2002–03 FA Cup

The 2002–03 FA Cup was the 122nd staging of the world's oldest cup competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 1–0 victory in the final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff against Southampton, courtesy of a Robert Pires goal.

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 Runcorn Halton, Morecambe, Southport, Harrogate Railway Athletic, Doncaster Rovers, Barrow, Chester City, Scarborough, Burton Albion, Northwich Victoria, Vauxhall Motors, Harrogate Town, Guiseley, Moor Green, Stafford Rangers, Hereford United, St Albans City, Boreham Wood, Slough Town, Hastings United, Stevenage Borough, Crawley Town, Farnborough Town, Havant & Waterlooville, Margate, Dover Athletic, Tiverton Town, Dagenham & Redbridge, Heybridge Swifts, Forest Green Rovers, Team Bath and Yeovil Town.
Harrogate Railway Athletic, Harrogate Town and Team Bath were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Additionally, Hastings United and Dover Athletic were appearing at this stage for the first time in their own right after the original Hastings United and the original Dover FC had last qualified for the first round in 1981-82. The Ellesmere Port-based Vauxhall Motors was also featuring in the main draw for the first time in their own right after their now-defunct corporate rivals Vauxhall Motors had reached the first round in 1947-48.
Of the others, Crawley Town had last appeared at this stage in 1994–95, Stafford Rangers had last done so in 1992-93, and Moor Green had last done so in 1979-80.

First round proper

At this stage the 48 Second Division|Second] and Third Division clubs joined the 32 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. Step 8 sides Harrogate Railway Athletic, from the Northern Counties East League, and Team Bath, from the Western League, were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.
The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 16 November 2002, with replays in the week commencing 25 November.

Second round proper

The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 7 December 2002, with replays in the week commencing 16 December. Harrogate Railway Athletic was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date	Attendance	Summary
1	Blackpool	3–1	Torquay United	7 December 2002	5,014
2	Darlington	4–1	Stevenage Borough	7 December 2002	3,351
3	Macclesfield Town	2–0	Vauxhall Motors	7 December 2002	2,972
4	Crewe Alexandra	3–0	Mansfield Town	7 December 2002	4,563
5	Shrewsbury Town	3–1	Barrow	7 December 2002	4,210
6	Stockport County	0–3	Plymouth Argyle	7 December 2002	3,571
7	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Rochdale	7 December 2002	4,369
Replay	Rochdale	3 – 2	Bristol Rovers	17 December 2002	2,206
8	Oldham Athletic	1–2	Cheltenham Town	7 December 2002	4,416
9	Southend United	1–1	AFC Bournemouth	7 December 2002	5,721
Replay	AFC Bournemouth	3 – 2	Southend United	17 December 2002	5,456
10	Exeter City	3–1	Rushden & Diamonds	7 December 2002	2,277
11	Scunthorpe United	0–0	Carlisle United	7 December 2002	3,590
Replay	Carlisle United	0 – 1	Scunthorpe United	23 December 2002	6,809
12	Margate	0–3	Cardiff City	7 December 2002	1,362
13	Southport	0–3	Farnborough Town	7 December 2002	2,534
14	Morecambe	3–2	Chester City	7 December 2002	4,293
15	York City	1–2	Brentford	7 December 2002	3,517
16	Wigan Athletic	3–0	Luton Town	7 December 2002	4,544
17	Cambridge United	2–2	Northampton Town	7 December 2002	5,076
Replay	Northampton Town	0 – 1	Cambridge United	17 December 2002	4,591
18	Harrogate Railway Athletic	1–3	Bristol City	8 December 2002	3,500
19	Crawley Town	1–2	Dagenham & Redbridge	7 December 2002	4,516
20	Oxford United	1–0	Swindon Town	8 December 2002	11,645

Third round proper

This round was the first in which Division 1 and Premier League teams entered the competition. The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 4 January 2003, with replays in the week commencing 13 January. The round featured three clubs from the Football Conference : Farnborough Town, Morecambe and Dagenham & Redbridge.
Shrewsbury, who ended the season with relegation from the Football League, achieved the biggest upset of the round, with a surprise 2–1 win over an Everton side who were pushing for a place in Europe and featuring a 17-year-old striker called Wayne Rooney – one of the most promising young players in the game.

Fourth round proper

Matches played weekend of 25 January 2003
Four replays played week commencing 3 February 2003
Farnborough Town and Dagenham & Redbridge were again the lowest-ranked teams in the draw. By this stage, they were also the last non-league teams left in the competition.

Fifth round proper

Matches played weekend of 15 February 2003
One replay played 26 February 2003
Third Division side Rochdale was the lowest-ranked team in the draw and the last team from the First Round left in the competition

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date	Attendance	Summary
1	Southampton	2–0	Norwich City	15 February 2003	31,103
2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–1	Rochdale	16 February 2003	23,921
3	Sunderland	0–1	Watford	15 February 2003	26,916
4	Sheffield United	2–0	Walsall	15 February 2003	17,510
5	Fulham	1–1	Burnley	16 February 2003	13,062
Replay	Burnley	3–0	Fulham	26 February 2003	11,635
6	Manchester United	0–2	Arsenal	15 February 2003	67,209
7	Crystal Palace	1–2	Leeds United	16 February 2003	24,512
8	Stoke City	0–2	Chelsea	16 February 2003	26,615

Sixth round proper

Holders Arsenal moved closer to retaining the trophy by beating Chelsea 3–1 in a replay that followed a 2–2 draw. They were paired in the semi-finals with Sheffield United, while the other semi-final would be contested between Southampton and Watford.
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Semi-finals

For the 11th season running, the FA Cup final would be contested by top division clubs – Arsenal and Southampton. Their semi-final opponents were both Division One sides.
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Final

The final took place on Saturday, 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and ended 1–0 with a goal by Robert Pires separating the sides.
It was the third consecutive year the final was played at the Millennium Stadium, due to the ongoing reconstruction of Wembley Stadium, the final's usual venue. There were 73,726 spectators at the game. Arsenal retained the trophy, winning it for the ninth time in their history – a record second only to that of Manchester United.
It was also Southampton's first FA Cup final since 1976, when they won the trophy for the only time to date.

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters for the second consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the fifteenth consecutive season.
The matches shown live on the BBC were:

The matches shown live on Sky Sports were:

Team Bath 2-4 Mansfield Town
Hereford United 0-1 Wigan Athletic
Burton Albion 2-2 Oldham Athletic
Macclesfield Town 2-0 Vauxhall Motors
Harrogate Railway 1-3 Bristol City
Manchester United 4-1 Portsmouth
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 Newcastle United
Coventry City 3-0 Cardiff City
Gillingham 1-1 Leeds United
Crystal Palace 0-0 Liverpool
Millwall 1-2 Southampton
Crystal Palace 1-2 Leeds United
Stoke City 0-2 Chelsea
Burnley 3-0 Fulham
Sheffield United 1-0 Leeds United
Southampton 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Chelsea 1-3 Arsenal
Watford 1-2 Southampton
Arsenal 1-0 Southampton

The second round replay between Carlisle United vs. Scunthorpe United was originally scheduled to be on Sky Sports on 19 December 2002, but because of weather conditions, the game was postponed.