1998 FA Cup Final: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
The second double

The footage

▶

1998

The match report

The 117th FA Cup final was played at Wembley on Saturday 16 May 1998 in front of 79,183 people, on a brilliant and very hot afternoon. Arsenal had won the Premier League a fortnight earlier, clinching it against Everton with two games to spare on the back of a record ten straight wins, in Arsene Wenger's first full season in charge, and the bookmakers had made them 8/11 for the double before the league was even settled. Newcastle, by contrast, had spent the season in the lower half of the table, needed points from their last games to be sure of staying up, and had lost both league meetings with Arsenal.[23][1][2][11][13][12][14]

Arsenal were in their 13th final and Newcastle their 12th, and it was the third time the two clubs had met in one: Newcastle had won in 1932 and again in 1952, when George Robledo's header made him the first overseas player to score in a final. Both sides came without a key man. Dennis Bergkamp, the footballer of the year, had pulled a hamstring against Derby County in late April and did not recover; Wenger started Christopher Wreh alongside Anelka and left Ian Wright on the bench. Newcastle were without the injured winger Keith Gillespie, so Warren Barton played wide on the right, Temuri Ketsbaia was picked to support Alan Shearer, and Alessandro Pistone, the quickest player at the club, was moved to right back to deal with Marc Overmars.[23][4][7][12][1][2]

Shearer had spent the fortnight before the final answering a misconduct charge. Television pictures of Newcastle's match at Leicester City on 29 April appeared to show him kicking Neil Lennon in the face; the referee had taken no action, the FA charged him, and a three-man commission cleared him on 12 May, four days before Wembley, after Lennon himself gave evidence in his favour. Kenny Dalglish said the good guy had been vindicated, and Shearer said he could now look forward to the final and to the World Cup.[15][16][17]

Newcastle had been told to press Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit and had slightly the better of a cautious opening, Ketsbaia's low shot from 25 yards scuttling past David Seaman's post. Then Arsenal found their rhythm. After 20 minutes Vieira, Lee Dixon and Ray Parlour built a move that ended with Parlour outside Steve Howey and an unmarked Anelka heading over from six yards. Three minutes later the goal came from something simpler. Petit dropped a long pass over the top, Overmars headed it on, held off Pistone and prodded the ball under the advancing Shay Given. Arsenal had learned that a long ball beat Newcastle's defence for pace, and Parlour and Wreh both shot over from further chances made the same way.[1][2][21]

Shearer was booked for a late tackle on Tony Adams in first-half stoppage time and the second half began with more cautions, for Barton, Nikos Dabizas and Nigel Winterburn. Newcastle raised the tempo and twice hit the frame of the goal. In the 53rd minute Dabizas rose above Petit at the far post to head Rob Lee's free-kick on to the top of the bar. Then, midway through the half, Martin Keown trod on the ball and Shearer swept in to drive a left-footed shot across Seaman that came back off the post.[1][2][21][24]

Arsenal made Newcastle pay within minutes. Parlour lifted another ball from the halfway line, Anelka took it on his chest level with a square back line, ran on and drove low past Given. Malam thought the striker might have been offside; the flag stayed down. Dalglish sent on Andreas Andersson and Steve Watson, and Shearer and Gary Speed both shot wide, but Winterburn took the ball off Shearer's toes with the goal open and Parlour, whose energy won him the man of the match award, came closest to a third. Gilles Grimandi was waiting to come on when the whistle went; Wright did not get on at all.[1][2][21][3]

Wenger called it the best moment of his sporting life and named Shearer's shot against the post as the turning point, thanking the Newcastle supporters who applauded his team. Adams said he felt sorry for Newcastle because their fans had been fantastic, Overmars compared the win to lifting the European Cup, and Dixon said it surpassed anything the side had done before. Dalglish said he had told his players that one team sometimes has the best of the first half, and that Newcastle had shown in the second what they could do. Arsenal joined Manchester United as the only clubs to have won the double twice; their first, in 1971, had also been completed at Wembley against a side the 1998 supporters happily recalled.[3][2][21][18]

The following day the players paraded both trophies on an open-top bus from Highbury to Islington Town Hall, a two-mile drive that took 90 minutes through a crowd the BBC put at 300,000, with Wright leading the celebrations from the balcony. The final was shown live by ITV and Sky Sports, and ITV's average audience of 7.8 million was the lowest for a cup final in ten years, which the broadcaster blamed on the heatwave; another 900,000 watched on Sky.[18][5][24]

How the match unfolded

1. 1'Arsenal set the tone from the kick-off: Petit outjumps Shearer, Dixon beats Speed to the ball and Adams finds Overmars for a run at Alessandro Pistone, the right back chosen to mark him.[2]
2. 5'Newcastle's first effort. Temuri Ketsbaia twists to make space and his left-footed shot from about 25 yards scuttles wide of Seaman's left-hand post.[1][2][24]
3. 20'The chance Arsenal should have taken. Vieira feeds Dixon, Parlour bursts down the inside-right channel on to the return pass, gets outside Howey and crosses; Anelka, unmarked six yards out, heads over.[1][2][21]
4. 23'Goal. Petit drops a long ball over the top; Overmars heads it on, holds off Pistone and prods it past the advancing Shay Given. Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle. The Independent on Sunday's standfirst times it at 24.[1][2][22][24]
5. 35'Parlour blazes over from Overmars' cut-back after another long pass from Petit; Wreh also shoots too high when Parlour picks him out unmarked.[1][2]
6. 44'Ketsbaia's second shot goes straight at Seaman: the sum of Newcastle's first-half threat.[1][2]
7. 45'Shearer is booked for a late tackle on Adams in first-half stoppage time, moments after Adams had leapt over him without punishment. Half-time: Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle.[1][2][24]
8. 48'Warren Barton is booked for a foul on Petit; Nigel Winterburn (51) and Nikos Dabizas (53) follow.[1][2][24]
9. 53'Dabizas wins a free-kick on the left and then rises above Petit at the far post to meet Rob Lee's delivery; the header hits the top of the bar.[1][2][21]
10. 62'David Platt replaces Christopher Wreh.[24][1]
11. 64'Keown treads on the ball and Shearer pounces, driving a left-footed shot across Seaman that comes back off the foot of the far post. The Independent calls it the inside of the post; the standard reference work agrees. Malam and the supporter's report say the foot of the post.[1][2][21][24]
12. 69'Goal. Parlour lifts a pass from the halfway line, Anelka takes it on his chest level with a square back line and runs on to drive low past Given. Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle. RSSSF times it at 70.[1][2][22][24]
13. 70'Steve Howey is booked for bringing down Parlour.[2][24]
14. 73'Andreas Andersson replaces Stuart Pearce as Newcastle go for an extra forward; Steve Watson replaces Barton three minutes later.[1][24]
15. 80'Newcastle's late push: a Shearer free-kick and a Speed shot both fly wide, and Winterburn whips the ball off Shearer's toes after a Ketsbaia shot is blocked.[1][21][2]
16. 86'John Barnes replaces Ketsbaia. Parlour nearly adds a third: the Independent has his shot hitting the outside of a post, the standard reference work the side netting.[24][2]
17. 90'Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United. Gilles Grimandi was waiting to come on as the whistle went; Ian Wright stayed on the bench. Wenger hugs Pat Rice and the Newcastle supporters applaud Arsenal up the steps.[21][3][24]

Match facts

Date

Saturday 16 May 1998

Venue

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance

79,183Given by the reproduced Electronic Telegraph match page and by the Independent on Sunday's report; the standard reference work prints the same figure.[1][2][24]

Referee

Paul Durkin[1][24]

Scorers

Marc Overmars 23'
Nicolas Anelka 69'[1][2][22]

Half-time

1-0

Competition

1997-98 FA Cup

Where they played

Both sides as they lined up. Choose any player to read what they did in this final.

Select a shirt for that player's note.

Route to the final

Line-ups

Trivia and detail

• Arsenal and Newcastle became only the second pair of clubs to meet in three FA Cup finals, after Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion, who met in 1887, 1892 and 1895.[4][23]
• Ian Rush, who had scored five FA Cup final goals, a record, and set a new competition record of 43 goals with the winner against Everton in the third round, was left out of Newcastle's squad through injury. John Barnes came on late to become the third player to appear in a final for three different clubs.[4][24]
• Arsenal needed three replays and two penalty shoot-outs to reach Wembley, winning 4-3 on penalties at Port Vale after Allen Tankard blazed the decisive kick over, and 4-3 again at West Ham after Bergkamp had been sent off for elbowing Steve Lomas.[8][20][4]
• Overmars scored after 68 seconds at Middlesbrough in the fourth round, which the Independent noted was 23 seconds slower than the goal that had sunk Middlesbrough in the previous year's final.[9]
• Arsenal fielded a makeshift side for the fifth-round replay at Crystal Palace, with Alex Manninger in goal and Luis Boa Morte up front, and Anelka scored after barely a minute.[10]
• Newcastle's run went through non-league Stevenage Borough, who forced a replay at Broadhall Way, and Barnsley, who had knocked out Manchester United after two mistakes by Peter Schmeichel.[4][24]
• Shearer scored five goals in the cup run, including both against Stevenage in the replay and the semi-final winner against Sheffield United at Old Trafford.[4][7]
• The Duke of Kent, president of the Football Association, attended with the Duchess of Kent and presented the trophy; the Independent's court circular for the day lists the engagement.[6][24]
• Both squads released cup final songs: Arsenal's cover of Hot Stuff reached number nine in the singles chart, while Newcastle's was written by Sting.[24]
• Alex Manninger, signed as a long-term understudy for 500,000 pounds, kept six consecutive clean sheets while Seaman was injured in the spring; Seaman was back for the final.[11][10]
• Arsenal had been eleven points behind Manchester United at the start of March. Wenger's side did not drop a point after that and won the league with two games to spare.[11][13]

How well do you know the 1998 final?

Five questions. Every answer is sourced from the material on this page.

1. Who scored Arsenal's first goal in the 1998 FA Cup final?

   Marc OvermarsNicolas AnelkaRay ParlourEmmanuel Petit
   Answer

   Marc Overmars. Overmars headed on Petit's long pass, held off Pistone and prodded the ball past Given in the 23rd minute.[1][2]

2. What did the win complete for Arsenal?

   The club's second league and cup doubleThe club's first FA Cup since 1979A treble with the League CupAn unbeaten season
   Answer

   The club's second league and cup double. Arsenal had won the Premier League a fortnight earlier and joined Manchester United as the only clubs to have done the double twice; their first was in 1971.[2][18]

3. Which Newcastle player hit the post after Martin Keown trod on the ball?

   Alan ShearerNikos DabizasTemuri KetsbaiaGary Speed
   Answer

   Alan Shearer. Shearer swept in and drove a left-footed shot across Seaman that came back off the post; Wenger named it the turning point.[1][3]

4. Why was Alan Shearer in front of an FA commission four days before the final?

   An alleged kick to Neil Lennon's face at LeicesterA confrontation with a referee at TottenhamComments about the club's directorsA late tackle on Tony Adams
   Answer

   An alleged kick to Neil Lennon's face at Leicester. Television pictures of the match at Filbert Street on 29 April appeared to show Shearer kicking Lennon; the FA charged him and a commission cleared him on 12 May after Lennon gave evidence for him.[16][17]

5. Who was named man of the match?

   Ray ParlourMarc OvermarsPatrick VieiraTony Adams
   Answer

   Ray Parlour. Parlour made the early chance, set up the second goal and, in Ridley's words, persevered where once he would have puffed; he won the award.[2][24]

What is not settled

Honesty matters more than tidiness. These details are contested or unrecorded, and we have not guessed at them:

• Overmars' goal is timed at 23 minutes by the standard reference work and by Malam's account (three minutes after the 20th-minute chance), but the Independent on Sunday's standfirst prints 24. Anelka's is 69 in the Independent and the reference work, and 70 in the RSSSF archive.
• Shearer's shot: Ridley and the reference work say it struck the inside of the far post; Malam says the foot of the far post; the supporter's report says simply the post. Nobody disputes that it came back out.
• Anelka's marker for the second goal is Howey in both Malam's and Ridley's reports and Dabizas in the reference work's summary.
• Malam lists four bookings (Shearer, Barton, Dabizas, Winterburn); Ridley and the reference work's statistics add Howey. The timeline follows the five-card account.
• Substitution minutes are taken from the reference work's line-up notation (Platt 62, Andersson 73, Watson 76, Barnes 86); the contemporary reports give the substitutions in order but without minutes.
• Newcastle's shape: the reference work says both sides played 4-4-2; Malam has Ketsbaia brought in to support Shearer and Newcastle flooding midfield; the supporter's report has Shearer alone up front with Ketsbaia dropping deep. The pitch shows 4-4-2 with Ketsbaia as the second forward.
• The BBC credited Overmars with 15 goals for the season on 3 May; the reference work calls the final his 16th goal of the campaign, and a 2013 Guardian retrospective gives him 12 league goals. The record does not state a total.
• Wenger's post-match line is quoted by the Independent on Sunday as 'This is the best moment in my sporting life' and by the reference work, citing another paper, as 'the greatest moment of my sporting life'. The verified quotation is the Independent's.
• The Independent says ITV's audience was the lowest for a cup final in ten years; the reference work says more than a decade. The figures themselves (7.8 million ITV, 900,000 Sky, a 65 per cent share) are the same in both.
• Wikipedia's 3-0 for the April league meeting is contradicted by the BBC's contemporary report of 3-1; see the feature originality item.
• Wikipedia counts this as Newcastle's eleventh final; the RSSSF list and the Independent's semi-final report make it their twelfth. The record uses twelve.
• No footage from a rightsholder has been verified for this final yet, so the television shows no signal rather than an unchecked embed.

How we know

Every claim on this page is tied to a numbered source below. These are the contemporary records behind it, each one fetched and matched word for word before publication rather than taken on trust:

• Contemporary match report: the chances, both goals, the woodwork, the bookings and the substitutions, plus the page's own line-ups, referee and attendance · Electronic Telegraph, reproduced with line-ups, referee and attendance at fa-cupfinals.co.uk (Internet Archive capture, 5 April 2009)
• Ian Ridley's match report, 17 May 1998, with scorers, half-time score and attendance in its standfirst · The Independent on Sunday
• Post-match words of Wenger, Adams, Dixon, Overmars, Parlour, Rice, Dalglish and Hill-Wood, 17 May 1998 · The Independent on Sunday
• Match-day panel, 16 May 1998: both routes with scorers, records and milestones · The Independent
• 20 May 1998: ITV and Sky viewing figures for the final · The Independent
• Court circular for 16 May 1998: the Duke and Duchess of Kent at the final · The Independent
• Glenn Moore's semi-final report, Old Trafford, 6 April 1998, counting Newcastle's finals · The Independent
• Phil Shaw's report of the third-round replay at Port Vale, 15 January 1998 · The Independent
• Scott Barnes's fourth-round report from the Riverside, 26 January 1998 · The Independent
• Adam Szreter's fifth-round replay report from Selhurst Park, 26 February 1998 · The Independent

Where a primary record and a modern account disagree, we show both rather than choosing the tidier number.

Sources

1. Arsenal (1) 2 Newcastle (0) 0: match report by Colin Malam · Electronic Telegraph, reproduced with line-ups, referee and attendance at fa-cupfinals.co.uk (Internet Archive capture, 5 April 2009)
2. Cup Final: The Double cream team · The Independent on Sunday
3. Cup Final: 'Better than anything we've done' · The Independent on Sunday
4. FA Cup Final: Routes to the final · The Independent
5. Sunshine 2: TV-football 0 · The Independent
6. Royal engagements · The Independent
7. Shearer's strike breaks the Blades · The Independent
8. Arsenal let off the hook by Tankard · The Independent
9. Arsenal spoil their old boy's reunion · The Independent
10. Bergkamp makes decisive impact for Arsenal · The Independent
11. Gunners' glory · BBC News
12. Premiership D-Day looms · BBC News
13. Title run-in: United steel or Arsenal grit? · BBC News
14. Gunning for United · BBC News
15. Shearer apologises for 'kick' · BBC News
16. Shearer charged with misconduct · BBC News
17. Shearer cleared in boot row · BBC News
18. Arsenal and Hearts take to the streets · BBC News
19. Honours even for Arsenal and West Ham · BBC News
20. Arsenal and Sheffield United through on penalties · BBC News
21. Arsenal vs Newcastle. FA Cup Final 16/05/98 · ArseWeb (supporter site, Internet Archive capture)
22. England FA Challenge Cup 1997-98 · RSSSF
23. England FA Challenge Cup Finals · RSSSF
24. 1998 FA Cup final · Wikipedia

Elsewhere in the encyclopedia

Other finals involving these clubs

• 1971 Arsenal: Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool
• 1979 Arsenal: Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United
• 1999 Newcastle United: Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle United
• 2001 Arsenal: Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool
• 2002 Arsenal: Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea
• 2003 Arsenal: Arsenal 1-0 Southampton

Other finals at Wembley Stadium

• 1923 Bolton Wanderers 2-0 West Ham United
• 1953 Blackpool 4-3 Bolton Wanderers
• 1971 Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool
• 1973 Sunderland 1-0 Leeds United
• 1979 Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United
• 1987 Coventry City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Elsewhere on WhatChan