1997 FA Cup Final

The 1997 FA Cup Final took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough.

Chelsea were attempting to win their first FA Cup final for 27 years, while Middlesbrough were contesting their first ever final. Chelsea took to the field on the back of something of a renaissance under Dutch manager Ruud Gullit, having recorded their best league finish for a decade.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, began the final having been relegated from the Premiership and also been losing finalists in the League Cup, thus becoming the first English team to finish in the last two of all three major tournaments – two years after Crystal Palace became the last team to finish in the last four of these three competitions.

Chelsea's victory meant that Gullit was the first foreign or non-white manager to win a major trophy with an English club.

For most of the Chelsea players, it was the first major honour of their career, but it was the fourth time that Mark Hughes had featured in an FA Cup winning side (having played for Manchester United's FA Cup winners of 1985, 1990 and 1994) and he had also collected a further four major honours with his former club.