City’s six FA Cup final victories so far
The days City lifted English football's oldest trophy.
It’s 119 years since Manchester City’s first major trophy.
Just 10 years after becoming Manchester City, our Club defeated Bolton Wanderers at Crystal Palace in London to lift the 1904 FA Cup in front of more than 60,000 people.
The success of Pep Guardiola’s side in 2019 means that we boast the longest period between our first FA Cup success and our most recent.
The 115 years between those triumphs is eight more than Manchester United’s gap from 1909 to 2016.
Our place in the 2022/23 FA Cup final means it’s 119 years between our first ever appearance and this year’s Wembley date.
Aston Villa are the only side who can claim a longer association with the showpiece occasion, with 128 years between their 1887 and 2015 finals.
City have won the competition six times to date, with five unsuccessful appearances in the final too.
Here we’ll reflect on those six FA Cup final triumphs before what we hope will be a seventh…
1903/04 – City 1-0 Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace
The 33rd FA Cup final ever played was the first to involve City and the first to involve two sides from the county of Lancashire.
We were chasing a league and cup double that season, although we were eventually beaten to the First Division crown by The Wednesday, now Sheffield Wednesday.
City reached Crystal Palace, then in its tenth year of hosting the prestigious event, with victories over Sunderland, Woolwich Arsenal, Middlesbrough and league winners The Wednesday.
Bolton were a Second Division side at the time and had come past Reading, Southampton, Sheffield United and Derby County to get to the final.
Famous guests on the day included Prime Minister Arthur Balfour and iconic cricketer WG Grace.
Captain Billy Meredith, a man who represented both City and Manchester United with aplomb in a distinguished career, scored the only goal of the game to seal his and City’s first major honour.
It came midway through the first half when Meredith received the ball on the right wing, dribbled at the defence and fired at goal. Bolton threw everything at us in the second half, but we held out for a special day in the history of Manchester City.
The trophy used in those days has since been purchased by HH Sheikh Mansour and loaned to the National Football Museum in Manchester city centre.
1933/34 – City 2-1 Portsmouth, Wembley
FA Cup finals moved to Wembley in 1923, the same year we went from Hyde Road to Maine Road.
We had our first trip there in 1926, when Bolton got their revenge before Everton overcame us in 1933.
The year following that second defeat came our second FA Cup triumph however. We hadn’t come as close to winning the league since 1903/04, and this was our second major honour.
We had reached the final by beating Blackburn Rovers, Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City and Aston Villa. Whereas our opponents, also a First Division side, beat Manchester United, Grimsby Town, Swansea Town, Bolton and Leicester City to make Wembley.
City went a goal down in the first half with the wet conditions making defending a difficult task. However, a 74th minute goal from Fred Tilson levelled the scores before an 88th minute winner from the same man. Proof that City have always fought to the end.
Frank Swift, who went on to be one of the Club’s greatest ever goalkeepers and was only denied a long international career due to war, was just 20 in this match.
Overcome with emotion, he famously fainted at the final whistle, as did his mother who was pitch-side.
1955/56 – City 3-1 Birmingham City, Wembley
Another victorious trip to Wembley just 12 months after final heartbreak.
This success came hot off the heels of the 1955 defeat to Newcastle United and was our fourth major honour after a First Division title in 1937.
City had defeated Blackpool, Southend United, Liverpool, Everton and Spurs to make Wembley, with Birmingham getting past Torquay United, Leyton Orient, West Brom, Arsenal and Sunderland.
While the goals were scored by Joe Hayes, Jack Dyson and Bobby Johnstone, the match will forever be remembered for Bert Trautmann’s role.
In front of an estimated 100,000 at the national stadium, Trautmann played the final 17 minutes of the game with a broken bone in his neck.
Diving at the feet of a Birmingham striker, Trautmann received a hefty blow and received extensive treatment on the pitch. With no substitutes allowed, the goalkeeper elected to play on rather than leave his side down to ten men.
Although in great pain, he kept out Birmingham twice in the closing stages to seal the trophy and collect his winners’ medal.
The incident, and Trautmann’s extraordinary life as a prisoner-of-war before his glittering football career, have become the subject of numerous books and films in the years that have followed.
1968/69 – City 1-0 Leicester City, Wembley
Together Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison had created one of the finest sides in the land and in Manchester City’s history.
This was the team of Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Francis Lee, Neil Young, Mike Doyle, Tommy Booth, Glyn Pardoe, captain Tony Book and more. Names that are forever etched into the Club’s history.
The year before we had been First Division champions and the season following we would lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup, but this season was all about the FA Cup.
To get to Wembley we had beat Luton Town, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton. Leicester, seeking to win their first FA Cup, had come past Barnsley, Millwall, Liverpool, Mansfield Town and West Brom.
City were favourites heading into the match, with Leicester still battling to avoid relegation from the First Division.
However, Leicester were attacking and gave as good as they got for much of the game. In the end though, it was a moment of quality midway through the first half that won the game for City.
Summerbee crossed the ball for Young who fired a left-footed shot high into Peter Shilton’s net.
In a match of few chances, Young’s goal sealed another glorious moment for Mercer and Allison’s iconic City side.
2010/11 – City 1-0 Stoke City, Wembley
The match that ended 35 years of hurt.
City hadn’t won a major trophy since the 1976 League Cup but under Roberto Mancini, we were again a force to be reckoned with.
In a season that saw us qualify for the Champions League for the first time, we set in motion all of the success that has followed since.
The final was our second success at Wembley that season after a 1-0 win over city rivals and English football’s dominant side Manchester United in the last four.
Yaya Toure was the hero with the only goal in the semi-final and again stepped up to earn the cup itself.
Stoke’s Thomas Sorensen was much the busier of the two goalkeepers in the first half, with Toure and Balotelli coming closest.
Our opponents improved after the break but could still only muster one shot on target. Instead, a goalmouth scramble in the box in the 74th minute fell at the feet of the Ivorian.
He stepped onto it and hammered through a crowd of bodies, including Sorensen, and into the net to spark wild celebrations.
2018/19 – City 6-0 Watford, Wembley
At the end of Pep Guardiola’s third season, after winning the Premier League title for a second time, he added this famous old trophy to his cabinet.
This success also completed our Fourmidables season – when we became the first English club to win all four domestic trophies in one campaign.
City reached Wembley with victories over Rotherham, Burnley, Newport County, Swansea City and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Our opponents, who finished comfortably in mid-table in the Premier League, booked their day out by beating Woking, Newcastle United, QPR, Crystal Palace and Wolves.
The Blues dominated from the word go, with David Silva scoring the opener in the 26th minute.
It was two before the break, with Gabriel Jesus applying the finish.
Kevin De Bruyne added a third after the hour mark and Jesus added his second a few minutes later. A late brace from Raheem Sterling put the gloss to an incredible day out at the national stadium.
The best season of domestic football by any side in England was complete.
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