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Teams to have appeared in the FA Cup final the most times

Dating back to the 1871/72 season, the FA Cup is football's oldest cup competition and has been won by no fewer than 44 different clubs.

Below we look at the clubs to have appeared in the most FA Cup finals.

Manchester United - 21

No longer the FA Cup's most successful team after Arsenal's wins in 2015, 2017 and 2020, Manchester United have still appeared in the most FA Cup finals, winning in 1909 and 1948 before losing with the Busby Babes in 1957 and 1968.

Their most successful spell came in the 1990s, winning four times, with their most recent victory being their shock 2-1 win over rivals Manchester City in 2024.

Arsenal - 21

Remarkably, despite appearing in 21 FA Cup finals, Arsenal have only ever lost seven of them, and haven't lost since 2001 when they were downed by two late Michael Owen goals at the Millennium Stadium.

Since then, the Gunners have appeared in seven FA Cup finals, winning them all.

Chelsea - 16

While Chelsea's first FA Cup final came all the way back in 1915, when they lost to Sheffield United, their first win didn't come until 1970.

Only in more recent years have the Blues tasted regular FA Cup success, making 11 final appearances since the turn of the century. Indeed, following Roman Abramovich's arrival at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea made four finals in six years between 2007 and 2012, and then five finals in six years between 2017 and 2022, albeit losing four of them.

Liverpool - 15

Despite all their success throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Liverpool only won three FA Cups in the two decades and only made three more finals, losing to Arsenal in 1971, losing to Manchester United in 1977 when chasing the Treble, and memorably to Wimbledon's Crazy Gang in 1988,

Manchester City - 13

Manchester City's first FA Cup win came all the way back in 1904, winning their next two in 1934 and 1956. Their fourth came in 1969, but they'd have to wait until the Sheikh Mansour era to lift the trophy again, beating Stoke City in 2011. Since then, City have appeared in four more finals, losing to Wigan in 2013, Manchester United in 2024, and beating Watford 6-0 in 2019 and Manchester United in 2023.

Newcastle United - 13

While Newcastle's trophy drought is well documented, they actually appeared in five finals between 1905 and 1911, albeit losing four of them with the solitary win coming against Barnsley.

The Toon's best period of success came in the 1950s, winning in 1951, 1952 and 1955 with Jackie Milburn scoring in two of the finals.

Since then, however, Newcastle have only appeared in three more finals, losing all three.

Everton - 13

Appearing in four finals around the turn of the 20th century, Everton would appear in four more in the 1980s, around the time they were challenging for - and winning - league titles.

Everton beat Watford in 1984, but lost to Manchester United and Liverpool against in 1985, 1986 and 1989.

Aston Villa - 11

Most of Aston Villa's FA Cup appearances came in the early years of the competition, winning in 1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913 and 1920.

A drought then ensued which saw the club win its next FA Cup in 1957, with Villa not even reaching another final until 2000.

West Bromwich Albion - 10

Appearing in five of their 10 finals before the turn of the 20th century, West Bromwhich Albion would win two more FA Cups in 1954 and 1968, but the Baggies haven't appeared in a final since.

Tottenham Hotspur - 9

Tottenham's best period of FA Cup success came in the 1960s, when they won all thee finals they appeared in, during a time in which they were blessed with the likes of Danny Blanchflower, Dave Mackay and Jimmy Greaves.

Spurs then won back-to-back cups in 1981 and 1982, the former best remembered for Ricky Villa's iconic goal as they beat Manchester City 3-2 in a replay.

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