2015 FA Cup Final

Event

2014–15 FA Cup

Arsenal	Aston Villa

4	0

Date

30 May 2015

Venue

Wembley Stadium, London

Man of the Match

Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)

Referee

Jon Moss (West Yorkshire)^[1]

Attendance

89,283

Weather

Scattered clouds
16 °C (61 °F)^[2]

The 2015 FA Cup Final was the 134th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest football cup competition. The match was contested by Arsenal and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium in London. The match was played on 30 May 2015 and was the final match of the competition.^[3] Arsenal won the match 4–0 with goals from Theo Walcott, Alexis Sánchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud, for a record 12th title.^[4] This was the sixth FA Cup win for manager Arsène Wenger, putting him in joint-first place for wins with George Ramsay.^[5]

Following a change in UEFA rules, this was the first season where runners-up in cup competitions did not enter the Europa League if the winners had already qualified for Europe. Therefore, as Arsenal had already qualified for the Champions League by finishing third in the Premier League, the remaining Europa League place went to Southampton, the highest-placed Premier League team that had not qualified for any European competition.^[6]

As winners, Arsenal played Chelsea, winners of the 2014–15 Premier League, in the 2015 FA Community Shield at Wembley.^[7]

Background

Arsenal were playing a record 19th FA Cup final, surpassing Manchester United. They had previously won 11, a joint record with United, most recently last season's final against Hull City. Their most recent defeat in the final was in 2001, losing 2–1 to Liverpool.^[8]

It was Aston Villa's 11th final, of which they had won seven, most recently in 1957 with a 2–1 win over Manchester United. Their most recent final was a 1–0 defeat to Chelsea in 2000.^[8]

Arsenal and Aston Villa played twice during the league season, both games resulting in Arsenal victories. On 20 September 2014, they won 3–0 at Villa Park with three goals in under four minutes of the first half, from Mesut Özil, Danny Welbeck and an own goal from Aly Cissokho off a shot from Kieran Gibbs.^[9] At the Emirates Stadium on 1 February 2015, Arsenal triumphed 5–0 with goals by Olivier Giroud, Özil, Theo Walcott, a penalty kick by Santi Cazorla after goalkeeper Brad Guzan fouled Chuba Akpom, and Héctor Bellerín.^[10]

Pre-match

Children's television programme Blue Peter ran a competition to design the mascot for the final. The winning entry was "Billie", a horse based on the one which controlled the crowds ahead of the 1923 final. Former England international Phil Neville, one of the judges in the competition, said that: "I think the design is great, the story behind it is even better and I think it’s something everyone’s going to be really impressed with.”^[11]

Religious television programme Songs of Praise ran a competition to be part of a 64-person choir to sing the traditional hymn "Abide with Me" before the final. The 64 are fans of each of the clubs which reached the Third Round of the competition, including a 99-year-old Newcastle United fan and a Liverpool fan who survived the Hillsborough disaster. The music was performed by The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas.^[12]

Following the semi-finals, both clubs met at Wembley to discuss final arrangements. Arsenal were designated as the "home" team because they were first alphabetically. Despite this, Aston Villa won the pre-match coin toss for choice of strips and chose to wear their home claret and blue kit that they had worn for all of the previous rounds. Arsenal decided to wear their yellow and blue away kit instead of their dark blue cup kit.^[13]

The BBC devoted a whole day of programming to the final, reviving the tradition of its all-day coverage.^[14]

Ticket allocation

Both Aston Villa and Arsenal received a ticket allocation of 25,000 for the game with 17,000 being offered to members of Club Wembley, de facto season ticket holders at Wembley Stadium. Ticket prices range from £50, £70, £90 and £120.^[15]

Route to the Final

Arsenal

Round	Opposition	Score
3rd	Hull City (h)	2–0
4th	Brighton & Hove Albion (a)	3–2
5th	Middlesbrough (h)	2–0
6th	Manchester United (a)	2–1
SF	Reading (n)	2–1 (aet)
Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue; (n) = Neutral venue.

FA Cup holders Arsenal entered the competition in the Third Round as a Premier League club. In their first match, they were drawn at home against fellow top-flight team Hull City in a repeat of the previous year's final. At their Emirates Stadium, Arsenal won 2–0 with goals from Per Mertesacker and Alexis Sánchez.^[16] In the Fourth Round, Arsenal drew a Championship team, Brighton & Hove Albion away. At the Falmer Stadium, Arsenal won 3–2 with goals from Theo Walcott, Mesut Özil and Tomáš Rosický.^[17] Arsenal were then drawn at home against another Championship club, Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium, and won 2–0 with both goals scored by Olivier Giroud.^[18] In the Sixth Round, Arsenal were drawn away at Manchester United. The match was also scheduled to be televised on BBC One on a Monday evening, which led to criticism from Arsenal supporters as there would be no trains back to London after the match.^[19] Despite this, at Old Trafford with 9,000 away supporters, Arsenal won 2–1 with goals from Nacho Monreal and former United player Danny Welbeck.^[20] In the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium, Arsenal were drawn against Championship side Reading and won 2–1 after extra time, with two goals from Sánchez to reach the FA Cup Final for the second consecutive year.^[21]

Aston Villa

Round	Opposition	Score
3rd	Blackpool (h)	1–0
4th	Bournemouth (h)	2–1
5th	Leicester City (h)	2–1
6th	West Bromwich Albion (h)	2–0
SF	Liverpool (n)	2–1
Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue; (n) = Neutral venue.

Also a Premier League team, Aston Villa entered the tournament in the Third Round with a 1–0 home win over Championship club Blackpool, Christian Benteke scoring the only goal two minutes from the end of the game.^[22] In the Fourth Round, they defeated another second-tier team at home, Bournemouth, 2–1. Carles Gil opened the scoring on his Villa debut, later doubled by Andreas Weimann, with a late consolation by Bournemouth substitute Callum Wilson.^[23] Now managed by Tim Sherwood, they played at home again in the Fifth Round against Premier League club Leicester City, winning by the same score. Leandro Bacuna scored the first goal, Scott Sinclair the second, and Andrej Kramarić an added-time consolation for the visitors.^[24]

Their Sixth Round game was again at Villa Park, a 2–0 victory over West Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion. Fabian Delph and Sinclair netted in the second half, wherein the away team's Claudio Yacob and Villa substitute Jack Grealish were sent off. The victory prompted a pitch invasion for which Aston Villa were charged by The Football Association.^[25]^[26] In May 2015, Aston Villa were fined £200,000 following the pitch invasions and were severely warned as to the club's future conduct.^[27] In the semi-final at Wembley Stadium, Villa came from behind to defeat Liverpool. They conceded the first goal by Philippe Coutinho, but responded with goals from Benteke and Delph to reach the final for the first time since 2000.^[28]

Match

Details

Arsenal v Aston Villa

30 May 2015
17:30 BST

Arsenal	4–0	Aston Villa
Walcott 40' Sánchez 50' Mertesacker 62' Giroud 90+3'	Report

Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 89,283
Referee: Jon Moss (West Yorkshire)^[1]

Arsenal

Aston Villa


GK	1	Wojciech Szczęsny
RB	39	Héctor Bellerín
CB	4	Per Mertesacker (c)
CB	6	Laurent Koscielny
LB	18	Nacho Monreal
CM	34	Francis Coquelin
CM	19	Santi Cazorla
RW	16	Aaron Ramsey
AM	11	Mesut Özil	77'
LW	17	Alexis Sánchez	90'
CF	14	Theo Walcott	77'
Substitutes:
GK	13	David Ospina
DF	3	Kieran Gibbs
DF	5	Gabriel Paulista
MF	10	Jack Wilshere	77'
MF	15	Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	90'
MF	20	Mathieu Flamini
FW	12	Olivier Giroud	77'
Manager:
Arsène Wenger


GK	31	Shay Given
RB	21	Alan Hutton	33'
CB	4	Ron Vlaar
CB	5	Jores Okore
LB	18	Kieran Richardson		68'
DM	15	Ashley Westwood	52'	71'
CM	8	Tom Cleverley	14'
CM	16	Fabian Delph (c)	37'
RW	28	Charles N'Zogbia		53'
LW	40	Jack Grealish
CF	20	Christian Benteke
Substitutes:
GK	1	Brad Guzan
DF	2	Nathan Baker
DF	7	Leandro Bacuna		68'
MF	9	Scott Sinclair
MF	12	Joe Cole
MF	24	Carlos Sánchez		71'
FW	11	Gabriel Agbonlahor	83'	53'
Manager:
Tim Sherwood

Man of the match

Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)^[29]

Match officials

Assistant referees:
- Darren England (South Yorkshire)^[1]
- Simon Bennett (Staffordshire)^[1]
Fourth official: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)^[1]
Reserve official: Harry Lennard (East Sussex)^[1]

Match rules

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
Seven named substitutes.
Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

Statistic	Arsenal	Aston Villa
Goals scored	4	0
Possession	59%	41%
Shots on target	8	0
Shots off target	8	2
Corner kicks	8	0
Fouls	8	15
Offsides	5	2
Yellow cards	0	5
Red cards	0	0
Source: ^[30]

Post-match

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere was charged with misconduct by the FA for his role in their victory parade.

The game was broadcast live in the UK on free-to-air TV on BBC One and on pay TV on BT Sport. It was the first FA Cup Final broadcast by the BBC in seven years and they restored the tradition of having an all-day build-up for the final, linking up with various other BBC programmes.^[31] The game was watched by an average of 8 million viewers on BBC One and a peak of 8.8 million.^[32] BT Sport's audience peaked with 212,000. It was the most watched game in the UK of the 2014–15 football season.

On Arsenal's victory parade after winning the final, Jack Wilshere led fans in a chant calling local rivals Tottenham Hotspur "shit".^[33] Having previously been warned after a similar chant in the previous season's victory parade, The Football Association charged him with misconduct.^[34]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Callow, James (21 April 2015). "Jon Moss will referee the 2015 FA Cup Final at Wembley". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
↑ "History for London City, United Kingdom". Weather Underground. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
↑ "2015 FA Cup Final date". Wembley Stadium. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
↑ "Gunners thrash Villa as Arsene Wenger makes history". Daily Telegraph. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
↑ "Arsene Wenger overtakes Sir Alex Ferguson to become FA Cup's joint most successful manager". London Evening Standard. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
↑ Stone, Simon (17 April 2015). "Reading and Aston Villa need FA Cup win for Europa League spot". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 17 April 2015.
↑ "Arsenal 4 Aston Villa 0". BBC Sport. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
1 2 "England FA Challenge Cup Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ Sanghera, Mandeep (20 September 2014). "Aston Villa 0–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ Dawkes, Phil (1 February 2015). "Arsenal 5–0 Aston Villa". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ "Billie the White Horse wins the Blue Peter FA Mascot Competition". British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
↑ "Songs of Praise FA Cup Fans Choir". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
↑ Gallagher, Sean (24 April 2015). "Arsenal to wear yellow and blue away strip for FA Cup final showdown with Aston Villa". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
↑ "BBC to bring back all-day coverage of final for 2015". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 19 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
↑ "FA defends Villa's 'low' FA cup final ticket allocation". ITV. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ Jurejko, Jonathan (4 January 2015). "Arsenal 2–0 Hull City". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 18 April 2015.
↑ Chowdhury, Saj (25 January 2015). "Brighton & Hove Albion 2–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 18 April 2015.
↑ Jennings, Patrick (15 February 2015). "Arsenal 2–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 18 April 2015.
↑ Cunningham, Sam (18 February 2015). "Arsenal fans' fury after FA Cup clash at Manchester United is scheduled for a Monday night". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
↑ Steinberg, Jacob (9 March 2015). "Manchester United v Arsenal: FA Cup quarter-final". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
↑ "FA Cup: Reading v Arsenal". BBC Sport. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
↑ Canavan, Steve (4 January 2015). "Aston Villa 1–0 Blackpool". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ McNulty, Phil (25 January 2015). "Aston Villa 2–1 Bournemouth". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ Jennings, Patrick (15 February 2015). "Aston Villa 2–1 Leicester". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ McNulty, Phil (7 March 2015). "Aston Villa 2–0 West Brom". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ "Aston Villa & Reading charged over FA Cup pitch invasions". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 21 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
↑ "Aston Villa fined £200,000 after FA Cup pitch invasions". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
↑ "Aston Villa 2–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
↑ "FA Cup Final as it happened". BBC Sport. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
↑ Taylor, Daniel (30 May 2015). "Alexis Sánchez inspires Arsenal to win over Aston Villa". The Observer. London. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
↑ "FA Cup: BBC brings back all-day coverage of final for 2015". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 26 May 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
↑ Plunkett, John (1 June 2015). "BBC's FA Cup final coverage nets peak of nearly 9 million". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
↑ Steinberg, Jacob (31 May 2015). "Jack Wilshere ticked off by Arsenal after foul-mouthed abuse of Spurs". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
↑ "Arsenal: Jack Wilshere charged with misconduct after parade". BBC Sport. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

FA Cup

Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

History Trophy List of finals FA Cup Third-fourth place matches Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Non-league clubs in the 5th Round

2014–15 in English football

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League competitions

Level 1	Premier League

Levels 2–4	Football League (Championship, League One, League Two, play-offs)

Levels 5–6	Football Conference (Premier, North, South)

Levels 7–8	Isthmian League (Premier, North, South) Northern Premier League (Premier, North, South) Southern Football League (Premier, Central, South & West)

Levels 9–10	Combined Counties League (Premier, First) East Midlands Counties League (level 10 only) Eastern Counties League (Premier, First) Essex Senior League (level 9 only) Hellenic League (Premier, East, West) Kent Invicta League (level 10 only) Midland League (Premier, First) Northern Counties East League (Premier, First) Northern League (First, Second) North West Counties League (Premier, First) Southern Counties East League (level 9 only) South West Peninsula League Premier Division (level 10 only) Spartan South Midlands League (Premier, First) Sussex County League (First, Second) United Counties League (Premier, First) Wessex League (Premier, First) Western League (Premier, First) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 10 only)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) FA Community Shield FA Trophy (Final) FA Vase (Final)

Football League cups	Football League Cup (Final) Football League Trophy (Final)

Youth competitions

Women's competitions

Super League ('14, '15)
FA Women's Cup (Final)

National teams

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Burnley Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Hull City Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Queens Park Rangers Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United

Championship	Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Derby County Fulham Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Reading Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday Watford Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton Wanderers

League One	Barnsley Bradford City Bristol City Chesterfield Colchester United Coventry City Crawley Town Crewe Alexandra Doncaster Rovers Fleetwood Town Gillingham Leyton Orient Milton Keynes Dons Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Port Vale Preston North End Rochdale Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Swindon Town Walsall Yeovil Town

League Two	Accrington Stanley AFC Wimbledon Burton Albion Bury Cambridge United Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Dagenham & Redbridge Exeter City Hartlepool United Luton Town Mansfield Town Morecambe Newport County Northampton Town Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Shrewsbury Town Southend United Stevenage Tranmere Rovers Wycombe Wanderers York City

Non-League	Aldershot Town Bristol Rovers Chester Dover Athletic FC Halifax Town Gateshead Grimsby Town Lincoln City Torquay United

Arsenal F.C. matches

FA Cup Finals	1927 1930 1932 1936 1950 1952 1971 1972 1978 1979 1980 1993 1998 2001 2002 2003 2005 2014 2015

Football League War Cup Finals	1941 1943

League Cup Finals	1968 1969 1987 1988 1993 2007 2011

FA Community Shields	1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1938 1948 1953 1979 1989 1991 1993 1998 1999 2002 2003 2004 2005 2014 2015

UEFA Champions League Final	2006

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Finals	1980 1994 1995

UEFA Cup Final	2000 riots

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final	1970

European Super Cup	1994

Other matches	Leicester City 6–6 Arsenal (1930) Aston Villa 1–7 Arsenal (1935) Liverpool 0–2 Arsenal (1989) Manchester United–Arsenal brawl (1990) Wrexham 2–1 Arsenal (1992) Battle of Old Trafford (2003) Battle of the Buffet (2004) Eusébio Cup (2011) MLS All-Star Game (2016)

Aston Villa F.C. matches

FA Cup Finals	1887 1892 1895 1897 1905 1913 1920 1924 1957 2000 2015

Football League War Cup Final	1944

League Cup Finals	1961 1963 1971 1975 1977 1994 1996 2010

FA Charity Shields	1910 1957 1972 1981

European Cup Final	1982

European Super Cup	1982

Intercontinental Cup	1982

UEFA Intertoto Cup Finals	2001

Other matches	Aston Villa 1–7 Arsenal (1935)

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