The 2002 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 2001–02 FA Cup competition. It was an all-London affair between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium on 4 May 2002. Arsenal won 2–0, with goals by Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg.
Chelsea were led onto the field by Roberto Di Matteo, who had been forced to retire from football earlier in the season due to a serious injury.
Ljungberg, having also scored in the 2001 final, became the first man to score goals in successive FA Cup finals since Tottenham Hotspur's Bobby Smith, who scored in 1961 and 1962.
The match took place with one week remaining in the Premier League calendar for the 2001–02 season. Arsenal were in first position, but still needed a point from their final two games to secure the championship, which they achieved in their next match with victory over second-placed Manchester United. Chelsea had to win their remaining fixture to confirm the position of fifth they held at the start of the match; they lost again and finished in sixth. In the league fixtures between the two clubs, Arsenal had the upper hand, with a 1–1 draw at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge on 8 September 2001 and a 2–1 win at Highbury on Boxing Day.
Arsenal's subsequent Premier League title triumph saw them equal Manchester United's record of three doubles.
The match is remembered for Chelsea fan Tim Lovejoy's famous quote "It's alright, it's only Ray Parlour", who seconds later put the ball in the top corner from 25 yards. Lovejoy had been doing the Sky Sports fanzone commentary with Arsenal fan Bradley Walsh when he spoke the famous last words.
Read more about 2002 FA Cup Final: Match Details
Famous quotes containing the words cup and/or final:
“There is not enough exercise in this way of life. I try to make up by active gymnastics before I dress when I get up, by walking rapidly in the lower hall and the greenhouse after each meal for perhaps five to ten minutes, and a good hand rubbing before going to bed. I eat moderately; drink one cup of coffee at breakfast and one cup of tea at lunch and no other stimulant. My health is now, and usually, excellent.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“The final upshot of thinking is the exercise of volition, and of this thought no longer forms a part; but belief is only a stadium of mental action, an effect upon our nature due to thought, which will influence future thinking.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)