The 2002âÂÂ03 FA Cup was the 122nd staging of the world's oldest cup competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 1âÂÂ0 victory in the final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff against Southampton, courtesy of a Robert Pires goal.
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 Runcorn Halton, Morecambe, Southport, Harrogate Railway Athletic, Doncaster Rovers, Barrow, Chester City, Scarborough, Burton Albion, Northwich Victoria, Vauxhall Motors, Harrogate Town, Guiseley, Moor Green, Stafford Rangers, Hereford United, St Albans City, Boreham Wood, Slough Town, Hastings United, Stevenage Borough, Crawley Town, Farnborough Town, Havant & Waterlooville, Margate, Dover Athletic, Tiverton Town, Dagenham & Redbridge, Heybridge Swifts, Forest Green Rovers, Team Bath and Yeovil Town.
Harrogate Railway Athletic, Harrogate Town and Team Bath were appearing in the competition proper for the first time. Additionally, Hastings United (formerly Hastings Town) and Dover Athletic were appearing at this stage for the first time in their own right after the original Hastings United and the original Dover FC had last qualified for the first round in 1981-82. The Ellesmere Port-based Vauxhall Motors was also featuring in the main draw for the first time in their own right after their now-defunct corporate rivals Vauxhall Motors (Luton) had reached the first round in 1947-48.
Of the others, Crawley Town had last appeared at this stage in 1994âÂÂ95, Stafford Rangers had last done so in 1992-93, and Moor Green had last done so in 1979-80.
At this stage the 48 Second and Third Division clubs joined the 32 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. Step 8 sides Harrogate Railway Athletic, from the Northern Counties East League, and Team Bath, from the Western League, were the lowest-ranked teams in the draw.
The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 16 November 2002, with replays in the week commencing 25 November.
The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 7 December 2002, with replays in the week commencing 16 December. Harrogate Railway Athletic was again the lowest-ranked team in the draw.
This round was the first in which Division 1 and Premier League (top-flight) teams entered the competition. The matches were scheduled to be played on the weekend of Saturday, 4 January 2003, with replays in the week commencing 13 January. The round featured three clubs from the Football Conference (Step 5): Farnborough Town, Morecambe and Dagenham & Redbridge.
Shrewsbury, who ended the season with relegation from the Football League, achieved the biggest upset of the round (if not the whole competition), with a surprise 2âÂÂ1 win over an Everton side who were pushing for a place in Europe and featuring a 17-year-old striker called Wayne Rooney â one of the most promising young players in the game.
Holders Arsenal moved closer to retaining the trophy by beating Chelsea 3âÂÂ1 in a replay that followed a 2âÂÂ2 draw. They were paired in the semi-finals with Sheffield United, while the other semi-final would be contested between Southampton and Watford.
For the 11th season running, the FA Cup final would be contested by top division clubs â Arsenal and Southampton. Their semi-final opponents (Sheffield United and Watford respectively) were both Division One sides.
The final took place on Saturday, 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and ended 1âÂÂ0 with a goal by Robert Pires separating the sides.
It was the third consecutive year the final was played at the Millennium Stadium, due to the ongoing reconstruction of Wembley Stadium, the final's usual venue. There were 73,726 spectators at the game. Arsenal retained the trophy, winning it for the ninth time in their history â a record second only to that of Manchester United.
It was also Southampton's first FA Cup final since 1976, when they won the trophy for the only time to date.
In the United Kingdom, the BBC were the free to air broadcasters for the second consecutive season while Sky Sports were the subscription broadcasters for the fifteenth consecutive season.
The matches shown live on the BBC were:
The matches shown live on Sky Sports were:
<small>The second round replay between Carlisle United vs. Scunthorpe United was originally scheduled to be on Sky Sports on 19 December 2002, but because of weather conditions, the game was postponed.</small>