The most successful FA Cup winning clubs and players revealed

21 May 2024

GiveMeSport

The most successful FA Cup winning clubs and players revealed

The player with the most FA Cup titles is _____ ????????

Highlights

The FA Cup has been England's primary cup competition since its inception in 1871.
The knockout tournament has a long and illustrious history as the oldest cup competition in world football.
Arsenal are the most successful side in FA Cup history, while a former Gunner is the most decorated player of the tournament.

The FA Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world, having first formed in 1871. The tournament's format allows clubs from non-league to enter which can sometimes result in massive upsets, with Lincoln City the prime example of that in 2017.

The Imps became the first non-league side in 103 years to reach the quarter-finals after defeating top-flight opponents Burnley in the fifth round. Arsenal ultimately put an end to their remarkable run and went on to win the competition later that year.

The north Londoners have a great affection for the FA Cup and have won it a record 14 times. After dusting off the history books, here's everything you need to know about the competition's long list of winners.

Ranking the 10 Highest Attendances in FA Cup Final History

The FA Cup final is one of the most important days in the sporting calendar, bringing incredible attendances. We've ranked the highest 10.

FA Cup Winners List

Since the FA Cup's formation in 1871, 44 different teams have won the competition, but no side can match Arsenal's phenomenal record of 14 titles. Although, Manchester United aren't too far behind with 12. The Red Devils had the chance to claim a 13th title in 2023 but suffered defeat to Manchester City. Ilkay Gundogan put the Citizens 1-0 up within 12 seconds, paving the way for a 2-1 win in one of the few FA Cup finals that has been a derby.

The two rivals were paired against each other for the 2024 to produce a rare repeat showpiece. Not since 1885 had the same two clubs faced off in consecutive FA Cup finals - Blackburn Rovers defeated Scottish side Queens Park twice on the spin before the English Football League pyramid had even been invented.

The first FA Cup final was contested between Wanderers and Royal Engineers in 1872 before the permanent crossbar had been introduced. Morton Peto Betts, playing under the fake name AH Chequers, scored the only goal of the game for Wanderers against an Engineers side that had been reduced to 10 fit players inside the opening exchanges after Lieutenant Cresswell broke his collarbone.

FA Cup Winners List
Year	Winner	Runner-up
1872	Wanderers	Royal Engineers
1873	Wanderers	Oxford University
1874	Oxford University	Royal Engineers
1875	Royal Engineers	Old Etonians
1876	Wanderers	Old Etonians
1877	Wanderers	Oxford University
1878	Wanderers	Royal Engineers
1879	Old Etonians	Clapham Rovers
1880	Clapham Rovers	Oxford University
1881	Old Carthusians	Old Etonians
1882	Old Etonians	Blackburn Rovers
1883	Blackburn Olympic	Old Etonians
1884	Blackburn Rovers	Queens Park, Glasgow
1885	Blackburn Rovers	Queens Park, Glasgow
1886	Blackburn Rovers	West Bromwich Albion
1887	Aston Villa	West Bromwich Albion
1888	West Bromwich Albion	Preston North End
1889	Preston North End	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1890	Blackburn Rovers	Sheffield Wednesday
1891	Blackburn Rovers	Notts County
1892	West Bromwich Albion	Aston Villa
1893	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Everton
1894	Notts County	Bolton Wanderers
1895	Aston Villa	West Bromwich Albion
1896	Sheffield Wednesday	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1897	Aston Villa	Everton
1898	Nottingham Forest	Derby County
1899	Sheffield United	Derby County
1900	Bury	Southampton
1901	Tottenham Hotspur	Sheffield United
1902	Sheffield United	Southampton
1903	Bury	Derby County
1904	Manchester City	Bolton Wanderers
1905	Aston Villa	Newcastle United
1906	Everton	Newcastle United
1907	Sheffield Wednesday	Everton
1908	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Newcastle United
1909	Manchester United	Bristol City
1910	Newcastle United	Barnsley
1911	Bradford City	Newcastle United
1912	Barnsley	West Bromwich Albion
1913	Aston Villa	Sunderland
1914	Burnley	Liverpool
1915	Sheffield United	Chelsea
1920	Aston Villa	Huddersfield Town
1921	Tottenham Hotspur	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1922	Huddersfield Town	Preston North End
1923	Bolton Wanderers	West Ham United
1924	Newcastle United	Aston Villa
1925	Sheffield United	Cardiff City
1926	Bolton Wanderers	Manchester City
1927	Cardiff City	Arsenal
1928	Blackburn Rovers	Huddersfield Town
1929	Bolton Wanderers	Portsmouth
1930	Arsenal	Huddersfield Town
1931	West Bromwich Albion	Birmingham City
1932	Newcastle United	Arsenal
1933	Everton	Manchester City
1934	Manchester City	Portsmouth
1935	Sheffield Wednesday	West Bromwich Albion
1936	Arsenal	Sheffield United
1937	Sunderland	Preston North End
1938	Preston North End	Huddersfield Town
1939	Portsmouth	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1946	Derby County	Charlton Athletic
1947	Charlton Athletic	Burnley
1948	Manchester United	Blackpool
1949	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Leicester City
1950	Arsenal	Liverpool
1951	Newcastle United	Blackpool
1952	Newcastle United	Arsenal
1953	Blackpool	Bolton Wanderers
1954	West Bromwich Albion	Preston North End
1955	Newcastle United	Manchester City
1956	Manchester City	Birmingham City
1957	Aston Villa	Manchester United
1958	Bolton Wanderers	Manchester United
1959	Nottingham Forest	Luton Town
1960	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Blackburn Rovers
1961	Tottenham Hotspur	Leicester City
1962	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley
1963	Manchester United	Leicester City
1964	West Ham United	Preston North End
1965	Liverpool	Leeds United
1966	Everton	Sheffield Wednesday
1967	Tottenham Hotspur	Chelsea
1968	West Bromwich Albion	Everton
1969	Manchester City	Leicester City
1970	Chelsea	Leeds United
1971	Arsenal	Liverpool
1972	Leeds United	Arsenal
1973	Sunderland	Leeds United
1974	Liverpool	Newcastle United
1975	West Ham United	Fulham
1976	Southampton	Manchester United
1977	Manchester United	Liverpool
1978	Ipswich Town	Arsenal
1979	Arsenal	Manchester United
1980	West Ham United	Arsenal
1981	Tottenham Hotspur	Manchester City
1982	Tottenham Hotspur	Queens Park Rangers
1983	Manchester United	Brighton and Hove Albion
1984	Everton	Watford
1985	Manchester United	Everton
1986	Liverpool	Everton
1987	Coventry City	Tottenham Hotspur
1988	Wimbledon	Liverpool
1989	Liverpool	Everton
1990	Manchester United	Crystal Palace
1991	Tottenham Hotspur	Nottingham Forest
1992	Liverpool	Sunderland
1993	Arsenal	Sheffield Wednesday
1994	Manchester United	Chelsea
1995	Everton	Manchester United
1996	Manchester United	Liverpool
1997	Chelsea	Middlesbrough
1998	Arsenal	Newcastle United
1999	Manchester United	Newcastle United
2000	Chelsea	Aston Villa
2001	Liverpool	Arsenal
2002	Arsenal	Chelsea
2003	Arsenal	Southampton
2004	Manchester United	Millwall
2005	Arsenal	Manchester United
2006	Liverpool	West Ham United
2007	Chelsea	Manchester United
2008	Portsmouth	Cardiff City
2009	Chelsea	Everton
2010	Chelsea	Portsmouth
2011	Manchester City	Stoke City
2012	Chelsea	Liverpool
2013	Wigan Athletic	Manchester City
2014	Arsenal	Hull City
2015	Arsenal	Aston Villa
2016	Manchester United	Crystal Palace
2017	Arsenal	Chelsea
2018	Chelsea	Manchester United
2019	Manchester City	Watford
2020	Arsenal	Chelsea
2021	Leicester City	Chelsea
2022	Liverpool	Chelsea
2023	Manchester City	Manchester United

Clubs with Most FA Cup Titles

When Herbert Chapman joined Arsenal in 1925, he warned a club still waiting for its first major trophy that it would take five years for silverware to arrive. Right on schedule, the Gunners won the first of their record-breaking 14 FA Cup titles in 1930. Alex James opened the scoring in a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield, the side that Chapman had left to transform Arsenal. Six decades later, Arsene Wenger played the role of the north London revolutionary, steering the Gunners to an unprecedented seven FA Cups.

Manchester City are some way off the pace with seven domestic crowns in the club's entire history despite their recent dominance in English football. Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have all won the historic title eight times and sit joint-third for most triumphs.

Most Successful Teams in FA Cup History
Rank	Team	Titles
1	Arsenal	14
2	Manchester United	12
3	Liverpool	8
Chelsea	8
Tottenham Hotspur	8
6	Manchester City	7
Aston Villa	7
Newcastle United	6
Blackburn Rovers	6
10	Everton	5
West Bromwich Albion	5
Wanderers	5
13	Wolves	4
Sheffield United	4
Bolton	4
16	West Ham United	3
Sheffield Wednesday	3
18	Nottingham Forest	2
Sunderland	2
Preston North End	2
Portsmouth	2
Bury	2
Old Etonians	2
24	Bradford City	1
Barnsley	1
Blackburn Olympic	1
Blackpool	1
Burnley	1
Cardiff City	1
Charlton Athletic	1
Clapham Rovers	1
Coventry City	1
Derby County	1
Huddersfield Town	1
Ipswich Town	1
Leeds United	1
Leicester City	1
Notts County	1
Old Carthusians	1
Oxford University	1
Royal Engineers	1
Southampton	1
Wigan Athletic	1
Wimbledon	1

Clubs with Most FA Cup Final Appearances

Arsenal, unsurprisingly, have appeared in the FA Cup final a whopping 21 times, though, as have 12-time winners of the competition Manchester United. The Red Devils only appeared in one FA Cup showpiece before the Second World War - winning the tournament in 1909 against Bristol City - but have been provided a reliable presence in the subsequent years, particularly during Sir Alex Ferguson's historically successful spell.

Next in line is Chelsea, who have appeared at the sharp end of the tournament on 16 occasions. The Blues have been a fixture of most FA Cup finals at the new Wembley Stadium since the venue was unveiled in 2007 but with mixed success. Chelsea reached three consecutive showpieces between 2020 and 2022 and proceeded to lose each game.

Liverpool have elbowed their way into 15 FA Cup finals, most of which came during the club's golden era under the stewardship of Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish. The club visited Wembley so frequently that fans impishly dubbed the London stadium 'Anfield South'.

Clubs with Most FA Cup Final Appearances
Rank	Team	Finals
1	Arsenal	21
Manchester United	21
3	Chelsea	16
4	Liverpool	15
5	Newcastle United	13
Everton	13
7	Manchester City	12
8	Aston Villa	11
9	West Bromwich Albion	10
10	Tottenham Hotspur	9
11	Blackburn Rovers	8
Wolves	8
13	Bolton	7
Preston North End	7
15	Sheffield United	6
Sheffield Wednesday	6
Old Etonians	6
18	Wanderers	5
West Ham United	5
Portsmouth	5
Huddersfield Town	5
Leicester City	5
23	Sunderland	4
Oxford University	4
Royal Engineers	4
Derby County	4
Leeds United	4
Southampton	4
29	Nottingham Forest	3
Burnley	3
Cardiff City	3
Blackpool	3
33	Bury	2
Clapham Rovers	2
Notts County	2
Barnsley	2
Charlton Athletic	2
Queen's Park	2
Birmingham City	2
Crystal Palace	2
Watford	2
42	Old Carthusians	1
Blackburn Olympic	1
Bradford City	1
Ipswich Town	1
Coventry City	1
Wimbledon	1
Wigan Athletic	1
Bristol City	1
Luton Town	1
Fulham	1
Queens Park Rangers	1
Brighton and Hove Albion	1
Middlesbrough	1
Millwall	1
Stoke City	1
Hull City	1