1999 FA Cup final
The 1999 FA Cup final was an association football match that took place on 22 May 1999 at the old Wembley Stadium in London to determine the winner of the 1998–99 FA Cup. It was contested between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes gave Manchester United a 2–0 win to claim their 10th FA Cup title. It was the second part of the treble of trophies Manchester United won during the 1998–99 season as they won the Premier League the previous weekend and had the Champions League final four days later, which they ended up winning.
Manchester United faced Premier League opposition in every round of the competition except the fifth. Their semi-final against the cup holders, Arsenal, was the last in the history of the competition to go to a replay; after a 0–0 draw in the original match, Manchester United won the replay 2–1. In the other semi-final, Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–0.
As Manchester United had already qualified for the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League, England's place in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup was given to Newcastle United as the runners-up. Manchester United did not defend their FA Cup title, choosing instead to participate in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil, believing that it would help The Football Association's bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. As winners of the FA Cup, Manchester United also qualified for the 1999 FA Charity Shield but as they already earned their place as Premier League champions, the cup berth was given to league runners-up Arsenal.
Background
went into the match as champions of England, having clinched the Premier League title in their final game the previous weekend after losing just three league games all season. They had also qualified for the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, due to be played four days later on 26 May, and were unbeaten in their previous 31 matches in all competitions. By contrast, Newcastle United had failed to win any of their final seven league matches; since their last win, their only victory had come in the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur. Newcastle finished 13th out of the 20 teams in the Premier League, and were knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the first round and the League Cup in the fourth round.It was Newcastle's second consecutive appearance in the FA Cup Final – having lost 2–0 to Arsenal in 1998 – and their 13th appearance overall. They had a 50 percent record in their previous 12 finals. Manchester United had a better record in their 14 previous final appearances, having won on a record nine occasions; the last two, in 1994 and 1996, had been part of doubles. With victory in the 1999 final, Manchester United would become the first English club to win the Double on three occasions, and it would put them one win away from a continental treble of the league, the FA Cup and the European Cup, a feat no English team had ever managed before.
The two teams had previously met 128 times in all competitions; Manchester United had won 60 times, Newcastle United 37 times, and the remaining 31 matches had finished as draws. Only two of those meetings were in the FA Cup: the first took place in the 1908–09 semi-final, when Manchester United won 1–0 at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on the way to their first FA Cup title, and the second in the fifth round of the 1989–90 competition, when Manchester United won 3–2 at St James' Park before going on to win their seventh FA Cup. Manchester United also came out on top in their two league meetings in the 1998–99 season, winning 2–1 at St James' Park on 13 March after playing out a goalless draw at Old Trafford on 8 November.
This was the first FA Cup Final that would not be replayed in the event of a draw. Instead, the match would be decided on the day, first with a period of extra time then a penalty shoot-out if the scores were still level.
Route to the final
As Premier League clubs, both Manchester United and Newcastle United entered the 1998–99 FA Cup in the third round proper. Newcastle were drawn at home to First Division side Crystal Palace, and Manchester United at home to fellow Premier League side Middlesbrough, whose 3–2 win at Old Trafford in the league two weeks earlier would turn out to be Manchester United's last defeat all season. Despite the team's goalkeeper, Shay Given, being sent off within the first 15 minutes and then going 1–0 down, Newcastle came from behind to beat Crystal Palace in their tie, while Manchester United also overturned Middlesbrough's 1–0 lead to win 3–1.Manchester United's victory set up a fourth round tie at home to arch-rivals Liverpool, and Newcastle were paired with First Division Bradford City. Newcastle won 3–0 to book their place in the fifth round, while Manchester United again came from a goal down to beat Liverpool with two goals in the last two minutes of their tie.
The fifth round saw Newcastle drawn at home to their first Premier League opposition of the tournament in Blackburn Rovers, whereas Manchester United were paired with their only non-Premier League opponents, Second Division side Fulham. A goal from Andy Cole saw Manchester United win 1–0 to progress to the sixth round, but Newcastle were held to a goalless draw by Blackburn, forcing a replay. Newcastle striker Louis Saha, on loan from Metz, scored the only goal of the replay, and they were through to the last eight.
Home draws in the sixth round for both teams ensured that they had both been drawn at home in every round of the competition; Manchester United hosted Chelsea at Old Trafford and Newcastle hosted Everton at St James' Park. This time it was Newcastle who only needed one match to progress to the semi-finals, beating Everton 4–1 with goals from Temur Ketsbaia, Georgios Georgiadis and Alan Shearer. Meanwhile, Manchester United were unable to make their numerical advantage count against Chelsea after a bad tackle on Paul Scholes earned Roberto Di Matteo a second yellow card, Scholes himself was sent off for Manchester United. The match finished goalless and a replay followed three days later; Dwight Yorke scored in each half to give Manchester United a 2–0 win.
As per tradition, the semi-finals were played at neutral venues; Manchester United took on rivals Arsenal at Villa Park in Birmingham, and Newcastle United played against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. Both semi-finals went to extra-time, but only Newcastle were able to produce a result on the day; after referee Paul Durkin missed a handball by Nikos Dabizas that would have resulted in a Tottenham penalty in normal time, Shearer scored twice in the second half of extra time to send Newcastle to Wembley for the second year in a row. Manchester United's semi-final ended 0–0, although a goal from Roy Keane was ruled out for offside against Yorke, who was stood in the centre of the pitch not interfering with play, after Ryan Giggs had played the ball to himself in the build-up. After watching a replay of the incident, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson claimed the decision was "absolutely ridiculous".
The replay is often included in lists of the greatest matches in the history of the tournament. David Beckham opened the scoring with a curving shot past Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman from 22 yards, but Dennis Bergkamp equalised halfway through the second half, his shot deflecting off the knee of Jaap Stam. Nicolas Anelka had the ball in the back of the net for Arsenal again shortly afterwards, and their players had already begun celebrating before anyone realised that the linesman had raised his flag for an offside against Anelka. Roy Keane then received a second booking and was sent off for a cynical foul on Marc Overmars, leaving Manchester United to play out the match with 10 men. The match was heading for extra time when Phil Neville made a "rash" challenge on Ray Parlour inside the penalty area; Bergkamp took the penalty, but Peter Schmeichel guessed the direction of his kick correctly and made the save. The first half of extra time passed without incident, before Patrick Vieira gave the ball away to Giggs at the start of the second; Giggs ran from just inside his own half, taking on four Arsenal defenders as he drove into the penalty area, then shot from a narrow angle over the head of Seaman into the roof of the Arsenal net. Manchester United hung on for the remaining 10 minutes to secure their place in the final.
Pre-match
Team selection
Manchester United decided to rest several star players for the match so that they could be fit for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich four days later. Midfielders Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were suspended for that match, so they were paired in central midfield; their deputy for the match against Bayern Munich, Nicky Butt, was left out of the matchday squad entirely to guard him against injury. Top scorer Dwight Yorke was dropped to the bench for a similar reason, while first-choice centre-back Jaap Stam was named among the substitutes to give him a chance to prove his fitness after an Achilles tendon injury. Denis Irwin missed the match due to suspension after being sent off against Liverpool in the Premier League on 5 May and was replaced in the starting line-up by Phil Neville. Several players, including Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville, were suffering from a flu virus in the lead-up to the game, and were still suffering the effects on matchday, but were all deemed fit enough to play. Henning Berg was injured, so Ronny Johnsen and David May started in defence.For Newcastle United, the FA Cup final was their last game of the season, meaning that they were uninhibited in their squad selection for the match; however, manager Ruud Gullit's final team was unpredictable and the players were unsure as to who would be picked until the day of the game. Goalkeeper Steve Harper recalled being unsure of whether it would be himself or Shay Given who would start in goal, midfielder Rob Lee said he had "resigned to not playing in the final", and right-back Warren Barton said he thought he was "in the team until the Wednesday"; Harper was ultimately selected in goal, while the right-back position was given to 20-year-old Andy Griffin, who had the job of marking Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs, having performed a similar role against Tottenham's David Ginola in the semi-final. According to the BBC, the biggest selection dilemma for Gullit was whom to pick to play up front alongside captain Alan Shearer: Georgian Ketsbaia or Scottish forward Duncan Ferguson, who was due for an operation on a herniated groin two days later. Ketsbaia was selected to start, with Ferguson named as a substitute.