This is the cheat entry. Aston Villa was one of the biggest clubs of the early years of professional football. Their closest rivals happened to be West Bromwich Albion from just west of Birmingham. They locked horns in three separate finals, spanning eight years during the 1880s and 1890s.

The first game was in 1887, Aston Villa won 2-0 despite the Baggies dominating the first half, according to reports. West Brom got their revenge in 1892 with a 3-0 win over Villa. These two just had to have a best of three to decide who the ultimate team in Birmingham was, and Aston Villa took the winner with a first-minute strike to win their second FA Cup.

This rivalry started to heat up in the 1960’s and 70’s but 80 years earlier saw the two clubs clash in the cup final. The cities are less than 20 miles apart from each other, and whilst Brian Clough had yet to be born, the 1898 cup final was perfect occasion to showcase this rivalry. 62,000 people descended upon the Crystal Palace Ground in south London to watch a fine match. Forest took the lead through Arthur Capes. Derby’s Steve Bloomer equalised just after the half hour mark, unsurprisingly.

The England international finished First Division top goal scorer on five separate occasion. Unfortunately for the Rams, the Reds took the lead just before half time with Capes getting his second of the day. McPherson would seal the deal with four minutes to go in the second half. Nottingham Forest big win over their rivals Derby County.

Considered the best FA cup final ever by many fans, Blackpool vs Bolton is the stuff of legend. Anytime the two clubs meet it will be the point of reference. Lancashire is a hotbed of footballing talent and a county rich with successful football clubs. Blackpool the small seaside town famous for British holiday makers and Bolton a miner’s town north west of Manchester were two of the best in the early 50s.

The game had the added spice that Blackpool were playing Stanley Matthews and Bolton had Nat Lofthouse two of the best England players of the era. Lofthouse opened the scoring for Bolton with a dubious goalkeeping error. Stan Mortensen another great England player equalised for Blackpool with a ricocheted shot. Bolton’s Willie Moir to cross one in missing both his target and the keeper to bounce in four minutes later.

Bolton made it 3-1 with Eric Bell after half time. Then it became the Stan Mortensen show, with a little over twenty minutes left he bundles one in from a cross by Matthews and with a minute to go Mortensen smashes a free kick into the back of the net for his hat-trick and the equaliser. A demoralised Bolton couldn’t handle Matthews and with one last dash into the box, he centres for Bill Perry who tucks in the winner in injury time.

Blackpool win the Cup and the final will be immortalised as the Stanley Matthews cup final. 

These two London rivals have been at each other’s throats for decades and 1967 was the perfect moment to settle the scores. Tottenham by this point had become a superpower, winning the league and two FA cups in the early 60’s under the guidance of Bill Nicholson. Chelsea was building a strong team themselves however they were living in the shadow of their 1955 league title. Both sets of fans were treated to a classic cup final, Tottenham had the likes of Jimmy Greaves and Alan Mullery whilst Chelsea had Ron Harris and John Hollins.

In an end to end game Tottenham took the lead before half time with Jimmy Robertson. The second half Chelsea kept chasing but to no avail. It was Tottenham who got the next goal Frank Saul lashing onto a free ball in the box. Chelsea pulled one back through Bobby Tambling but Spurs held on to win their fifth FA Cup.

This is the biggest rivalry in English football but these two teams have only met each other twice in the FA Cup final. The 1977 version was much better than the 1996 version. The two giants of the English game clashed in a time when United were recovering from what some might argue as their darkest era in the early to mid-70s. Liverpool was on the ascendancy winning all the trophies and were on for an elusive treble. In a red-hot atmosphere, both teams went at it full throttle, with United getting the better chances in the first half. It was five minutes of madness that decided the game.

United took the lead on the break, Stuart Pearson shooting through Ray Clemence in the 51st minute, only for Jimmy Case to equalise for Liverpool two minutes later. Finally, two minutes after the equaliser Lou Macari shoots straight at teammate Jimmy Greenhoff and the ball loops over the keeper into the back of the net. United would hold on and a rare moment of success for them over the champions of England and Europe in the ’70s.

Another London derby. Both Arsenal and West Ham fans would list Chelsea and Spurs as bigger rivals than each other. West Ham were in the second division whilst Arsenal were returning to the cup final for a third successive season. Arsenal lost to Ipswich in 78 before beating Manchester United in 79. West Ham had won the cup back in 75, but this was going to be a difficult task for the Hammers despite West Ham still having a strong team in the second division.

Arsenal dominated but could not break down West Ham, a quick break by the Hammers in the 13^th minute allowed for Trevor Brooking to score the only goal of the game. West Ham held on and became the eighth and to date last second division team to win the FA cup.

The Merseyside derby is always a great occasion and this first FA cup final between the two clubs lived up to the expectations. Both teams were the strongest in England at the time, Everton had reached the last two FA cup finals and both teams had won the previous 5 league titles between them. Liverpool won a European Cup in 1984, and both teams had played a League cup final earlier in the decade, which Liverpool won.

The Toffees started well with a goal from star striker Gary Lineker. Liverpool did not lack firepower, Ian Rush equalised beating a poor offside trap. Craig Johnston put Liverpool ahead and as the game wore on they never looked back with Ian Rush adding a third firing past the hapless Everton keeper. Liverpool managed to keep the upper hand on their rivals from across Stanley Park.  

A more sombre occasion this time. A few weeks earlier Liverpool tragically lost 97 fans in the Hillsborough tragedy. This cup final was about bringing together a community torn apart by football. The players delivered, they took Liverpudlians minds off the disaster for a couple of hours at least. It didn’t take long for Liverpool to take the lead with John Aldridge heading in an early cross. Liverpool continued their onslaught with Aldridge, John Barnes and Peter Beardsley all missing big chances to bury this match.

In the dying seconds of the game Stuart McCall taps into an empty net amidst confusion in the Liverpool defence and Everton had given themselves a fighting chance by going into extra time. Liverpool took the lead again through their talisman who had spent a season in Italy playing for Juventus, Ian Rush. Everton equalised again through a fantastic volley by McCall before Rush put Liverpool ahead once more, all this in the first half of stoppage time. Liverpool would go on to win the cup but this time the city of Liverpool as a whole came together to celebrate the beauty of football after having witnessed the horrors.

We started with a trilogy of derbies so why not finish with a trilogy. Arsenal and Chelsea’s rivalry goes way back but since the establishment of the Premier League it has heated up exponentially. Both teams had already played a cup final in Cardiff with Arsenal coming out on top 2-0 in 2002, it was time to lock horns again. Antonio Conte had won the league with Chelsea on his first attempt and was looking to seal the double.

Arsene Wenger had won two in the last three years with Arsenal and was looking for his 7^th overall making him the most successful manager in competition’s history. Arsenal took the lead in controversial fashion. Alexis Sanchez scored whilst the linesman raised his flag for Aaron Ramsey who was deemed to be offside, only for the referee to overrule him and give Arsenal the goal.

Chelsea had Victor Moses sent off in the second half which seemed to galvanise them as Diego Costa equalised for the Blues minutes later. With Chelsea fans just getting back from their delirium Arsenal went up the other end and a sweet chip into the middle saw an unmarked Aaron Ramsey header into the back of the net. Arsenal and Wenger would go on to lift the FA cup once again.

The final part of this trilogy of cup finals was just as exhilarating as the second. Played behind closed doors because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Chelsea was looking to get at least one win against Arsenal in the Cup final. They started well with a goal by Christian Pulisic opening the score in the Fifth minute, the first American to score in the FA Cup final.

Arsenal looked a bit flustered at first but soon found their rhythm and a through ball saw Azpilicueta bring down Aubameyang. He slotted away the penalty for the equaliser. Aubameyang wasn’t finished his second goal was a thing of beauty as he dribbled his way to the keeper and chipped it over Caballero to put Arsenal up with 25 minutes to go.

As with the last time these two met in the cup final Chelsea had a man sent off with Matteo Kovacic getting a harsh second yellow for a foul on Granit Xhaka. Thus Arsenal managed to hang on and with that became the only team to beat the same opponent three times in the FA Cup final.