History of the FA Cup in the FA's lawbook. The 1981 final contained what many consider to be the greatest ever final goal, scored by Tottenham's Ricky Villa who beat several players in a mazy run before slotting the ball home. In 1999, Ryan Giggs of Manchester United scored in extra time to defeat Arsenal 2–1 in FA Cup semi-final replay. The goal was voted the greatest in FA Cup history in 2003. History of the FA Cup The history of the FA Cup in association football dates back to 1871–72. Aside from suspensions during the First and Second World Wars, the competition has been
1934 FA Cup Final managed to only concede five goals in the whole competition, two of those in the First Round. After defeating Grimsby Town and Swansea Town 2–0 and 1–0 respectively, they faced Bolton Wanderers in the quarter-finals. Bolton had scored 12 goals in three FA Cup games thus far, however they could not get a goal against Portsmouth, who won emphatically, 3–0. Leicester City were the opponents in the semi-final, held at St Andrew's, Birmingham, in front of a record crowd for the venue. Portsmouth took an early lead, when a Jack Smith free kick was received by Rutherford, who set up