FA YOUTH CUP

The 'Football Association Youth Challenge Cup' is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. It is dominated by the youth sides of professional teams, mostly from the Premier League, but attracts over 300 entrants from throughout the country.
At the end of the Second World War the FA had decided to organise a 'Youth Championship' for County Associations considering it the best way to stimulate the game among those youngsters not yet old enough to play senior football. The matches didn't attract large crowds but outstanding players were selected for Youth Internationals and thousands were given the chance to play in a national contest for the first time. In 1951 it was realised that a competition for clubs would probably have a wider appeal. The 'The FA Youth Challenge Cup' (season 1952-53) was restricted to the youth teams of clubs, both professional and amateur, who were members of the FA.^[1]
Manchester United have won the Youth Cup nine times, more than any other club.
Many of today’s stars have featured in the competition. In the 1993 competition, Leeds United defeated Manchester United 4-1 on aggregate. Manchester United had Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Keith Gillespie, Robbie Savage and Paul Scholes in their side; Noel Whelan was in the Leeds United team.^[2]
Liverpool’s Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher were part of the 1996 cup winning side that beat West Ham United (including Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand) 4-1.^[3]
The 1996-97 Cup was won, for the second time in their history, by Leeds United 3-1 on aggregate against Crystal Palace. The Leeds United team had Paul Robinson, Jonathan Woodgate, Harry Kewell, Alan Smith and Stephen McPhail.
Richard Dunne, Tony Hibbert, Leon Osman and Francis Jeffers were all members of the Everton side that won the cup in 1998.
The 1998-99 season was won by West Ham United with a team including Joe Cole and Michael Carrick, having crushed Coventry City, who had Gary McSheffrey on their team, 9-0 on aggregate to lift the trophy. The second leg saw West Ham score 6 goals past Coventry goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.^[4]

Contents

Previous Finals

Winners table

Teams to have won the FA Youth Cup & FA Cup in the same season

Attendance Records

See also

References

External links

Previous Finals

For squads see FA Youth Cup Final Squads
Finals are played over 2 legs; the aggregate score is given below.
{|
|'Year'
|'Winners'
|'Score'
|'Runners up'
|'Notes'
|-
|1953
|Manchester United
|9-3
|Wolverhampton Wanderers
| 
|-
|1954
|Manchester United
|5-4
|Wolverhampton Wanderers
| 
|-
|1955
|Manchester United
|7-1
|West Bromwich Albion
| 
|-
|1956
|Manchester United
|4-3
|Chesterfield
| 
|-
|1957
|Manchester United
|8-2
|West Ham United
| 
|-
|1958
|Wolverhampton Wanderers
|7-6
|Chelsea
| 
|-
|1959
|Blackburn Rovers
|2-1
|West Ham United
| 
|-
|1960
|Chelsea
|5-2
|Preston North End
| 
|-
|1961
|Chelsea
|5-3
|Everton
| 
|-
|1962
|Newcastle United
|2-1
|Wolverhampton Wanderers
| 
|-
|1963
|West Ham United
|6-5
|Liverpool
| 
|-
|1964
|Manchester United
|5-2
|Swindon Town
| 
|-
|1965
|Everton
|3-2
|Arsenal
| 
|-
|1966
|Arsenal
|5-3
|Sunderland
| 
|-
|1967
|Sunderland
|2-0
|Birmingham City
| 
|-
|1968
|Burnley
|3-2
|Coventry City
| 
|-
|1969
|Sunderland
|6-3
|West Bromwich Albion
| 
|-
|1970
|Tottenham Hotspur
|4-3
|Coventry City
| 
|-
|1971
|Arsenal
|2-0
|Cardiff City
| 
|-
|1972
|Aston Villa
|5-2
|Liverpool
| 
|-
|1973
|Ipswich Town
|4-1
|Bristol City
| 
|-
|1974
|Tottenham Hotspur
|2-1
|Huddersfield Town
| 
|-
|1975
|Ipswich Town
|5-1
|West Ham United
| 
|-
|1976
|West Bromwich Albion
|5-0
|Wolverhampton Wanderers
| 
|-
|1977
|Crystal Palace
|1-0
|Everton
| 
|-
|1978
|Crystal Palace
|1-0
|Aston Villa
| 
|-
|1979
|Millwall
|2-0
|Manchester City
| 
|-
|1980
|Aston Villa
|3-2
|Manchester City
| 
|-
|1981
|West Ham United
|2-1
|Tottenham Hotspur
| 
|-
|1982
|Watford
|7-6
|Manchester United
| 
|-
|1983
|Norwich City
|6-5
|Everton
|''after extra time''
|-
|1984
|Everton
|4-2
|Stoke City
| 
|-
|1985
|Newcastle United
|4-1
|Watford
| 
|-
|1986
|Manchester City
|3-1
|Manchester United
| 
|-
|1987
|Coventry City
|2-1
|Charlton Athletic
| 
|-
|1988
|Arsenal
|6-1
|Doncaster Rovers
| 
|-
|1989
|Watford
|2-1
|Manchester City
|''after extra time''
|-
|1990
|Tottenham Hotspur
|3-2
|Middlesbrough
| 
|-
|1991
|Millwall
|3-0
|Sheffield Wednesday
| 
|-
|1992
|Manchester United
|6-3
|Crystal Palace
| 
|-
|1993
|Leeds United
|4-1
|Manchester United
| 
|-
|1994
|Arsenal
|5-3
|Millwall
| 
|-
|1995
|Manchester United
|1-1
|Tottenham Hotspur
|''after extra time; 4-2 on penalties''
|-
|1996
|Liverpool
|4-1
|West Ham United
| 
|-
|1997
|Leeds United
|3-1
|Crystal Palace
| 
|-
|1998
|Everton
|5-3
|Blackburn Rovers
| 
|-
|1999
|West Ham United
|9-0
|Coventry City
| 
|-
|2000
|Arsenal
|5-1
|Coventry City
| 
|-
|2001
|Arsenal
|6-3
|Blackburn Rovers
| 
|-
|2002
|Aston Villa
|4-2
|Everton
| 
|-
|2003
|Manchester United
|3-1
|Middlesbrough
| 
|-
|2004
|Middlesbrough
|4-0
|Aston Villa
| 
|-
|2005
|Ipswich Town
|3-2
|Southampton
|''after extra time''
| 
|-Ref -A.Marriner {Birmingham FA}
|2006
|Liverpool
|3-2
|Manchester City
| 
|-
|2007
|Liverpool
|2-2
|Manchester United
|''after extra time; 4-3 on penalties''
|}

Winners table

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Rank
!Team
!Winners
!Runners-up
|-
!align="center"|1st
|align="center"|Manchester United
|align="center"|1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1992, 1995, 2003
|align="center"|1982, 1986, 1993, 2007
|-
!align="center"|2nd
|align="center"|Arsenal
|align="center"|1966, 1971, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2001
|align="center"|1965
|-
!align="center"|3rd
|align="center"|Aston Villa
|align="center"|1972, 1980, 2002
|align="center"|1978, 2004
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Everton
|align="center"|1965, 1984, 1998
|align="center"|1961, 1977, 1983, 2002
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Ipswich Town
|align="center"|1973, 1975, 2005
|align="center"|1981, 1995
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Liverpool
|align="center"|1996, 2006, 2007
|align="center"|1963, 1972
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Tottenham Hotspur
|align="center"|1970, 1974, 1990
|align="center"|1981, 1995
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|West Ham United
|align="center"|1963, 1981, 1999
|align="center"|1957, 1959, 1975, 1996
|-
!align="center"|9th
|align="center"|Chelsea
|align="center"|1960, 1961
|align="center"|1958
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Crystal Palace
|align="center"|1977, 1978
|align="center"|1992, 1997
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Leeds United
|align="center"|1993, 1997
|align="center"|-
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Millwall
|align="center"|1979, 1991
|align="center"|1994
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Newcastle United
|align="center"|1962, 1985
|align="center"|-
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Sunderland
|align="center"|1967, 1969
|align="center"|1966
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Watford
|align="center"|1982, 1989
|align="center"|1985
|-
!align="center"|16th
|align="center"|Blackburn Rovers
|align="center"|1959
|align="center"|1998, 2001
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Burnley
|align="center"|1968
|align="center"|-
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Coventry City
|align="center"|1987
|align="center"|1968, 1970, 1999, 2000
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Manchester City
|align="center"|1986
|align="center"|1979, 1980, 1989, 2006
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Middlesbrough
|align="center"|2004
|align="center"|1990, 2003
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Norwich City
|align="center"|1983
|align="center"|-
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|West Bromwich Albion
|align="center"|1976
|align="center"|1955, 1969
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Wolverhampton Wanderers
|align="center"|1958
|align="center"|1953, 1954, 1962, 1976
|-
!align="center"|24th
|align="center"|Birmingham City
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1967
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Bristol City
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1973
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Cardiff City
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1971
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Charlton Athletic
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1987
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Chesterfield
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1956
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Doncaster Rovers
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1988
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Huddersfield Town
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1974
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Preston North End
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1960
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Sheffield Wednesday
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1991
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Southampton
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|2005
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Stoke City
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1984
|-
!align="center"|=
|align="center"|Swindon Town
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1964
|-
|}

Teams to have won the FA Youth Cup & FA Cup in the same season

Only four clubs have ever achieved the FA Cup and FA Youth Cup 'double'.

★ Arsenal (1971)

★ Everton (1984)

★ Coventry City (1987)

★ Liverpool (2006)

Attendance Records

The highest attendance at an FA Youth Cup match was 38,187 for the first leg of the Arsenal v Manchester United semi-final at the Emirates Stadium on March 14 2007. For the record, Arsenal won 1-0 ^[5], but lost the tie 4-3 on aggregate, after a 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford.

See also

★ FA Youth Cup Final Squads

References

1. FA Youth Cup history: TheFA.com website.
2. "Leeds upset United", 1993: TheFA.com website.
3. "Send for Michael Owen", 1996: TheFA.com website.
4. "The class of '99", 1999: TheFA.com website.
5. Highest attendance at an FA Youth Cup match: ''Arsenal.com'' website.

External links

★ The FA Youth Cup at TheFA.com