Wenger has better FA Cup record than any Arsenal manager

Published: 2:08 PM December 31, 2007 Updated: 9:55 AM February 20, 2021

ARSENE Wenger enters his 12th FA Cup campaign with a better record than any previous Arsenal manager in the competition. After a shaky first season – in which his side were knocked out in the fourth round by Leeds United in 1997 – he has won the cup four

ARSENE Wenger enters his 12th FA Cup campaign with a better record than any previous Arsenal manager in the competition.

After a shaky first season - in which his side were knocked out in the fourth round by Leeds United in 1997 - he has won the cup four times, been a runner-up on another occasion and reached two more semis.

In 1998 he won the first of those four, 2-0 against Newcastle United, as his side clinched the double, and was a Dennis Bergkamp penalty miss away from taking on the Toon again the next year before Manchester United won a monumental semi-final replay at Villa Park courtesy of Ryan Giggs' brilliant solo effort.

A 1-2 loss to Liverpool in 2001 - a performance Wenger still claims is his side's best in any final under him, despite the scoreline - kicked off four appearances in five years at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

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Chelsea were beaten 2-0 as a second double was completed in 2002 before Southampton were defeated 1-0 in a poor 2003 final.

The Gunners missed out in 2004 after another semi-final loss to United but came back the next year to beat Sir Alex Ferguson's side on penalties in the final.