Top 5 FA Cup finals of all time

Chelsea won an interesting final against Leeds United
Chelsea won an interesting final against Leeds United

Only minutes are left before the 2018 FA Cup final kicks off. The final is expected to be an interesting battle between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley as both sides look to end the season with a trophy.

Manchester United reached the final with a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley while Chelsea beat Southampton 2-0 to reach the final.

So far, a total of 136 FA Cup finals have been played. There have been numerous close encounters in many finals but 5 finals stand out from the rest. So without any further ado, let's take a look at the top 5 FA Cup finals of all time.

Honorable Mentions: The 1981 FA Cup final between Tottenham Hotspur (3) and Manchester City (2), the 1988 FA Cup final between Wimbledon (1) and Liverpool (0) and 2001 FA Cup final between Liverpool (2) and Arsenal (1).


#5 1970: Chelsea vs Leeds United (2-1)

The final of the 1970 FA Cup was held between Chelsea and Leeds United who were two of England's strongest teams that season, ending second and third in the League respectively.

Both teams were brilliant throughout the tournament. Chelsea reached their third FA Cup final by thrashing Watford 5-0 in the semi-final. Leeds were in their second FA Cup final by defeating Manchester United 1-0 in the second replay of the semi-final.

The final was held at Wembley and a crowd of 100,000 had assembled to witness it. In the 20th minute, Leeds defender Jack Charlton headed downwards from a corner which did not bounce on the muddy Wembley pitch. However, Chelsea left-back Eddie McCreadie's clearance attempt was mistimed and he deflected the ball in the goal and Leeds were up 1-0.

During the end of half-time, Chelsea equalised as midfielder Peter Houseman shot low from 20 yards and his shot rolled below the body of Leeds goalie Gary Sprake.

Six minutes before full-time, Leeds striker Allan Clarke's header hit the post but his teammate Mick Jones scored from the rebound to restore the lead for Leeds. However, Ian Hutchinson equalised for Chelsea from a cross in the 86th minute.

No more goals were scored and the score remained 2-2 at the end of extra time. At the time, penalties weren't introduced, so the final would be replayed.

The replay was played at Old Trafford and turned out to be one of the most physical clashes in English football history.

The match official Eric Jennings who was in his final season as a referee, allowed both sides to play rough and played the advantage numerous times.

A few minutes into the game, Chelsea's Ron Harris caught Leeds' Eddie Gray with a kick at the back of the knee.

This had an adverse effect on Gray for the rest of the match. There were plenty of physical moments in the game as Norman Hunter and Ian Hutchinson exchanged punches while Eddie McCreadie gave a flying kick to Leeds skipper Billy Bremner.

In a tussle with Mick Jones, Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Bonetti got injured. Minutes later, Jones shot past a limping Bonetti to give Leeds the lead.

Chelsea equalised when Peter Osgood scored with a diving header from a Charlie Cooke cross.

Osgood thus became the ninth and till date, the last player to have scored in every round of the FA Cup.

The match eventually went to extra time. During the 104th minute, Chelsea were awarded a throw-in.

Ian Hutchinson threw the ball towards the penalty area and a Leeds defender's header deflected the ball towards David Webb who headed in the ball to give Chelsea a 2-1 lead.

Chelsea could have made it 3-1 towards the end of extra-time but Hutchinson's goal was ruled offside.

Eventually, Chelsea won the replay 2-1 to win their maiden FA Cup title. However, the replay will always be remembered for its immense physicality.

When referee David Elleray reviewed the match in 1997, he said that 20 yellow cards and six red cards should have been issued compared to the one yellow card that was issued.

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#4 1979: Arsenal vs Manchester United (3-2)

Arsenal won their 5th FA Cup title by defeating Manchester United in an thrilling final at Wembley
Arsenal won their fifth FA Cup title in one of the most thrilling FA Cup finals ever

The 1979 FA Cup final was contested between Arsenal and Manchester United. Manchester United reached their eighth FA Cup final by beating Liverpool 1-0 in the semi-final replay at Goodison after the previous match ended 2-2 at Manchester.

Arsenal reached their 10th FA Cup final by defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Birmingham. Arsenal who lost last year's final to Ipswich Town were yet to concede a goal in the tournament.

The final was held at Wembley and a crowd of 100,000 came to watch the clash. Arsenal took the lead in the 12th minute thanks to new signing Brian Talbot.

The Gunners doubled their lead in the 43rd minute thanks to Frank Stapleton.

It seemed like Arsenal would sail to victory but they had no idea what was in store for them in the last five minutes of the game.

In the 86th minute, Gordon McQueen scored to keep the Red Devils alive. Two minutes later, Samuel McIlroy equalised to keep Manchester United in the game.

The Wembley crowd was on their feet and the Arsenal personnel could not believe their eyes.

However, United's delight was short-lived as moments later, Arsenal began a counter-attack and a cross by Graham Rix from the left found Alan Sunderland who found the back of the net and Arsenal won their fifth FA Cup title.

The 1979 FA Cup final will always be remembered for having one of the greatest finishes ever in English football history.

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#3 1987: Coventry City vs Tottenham Hotspur (3-2)

Coventry City won the FA Cup thanks to an own goal from Tottenham
Coventry City won the FA Cup thanks to an own goal from Tottenham

The 1987 FA Cup final was held between Tottenham Hotspur and Coventry City. Tottenham Hotspur who were the joint-most successful team in FA Cup history along with Aston Villa at the time reached their eighth final by thrashing Watford 4-1 in the semi-finals.

This was a time when Tottenham was among the silverware claimers in English football.

Coventry City was the surprise package of the competition as they defeated Manchester United in the fourth round.

The Sky Blues reached the final after defeating 1972 champions Leeds United 3-2 in an exciting semi-final clash.

The final was held at Wembley and 98,000 people gathered to witness it. Tottenham were the favorites coming into the match and it took them only two minutes to score the opener through a Clive Allen header. It was Allen's 49th goal of the season across all competitions.

However, Coventry equalised just seven minutes later through Dave Bennett who was a part of the Manchester City squad that was beaten by Tottenham in the 1981 FA Cup final. Spurs regained the lead five minutes before half-time thanks to defender Gary Mabbutt.

Midway in the second half, Coventry were level once again thanks to Keith Houchen's diving header from a Bennett cross.

Both teams had the FA Cup trophy flashing in front of their eyes and were playing tremendously well with neither willing to end up on the losing side.

The passing was brilliant from both sides and it was also the main reason why quite a number of goals were scored and numerous scoring chances were accumulated.

However, there was no deviation in the scoreline for the remainder of regular time and the match went into extra time.

During the 96th minute, Coventry midfielder Lloyd McGrath sent in a cross which took a deflection from Mabbutt and went in.

Coventry City scripted one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup by beating Tottenham to clinch their only FA Cup title. This remains to be the only FA Cup final that Tottenham have lost.

The 1987 FA Cup final will always be remembered for the high-quality football played by both teams.

Renowned commentator John Motson claims that this was the finest FA Cup final he ever commentated, stating that the match was a clean, good-willed yet well-contested final, with no bookings and high-quality football being produced by both sides.

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#2 2006: Liverpool vs West Ham United (3-3, Liverpool won 3-1 on penalties)

Liverpool came out on top in one of the most enthralling finals of all-time
Liverpool came out on top in one of the most enthralling finals of all-time

The final of the 2006 FA Cup was contested between Liverpool and West Ham United. Liverpool were having a brilliant tournament and they reached their 13th FA Cup final by defeating Chelsea 2-1 in the semi-final at Old Trafford.

West Ham reached their first FA Cup final in 26 years and their fifth overall by beating Middlesbrough in the semi-final at Birmingham.

The final was held at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and a crowd of 71,140 came to witness it.

Both teams had some brilliant chances during the start of the game but both teams fell short.

West Ham took the lead in the 21st minute as Jamie Carragher deflected a low cross from West Ham right-back Lionel Scaloni into his own net.

Seven minutes later, The Hammers doubled their lead when Liverpool custodian Pepe Reina fumbled a shot from Matthew Etherington and Dean Ashton tapped it in the back of the net.

Liverpool pulled one back in the 32nd minute thanks to Djibril Cisse who met Steven Gerrard's cross.

In the start of the second half, West Ham had a good chance to take a 3-1 lead but Marlon Harewood's shot was saved by Reina and the Spaniard also managed to save the rebound from Yossi Benayoun.

Nine minutes into the second half, Xabi Alonso sent a cross towards Peter Crouch who headed down the ball and Steven Gerrard scored from a fine volley to level the scores.

In the 64th minute, Paul Konchesky received the ball on the left and he hit what looked like a cross towards the Liverpool penalty area. However, the ball sailed over Reina and found the net to restore the lead for West Ham.

As injury time approached, all seemed lost for Liverpool. Then came a moment of magic. During injury time, John Arne Riise crossed the ball into the West Ham penalty area and it was cleared by Danny Gabbidon.

The ball then went towards Gerrard who hit a low-trajectory volley past West Ham goalie into the bottom left corner of the goal to bring Liverpool back.

With the scores level at 3-3, the match proceeded into extra time. Both teams had some great scoring opportunities in extra-time but neither found the end product and the match went into penalties.

This was the second successive FA Cup final which would be decided by penalties.

In the shootout, Liverpool converted their first attempt thanks to Dietmar Hamann. However, West Ham's Bobby Zamora saw his shot being saved by Reina.

West Ham saw some hope when Sami Hyypia's penalty was saved by Hislop and Teddy Sheringham converted his shot.

Liverpool were 3-1 up when Gerrard and Riise converted their spot kicks while Konchesky's shot was saved by Reina.

Anton Ferdinand had to score his kick to keep West Ham in the game but his shot was saved brilliantly by Reina and Liverpool won their seventh FA Cup title.

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#1 1953: Blackpool vs Bolton Wanderers (4-3)

The legendary Sir Stanley Matthews inspired Blackpool to the most memorable win in the club's history
The legendary Sir Stanley Matthews inspired Blackpool to the most memorable win in the club's history

The 1953 FA Cup final was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers. Blackpool reached their third FA Cup final by defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Birmingham.

Three-time champs at the time. Bolton Wanderers reached their sixth FA Cup final by beating Everton 4-3 in an exciting semi-final at Manchester.

It was also Bolton's first FA Cup final since 1929.

The final was held at Wembley exactly a month before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A crowd of 100,00 people came to see the game.

Bolton Wanderers took the lead after just 75 seconds thanks to Nat Lofthouse who scored in every round of the tournament. Blackpool equalised in the 35th minute thanks to a lucky goal by Stan Mortensen.

Bolton restored their lead thanks to Willie Moir. At the end of halftime, Bolton were leading 2-1.

Just ten minutes into the second half, Eric Bell scored to extend Bolton's lead at 3-1. In the 68th minute, Stanley Matthews gave a brilliant cross from the right wing which was met by Mortensen to keep Blackpool in the game.

In the 89th minute, Mortensen scored directly from a free-kick to equalise for Blackpool and score the third and till date, last hat-trick in an FA Cup final. It also remains the only hat-trick scored in an FA Cup final held at Wembley.

With just moments to spare, Matthews crossed from the right wing again and this time the ball went towards Bill Perry who found the net and won the tournament for Blackpool.

Having been a part of the team that lost the FA Cup finals in 1948 and 1951, Stanley Matthews finally laid his hands on the glorious trophy.

Despite Mortensen scoring a hat-trick, the match is still remembered for Stanley Matthews' performances and is fondly remembered as the Matthews Final.

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Edited by Alan John