2006 FA Cup final
The 2006 FA Cup final was a football match played between Liverpool and West Ham United on 13 May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2005-06 FA Cup, the 125th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition. Liverpool were participating in their 13th final; they had previously won six and lost six. West Ham were appearing in their fifth final, they had previously won three and lost once. This was the last final to be held at the Millennium Stadium while Wembley Stadium was rebuilt. Liverpool had won the first final to be held at the Millennium Stadium in 2001, when they beat Arsenal 2–1. The match has been called The Gerrard Final due to Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's volleys and is widely regarded as one of the greatest cup finals in the history of the competition.
As both teams were in the highest tier of English football, the Premier League, they entered the competition in the third round. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis, with a replay taking place if the match ended in a draw. Liverpool's matches varied from close affairs to comfortable victories. They beat Manchester United 1–0 in the fifth round, while they won 7–0 against Birmingham City in the sixth round. The majority of West Ham's matches were close, with their only match to be decided by more than one goal being their 4–2 victory against Blackburn Rovers in the fourth round.
Watched by a crowd of 71,140, West Ham took the lead in the first half when Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher scored an own goal, and striker Dean Ashton scored a few minutes later to make it 2–0 to West Ham. Liverpool scored, courtesy of Djibril Cissé, to make the score 2–1 at half time. They equalised not long after the restart via a Steven Gerrard goal. However, ten minutes later West Ham defender Paul Konchesky gave his team a 3–2 lead. With the match in injury time, Gerrard equalised from distance to make the score 3–3 and force the game into extra time. No further goals were scored in extra time meaning the match was to be decided by a penalty shoot-out. West Ham missed three of their four penalties while Liverpool converted three of four to win the shoot-out 3–1.
The victory meant Liverpool won the FA Cup for the seventh time. They later played against league champions Chelsea in the 2006 FA Community Shield. Given Liverpool had already qualified for Europe in the UEFA Champions League via their league position, their UEFA Cup spot was awarded to runners-up West Ham.
Route to the final
Liverpool
Liverpool entered the competition in the third round, as one of the twenty teams from the Premier League. They were drawn against Football League Championship side Luton Town, at Luton's home ground Kenilworth Road. Despite trailing 3–1 at the interval, four goals in the second half, including one from behind the halfway line by Xabi Alonso, meant Liverpool recovered to win the match 5–3 and progress to the fourth round. There, they were drawn against fellow top division club Portsmouth. The match held at Portsmouth's ground, Fratton Park, saw Liverpool take the lead in the first half when captain Steven Gerrard scored a penalty following a handball by Portsmouth defender Dejan Stefanović, and John Arne Riise scored again before half time to make it 2–0. Portsmouth got a goal back through midfielder Sean Davis in the second half, but no more goals were scored and Liverpool won 2–1 to go through to the fifth round.Fellow Premier League team Manchester United were the opposition in the fifth round. With the match held at Liverpool's home ground Anfield, they won 1–0, courtesy of a Peter Crouch goal in the 19th minute. This was the first time in 85 years that Liverpool had defeated United in the FA Cup. Liverpool were then drawn against another Premier League team, Birmingham City in the sixth round. Liverpool took the lead in the match held at Birmingham's home ground St Andrew's in the first minute when defender Sami Hyypiä headed in, and two more goals in the first half from Crouch saw Liverpool finish the first half with a 3–0 lead. Four more goals in the second half from Fernando Morientes, Riise, Djibril Cissé and an own goal from Birmingham defender Olivier Tébily meant Liverpool won 7–0 to progress to the semi-final.
Chelsea, also of the Premier League, were the opposition in the semi-final. The match was held at Old Trafford, the home stadium of Manchester United as a neutral ground. Liverpool took the lead in the first half. Chelsea defender and captain John Terry committed a foul on Luis García, which resulted in a Liverpool free kick, from which Riise scored. They extended their lead soon after the start of the second half, when a goal by García from, after he received the ball from a William Gallas header, gave them a 2–0 lead. Chelsea scored late in the half through striker Didier Drogba, but they were unable to achieve an equaliser and Liverpool won the match 2–1 to progress to the final.
West Ham United
West Ham entered the competition in the third round, where they were drawn against Championship team Norwich City. Before the game Norwich's top scorer, Dean Ashton, was withdrawn from their squad amid speculation that he was about to be sold. Although the sale was denied by manager Nigel Worthington, Ashton joined West Ham soon after for £7.2 million. The match played at Norwich's home ground, Carrow Road, saw West Ham take the lead in the sixth minute through midfielder Hayden Mullins, and double it in the second half from striker Bobby Zamora. Norwich found a consolation with a Paul McVeigh penalty, but they lost 2–1 and West Ham progressed to the fourth round. Fellow Premier League team Blackburn Rovers were the opposition in the fourth round. West Ham went a goal down in the first minute when David Bentley scored, but they subsequently scored four goals from Teddy Sheringham, Matthew Etherington, Bobby Zamora and an own goal from Zurab Khizanishvili to win the match 4–2 and go through to the fifth round.West Ham were again drawn against Premier League opposition in the fifth round, facing Bolton Wanderers away at the Reebok Stadium. It ended in a 0–0 draw, necessitating a replay. A Jussi Jääskeläinen own goal in the 10th minute gave West Ham the lead in the replay at their home ground Upton Park. Bolton equalised through striker Kevin Davies and with the score 1–1 at full time the match went to extra time. A goal from striker Marlon Harewood in the 96th minute gave West Ham a 2–1 victory and meant they progressed to the sixth round. Premier League team Manchester City were the opposition in the sixth round, and West Ham went ahead in the 41st minute when striker Dean Ashton scored. They extended their lead, in the match held at City's ground, the City of Manchester Stadium, in the 69th minute with Ashton's second of the match. A goal from Kiki Musampa in the 85th minute for City was not enough to prevent West Ham and they won 2–1 to go through to the semi-final.
Middlesbrough, also from the Premier League, were the opposition in the semi-final at the neutral venue of Villa Park in Birmingham. Before the game both players and supporters paused to remember the life of West Ham's recently deceased former manager, John Lyall. The first half saw Middlesbrough dominate, but they were unable to convert any of their chances into goals. They also lost goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to injury. A long pass by defender Anton Ferdinand was headed down by Ashton to Harewood, whose goal ensured a 1–0 victory for West Ham and a place in the final.
Background
The match was Liverpool's 13th appearance in the final. They had won on six occasions and lost six times. West Ham were appearing in their fifth final, they had previously won three and lost once in the 1923 FA Cup Final. Liverpool had won both the meetings between the teams in the Premier League during the season. A 2–0 home victory at the end of October, was followed by a 2–1 win at the end of April. The latter match saw Liverpool midfielder Luis García and West Ham defender Hayden Mullins sent off, which meant they would both be suspended for the final.A week before the final, Liverpool played Portsmouth in the 2005–06 Premier League – it was their last match before the final, and they won 3–1. The win was Liverpool's ninth straight in the competition and meant they finished the season in third place. One area of concern was the fitness of midfielder Xabi Alonso, who injured his ankle in the match and was a doubt for the final. They were also without striker Robbie Fowler, who was cup-tied after playing for Manchester City earlier in the competition. Captain Steven Gerrard was determined not to let complacency affect Liverpool; "We have beaten fantastic sides like Manchester United and Chelsea to get to the final, but it is always on your mind that after going on such a successful run you might not get over that last hurdle."
West Ham's final game before the final was against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, and a 2–1 win meant they finished the season in ninth place. West Ham also had injury concerns ahead of the final, with midfielder Matthew Etherington and striker Dean Ashton both doubts to be fit for the match. However, manager Alan Pardew was optimistic they would be available for selection stating: "You expect everyone to put their life on the line for the final." Pardew was also optimistic about his team's chances in the final, despite them being considered as the underdogs: We're up against a technical team who are better than us, Liverpool have got more experience and more international players, too. But everyone also knows that we attack teams and that we've got a big punch."
The match was originally scheduled to be played on 20 May. However, England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson wanted a four-week break before the start of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, so that if any England players were involved would get a decent rest before the tournament. The final was scheduled to be held at Wembley Stadium, however the stadium had fallen behind in its rebuild and would not be completed in time for the final. The final would instead be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where it had been held since 2001. Mike Dean was originally appointed to referee the final, but questions about his impartiality were raised as he resided close to Liverpool. He was replaced by Alan Wiley.
In the week before the Final, a block of 1,600 tickets in the Liverpool supporters' seating area was stolen in the postal system. The stadium authorities refused to reissue the tickets on crowd safety grounds, and threatened to eject anyone found sitting in the block from the stadium and possibly prosecute them for receiving stolen goods. Liverpool F.C. arranged for most of the affected fans to receive tickets from an allocation that had been held back for a lottery among their supporters. The day after the final, South Wales Police seized 100 stolen tickets. Three people were arrested after 15 forged tickets were found ahead of the match.