The 1999âÂÂ2000 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by AXA for sponsorship reasons) was the 119th staging of the FA Cup. Both the semifinals and final of the competition were played at Wembley Stadium for the last time before reconstruction work began. The competition culminated with the final between Chelsea and Aston Villa. The game was won by a goal from Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo, giving them a 1âÂÂ0 victory.
The title holders Manchester United, withdrew from the 1999âÂÂ2000 competition due to their participation in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in South America, to take place in early 2000, thus becoming the first FA Cup winners not to defend their title. Despite this being at the request of the Football Association (FA), who believed the move would boost England's chances of winning the bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, they received criticism from journalists and television pundits. To keep the competition running smoothly, the FA chose to draw one team from among those lower-division teams defeated in the second round to progress as "lucky losers" to the third. Darlington were the team drawn.
The main competition started in November 1999 for clubs from the Football League and Premiership.
Manchester United, who were the winners the previous season, did not enter.
All participating clubs that were not members of the Premier League or Football League entered the competition in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 32 places available in the first round proper.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Guiseley, Eastwood Town, Gateshead, Doncaster Rovers, Tamworth, Hednesford Town, Southport, Morecambe, Stalybridge Celtic, Runcorn, Bamber Bridge, Worthing, Oxford City, Hendon, Whyteleafe, Merthyr Tydfil, Welling United, Hayes, Kingstonian, Rushden & Diamonds, Forest Green Rovers, Ilkeston Town, Yeovil Town, Bath City, Enfield, Chelmsford City, Aldershot Town, Burton Albion, Kettering Town, St Albans City, Hereford United and Cambridge City.
Eastwood Town, Bamber Bridge, Whyteleafe and Forest Green Rovers were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Aldershot Town was also appearing at this stage for the first time in their own right, seven years after the mid-season demise of the original Aldershot FC. Of the others, only Oxford City, who had last featured in the first round in 1970-71, had not qualified for the main draw at least once in the last decade.
This is the first round in which teams from the Second and Third Divisions of the Football League compete with non-League teams.
â¡ - Oxford City's replay with Wycombe Wanderers was abandoned after extra time due to a fire within the stadium. The score was 1–1.
= Darlington advanced as lucky losers
This round marked the first time First Division and Premier League (top-flight) teams played.
Aston Villa booked their first FA Cup final appearance since 1957 by beating Bolton Wanderers on penalties after a goalless draw after extra time, while Chelsea reached their second final in four years with a narrow 2âÂÂ1 win over Newcastle United (who had been finalists in the previous two seasons).
The 2000 FA Cup final was contested between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, with Chelsea coming out 1-0 winners. Roberto Di Matteo scored the winning goal 17 minutes from the end, three years after he had opened the scoring within the first minute of Chelsea's last FA Cup final win. This was Villa's first FA Cup final for 43 years.
In the United Kingdom, ITV were the free to air broadcasters for the third consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the twelfth consecutive season.
The matches shown live on ITV Sport were:
The matches shown live on Sky Sports were: