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The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world.
Contents
Location
The semi-finals are contested at neutral venues; in the past these have usually been the home grounds of teams not involved in that semi-final, such as Villa Park in Birmingham, Old Trafford in Manchester and Hillsborough in Sheffield.
The 1991 semi-final between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur was the first to be played at Wembley, the traditional venue for the FA Cup Final. Two years later both semi-finals were held at Wembley after the Steel City derby between Sheffield clubs Wednesday and United was switched from the original venue of Elland Road, Leeds. This was repeated in 1994, although a replay between Manchester United and Oldham Athletic was held at Maine Road, Manchester.
From 1995 to 1999 and from 2001 to 2004 other neutral grounds were used, though in 2000 both matches were played at the old Wembley, in its final year of operation. In 2005 both semi-finals were played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. However, in 2006 the FA decided to revert to the neutral ground system, with Villa Park and Old Trafford hosting the games.
In 2003, it was announced that all future semi-finals would be played at the new Wembley Stadium, once it had opened; this took effect in 2008. The decision was mainly for financial reasons, to allow the FA to recoup some of the costs of rebuilding the stadium. However, the move was to the disappointment of traditionalists and drew criticism from some supporters' groups.
Format
In the past a replay match was played if the first semi-final ended in a draw. If the replay match also ended in a draw a second replay match would take place. In theory an unlimited number of games could be played to determine the outcome of a tie. For example, in 1980 it took four games to decide the winner between Arsenal and Liverpool. This is the most games needed to settle an FA Cup Semi-final, although there were several occasions where three games were played. Prior to the 1992 semi-finals, the only semi-final played under different rules to this was the rearranged 1989 semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, for which it had been declared in advance that the game would be decided by extra-time and penalties if necessary.
In 1991 the FA decided that only one replay should be played (starting with the 1991–92 competition). If this game ended in a draw, extra time would be played, followed by penalty kicks if the match was still even. In 1999 it was decided that the semi-finals should be decided in one game, with extra time and penalties used to determine the outcome if the game ended in a draw (replays are still used in earlier rounds, however). The last FA Cup Semi-final replay, in 1999, saw Manchester United take on Arsenal at Villa Park. This turned out to become one of the most memorable semi-finals of all time, with Peter Schmeichel saving a last-minute penalty from Dennis Bergkamp and a Ryan Giggs extra time goal deciding the outcome in Manchester United's favour. In 2003 this goal was voted the greatest ever in FA Cup history.
Queen's Park chose not to contest the 1871–72 replay match with Wanderers. There were no semi-finals played in the 1872–73 competition, while between 1877–1881 only one semi-final was played.
The 1989 semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, Sheffield, turned into tragedy when 96 supporters were killed in the stands due to overcrowding. The Hillsborough disaster had wide-ranging effects on future stadium design.
Records
Villa Park is the most used stadium in FA Cup semi–final history, having hosted 55 semi–finals.
The highest attendance for an FA Cup semi-final is 88,141 for Everton's penalty win over Manchester United on 19 April 2009. It was the fourth semi-final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium.
The highest winning margin was Newcastle United's 6–0 victory over Fulham in the 1908 Anfield semi-final. The highest post-war winning margin was Stoke City's 5–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers in the second 2011 semi-final on 17 April 2011. The highest-scoring match was Hull City's 5–3 victory over Sheffield United in the second 2014 semi-final.
1870s
1 Queen's Park could not afford a second trip to London for their semi-final replay and were forced to withdraw
2 Queen's Park once again withdrew from the FA Cup at the semi-final stage.
Semi-finals table
Teams shown with an asterisk beside their name are no longer in existence. This table is updated after 2015–16 FA Cup.