and other English Premier League teams fight for the biggest title in England.

Dreaming of a chance to shine

What makes the FA Cup so interesting is the fact that almost every professional and amateur team in England has a chance to dream with the glory. The draw is totally random and that means that a top ranked Premier League Club can face a much lower rank team and an upset may occur. Everybody has a shot but in reality the only time a non-Premiership team won the FA Cup was back in 1901 when Tottenham Hotspur became champions. In 2007 the FA Cup finals had more than 89 thousand people at the newly constructed Wembley Stadium to watch a clash of titans: Chelsea vs. Manchester United. The game ended 1-0 for Chelsea FC which gave them their 4th FA Cup title.