1999–2000 FA Cup


The 1999–2000 FA Cup was the 119th staging of the FA Cup. Both the semifinals and final of the competition were played at Wembley Stadium for the last time before reconstruction work began. The competition culminated with the final between Chelsea and Aston Villa. The game was won by a goal from Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo, giving them a 1–0 victory.
The title holders Manchester United, withdrew from the 1999–2000 competition due to their participation in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in South America, to take place in early 2000, thus becoming the first FA Cup winners not to defend their title. Despite this being at the request of the Football Association, who believed the move would boost England's chances of winning the bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, they received criticism from journalists and television pundits. To keep the competition running smoothly, the FA chose to draw one team from among those lower-division teams defeated in the second round to progress as "lucky losers" to the third. Darlington were the team drawn.
The main competition started in November 1999 for clubs from the Football League and Premiership.

Calendar

RoundDateMatchesClubsNew entries this roundPrize money
Preliminary round21 August 1999166558 → 392161: 227th-387th£1,000
First round qualifying4 September 1999116392 → 27666: 161st-226th£2,250
Second round qualifying18 September 199980276 → 19644: 117th-160th£3,750
Third round qualifying2 October 199940196 → 156none£5,000
Fourth round qualifying16 October 199932156 → 12424: 93rd-116th£10,000
First round proper30 October 199940124 → 8448: 45th-92nd£16,000
Second round proper19 November 19992084 → 64none£24,000
Third round proper11 December 19993264 → 3243: 2nd-44th£40,000
Fourth round proper8 January 20001632 → 16none£60,000
Fifth round proper29 January 2000816 → 8none£120,000
Sixth round proper19 February 200048 → 4none£300,000
Semi-finals2 April 200024 → 2none£900,000
Final20 May 200012 → 1none£1,000,000

Manchester United, who were the winners the previous season, did not enter.

Qualifying rounds

All participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Guiseley, Eastwood Town, Gateshead, Doncaster Rovers, Tamworth, Hednesford Town, Southport, Morecambe, Stalybridge Celtic, Runcorn, Bamber Bridge, Worthing, Oxford City, Hendon, Whyteleafe, Merthyr Tydfil, Welling United, Hayes, Kingstonian, Rushden & Diamonds, Forest Green Rovers, Ilkeston Town, Yeovil Town, Bath City, Enfield, Chelmsford City, Aldershot Town, Burton Albion, Kettering Town, St Albans City, Hereford United and Cambridge City.
Eastwood Town, Bamber Bridge, Whyteleafe and Forest Green Rovers were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Aldershot Town was also appearing at this stage for the first time in their own right, seven years after the mid-season demise of the original Aldershot FC. Of the others, only Oxford City, who had last featured in the first round in 1970-71, had not qualified for the main draw at least once in the last decade.

First round proper

This is the first round in which teams from the Second and Third Divisions of the Football League compete with non-League teams.
  • Ties were played over the weekend of 30 and 31 October 1999.
  • Replays were played on 8, 9 and 10 November 1999.
  • Five clubs from the various competitions at Step 7 of English football were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw: Eastwood Town, Worthing, Chelmsford City, Whyteleafe and Oxford City.
  • This was the first season since the establishment of the Alliance Premier League in 1979 that no clubs from Step 8 of the football pyramid had qualified for the first round of the FA Cup.
‡ - Oxford City's replay with Wycombe Wanderers was abandoned after extra time due to a fire within the stadium. The score was 1-1.

Second round proper

  • Ties were played over the weekend of 20 and 21 November 1999.
  • Replays were played on 30 November 1999.
  • Six clubs from the various competitions at Step 6 of English football were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw: Hendon, Bamber Bridge, Aldershot Town, Ilkeston Town, Enfield and Stalybridge Celtic.
= Darlington advanced as lucky losers

Third round proper

This round marked the first time First Division and Premier League teams played.
  • Matches were played on the weekend of 11 and 12 December 1999.
  • Replays were played on 21 and 22 December 1999.
  • Two Second Division sides defeated Premier League opponents: Burnley beat Derby County 1-0 at Pride Park, and Wrexham defeated Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground.
  • Conference National sides Hereford United and Rushden & Diamonds were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.

Fourth round proper

  • Ties played on weekend of 8 and 9 January 2000.
  • Replays played on 18 and 19 January 2000.
  • Second Division side Gillingham qualified for the Fifth Round for the first time in 30 years after defeating Premier League opponents Bradford City 3-1 at Priestfield.
  • Plymouth Argyle, from the Third Division, was the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

Fifth round proper

  • Ties played on weekend of 29 and 30 January 2000.
  • The shock result of the round came when Gillingham defeated Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday 3–1 to qualify for the Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

Sixth round proper

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Semi-finals

Aston Villa booked their first FA Cup final appearance since 1957 by beating Bolton Wanderers on penalties after a goalless draw after extra time, while Chelsea reached their second final in four years with a narrow 2–1 win over Newcastle United.
  • Aston Villa win 4–1 on penalties, after extra time. Steve Stone, Lee Hendrie, Gareth Barry and Dion Dublin all scored for Aston Villa. Dean Holdsworth scored for Bolton.
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Final

The 2000 FA Cup final was contested between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, with Chelsea coming out 1-0 winners. Roberto Di Matteo scored the winning goal 17 minutes from the end, three years after he had opened the scoring within the first minute of Chelsea's last FA Cup final win. This was Villa's first FA Cup final for 43 years.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free to air broadcasters for the third consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the twelfth consecutive season.
The matches shown live on ITV Sport were:
The matches shown live on Sky Sports were: