History of the FA Cup Wollaston (Wanderers), Arthur Kinnaird (Wanderers & Old Etonians) and Jimmy Forrest (Blackburn Rovers). Cole has appeared in 8 finals, having also been on the losing side for Arsenal in 2001. The record for most FA Cup wins by a manager is held by Arsene Wenger, who won it seven times (with Arsenal in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Notts County's Henry "Harry" Cursham is the current top goalscorer in the FA Cup and has held the record since 1887 with 49 goals. The closest anyone has come to breaking the record is Ian Rush when he scored
1996–97 FA Cup 1996–97 FA Cup The 1996–97 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the FA Cup. The tournament started in August 1996 for clubs from non-league football and the competition proper started in October 1996 for teams from the Premier League and the Football League. The tournament was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley stadium. The First Round featured those non-league teams who had come through the qualifying rounds and the teams from the third and fourth tiers of the English football