FA Cup 2006-07

The FA Cup 2006–07 was the 126th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition; The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. This season's edition was the first to be entitled "The FA Cup sponsored by E.On".

The competition started on 18 August 2006 with the first of the record number of 687 teams entering in the Extra Preliminary Round and concluded on 19 May 2007 with the Final, held at the new Wembley Stadium.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6500217.stm|title=FA Cup Final will be at Wembley|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2007-03-27]

For information on the matches played from the Extra Preliminary Round to the final Qualifying Round, see FA Cup 2006-07 Qualifying Rounds.

Chelsea claimed this season's FA Cup with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Manchester United, with Didier Drogba scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of extra-time. Manchester United had played against top-flight opponents in each round, matching their effort from 1948, but losing out this time.

Calendar

Third Round Proper

This round marks the entry of the top-flight teams to the competition. Matches were played on the weekend of Saturday, 6 January 2007. The draw was made on 3 December 2006 by Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking, and televised live on BBC One. Replays were held in the week of 16 January and 17 January, with the exception of the Luton - QPR replay, which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

ixth Round Proper

Matches played on the weekend of Saturday, 10 March 2007. The draw for the round, also known as the quarter-finals, took place on Monday, 19 February 2007 at 1:30pm GMT. The draw was made by Steve McClaren and Terry Venables, adjudicated by Trevor Brooking and televised live on BBC Two. This was the last round in which matches were held on the home grounds of one of the teams.

footballbox
date=2007-03-10
time=17:30
team1=Middlesbrough
score=2 – 2
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/03/FACup_MiddManUrep.htm (Report)]
team2=Manchester United
goals1=Cattermole goal|44
Boateng goal|47
goals2=Rooney goal|23
Ronaldo goal|68|pen.
stadium=Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
attendance=33,308
referee=Rob Styles (Hampshire) ----footballbox
date=2007-03-11
time=12:45
team1=Chelsea
score=3 – 3
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/03/FACup_ChelseaQF.htm (Report)]
team2=Tottenham Hotspur
goals1=Lampard goal|22 goal|71
Kalou goal|86
goals2=Berbatov goal|5
Essien goal|28|o.g.
Ghaly goal|36
stadium=Stamford Bridge, London
attendance=41,517
referee=Mike Riley (West Yorkshire) ----footballbox
date=2007-03-11
time=16:00
team1=Blackburn Rovers
score=2 – 0
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/03/FACup_BlackburnCity.htm (Report)]
team2=Manchester City
goals1=Mokoena goal|28
Derbyshire goal|90
goals2=
stadium=Ewood Park, Blackburn
attendance=27,743
referee=Mike Dean (Cheshire) ----footballbox
date=2007-03-11
time=18:00
team1=Plymouth Argyle
score=0 – 1
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/03/FACup_PlymWatford.htm (Report)]
team2=Watford
goals1=
goals2=Bouazza goal|21
stadium=Home Park, Plymouth
attendance=20,652
referee=Chris Foy (Merseyside)

Replays

footballbox
date=2007-03-19
time=20:00
team1=Manchester United
score=1 – 0
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/03/FACup_UnitedBoro.htm (Report)]
team2=Middlesbrough
goals1=Ronaldo goal|76|pen.
goals2=
stadium=Old Trafford, Manchester
attendance=71,325
referee=Mike Dean (Cheshire) ----footballbox
date=2007-03-19
time=20:05
team1=Tottenham Hotspur
score=1 – 2
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/FACup_Blues2-1.htm (Report)]
team2=Chelsea
goals1=Keane goal|76|pen.
goals2=Shevchenko goal|54
Wright-Phillips goal|61
stadium=White Hart Lane, London
attendance=35,519
referee=Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire)

emi-finals

Unlike earlier rounds, matches were played on neutral grounds on the weekend of Saturday, 14 April 2007. There would be no replays even if the matches were drawn; instead, extra time would decide winners immediately thereafter. Only if extra time did not decide the winners, a penalty shootout would decide winners. The draw for the semi-finals took place on Monday, 12 March 2007 at 1:30pm GMT. The draw was made by Ray Clemence, and adjudicated by Trevor Brooking.

footballbox
date=2007-04-14
17:30
team1=Watford
score=1 – 4
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/UnitedWatford1.htm (Report)]
team2=Manchester United
goals1=Bouazza goal|26
goals2=Rooney goal|7 goal|66 Ronaldo goal|28 Richardson goal|82
stadium=Villa Park, Birmingham
attendance=37,425
referee=Howard Webb (Sheffield & Hallamshire) ----footballbox
date=2007-04-15
16:00
team1=Blackburn Rovers
score=1 – 2
(a.e.t.)
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/04/ChelseaReport.htm (Report)]
team2=Chelsea
goals1=Roberts goal|64
goals2=Lampard goal|16
Ballack goal|109
stadium=Old Trafford, Manchester
attendance=50,559
referee=Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

Final

The 126th FA Cup Final was played at the new Wembley Stadium [cite web |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/10/16/sfnbos16.xml |title= Wembley to host 2007 FA Cup final |publisher=Daily Telegraph ] and it was the first FA Cup Final to be played in London since 2000. Similarly to the semi-finals, there would be no replay even if the match was drawn; instead, extra time would be used to decide the winners. If extra time failed to separate the two sides, the match would go to penalties.

footballbox
date=2007-05-19
15:00
team1=Chelsea
score=1 – 0 (a.e.t.)
team2=Manchester United
report= [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/03/CupFinal_Report.htm (Report)]
goals1=Drogba goal|116
goals2=
stadium=Wembley Stadium, London
attendance=89,826
referee=Steve Bennett (Kent) [cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2007/04/CupFinalReferee.htm |title=Bennett chosen for Final |accessdate=2007-04-19 |publisher=TheFA.com ]

*Assistant Referees:
**Peter Kirkup (Northamptonshire)
**Dave Bryan (Lincolnshire)
*Fourth official: Howard Webb (Sheffield & Hallamshire)

Player of the Round

References