Arsenal’s incredible improvement in form under new management was confirmed with Arsenal’s defeat of Manchester City 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final in 2020. Aubameyang scored in each half and the result meant that Arsenal, having been joint top in the list of finalists with 20 previous appearances would now be out on their own as the club that has appeared in more finals than any other. 21 finals, and as it turned out, 14 wins.
During the era of Wenger v Ferguson, their two clubs made the FA Cup their own, Mr Wenger winning the Cup for a record seven times – more than anyone else in the history of the competition.
It remains somewhat amusing therefore that for some time thereafter if one typed into Google something along the lines of “Which manager has won the FA Cup more than any other” the answer still came up
Scotland’s George Ramsay holds the record for the most amount of FA Cup wins with six, claiming all of them while in charge of Aston Villa. Sir Alex Ferguson has a total of five with Manchester United, a number he shares with Thomas Mitchell, who won the competition five times with Blackburn Rovers in the 19th Century.
That was of course completely wrong – taking its information from the website “Betting Odds” which rather suggests that if one is inclined to have a little flutter, that might not be the best place to work with. Or of course, it could just be the usual media anti-Arsenal bias.
Anyway, we made fun of Google and its allies for a while, and these days they do admit that the correct answer was Arsene Wenger.
By way of comparison, and to correct the vagaries of Google and their chums, Arsenal have won the Cup 14 times, Manchester United 12 times and Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur 8. Arsenal have lost in the final seven times and Manchester United and Chelsea eight. And as of the start of the 2022/3 season Arsenal have appeared in 21 finals while Manchester United have been in 20. Chelsea lag somewhat with just 16.
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