The 15 clubs to win four or more FA Cups

Sheffield United have been a yo-yo team, at best, for years, and it put together one of the worst Premier League seasons in history during the 2023-24 campaign. What teams in the Championship have a chance, if only a chance, to win the FA Cup, it has been a long time since the Blades won this competition. Their four wins came between 1899 and 1925, and their last finals appearance was in 1936.

Hey, Sheffield United is at least in a better place than Bolton, a former Premier League club now all the way down in League One. Bolton won three of its titles in the 1920s, but it also added a fourth in 1958, but in 1964 it would be relegated, and the club has lacked stability ever since.

In the 1950s, Wolves were one of the top teams in English football. It won three First Division titles back when that was the top league. Although, its last two FA Cup wins came in 1948-49 and 1959-60, bracketing the best decade in club history. While Wolves did end up relegated eventually, for a while now they have steadily been a Premier League club.

Yes, just straight-up Wanderers. The club called itself that because it did not have a home ground, just playing around London. Needless to say, Wanderers are an old-school club. As in, a 19th-century club. Wanderers was a team built around graduates of England’s top public schools that wanted to keep playing football. It won the first FA Cup in 1872 and would win five total, including three in a row between 1876 and 1878. The club was dissolved in 1887. This photo? It’s the only known photo of Wanderers.

Hey, at least West Brom existed into the 1900s! In fact, it has been in the Premier League a decent amount of the time. The Baggies have played in 10 FA Cup finals, winning five and losing five. That includes a title in the 1930s, the 1950s, and their last in 1968.

Finally, a team with a fairly recent FA Cup victory! The Toffees’ fifth FA Cup win came in 1995. On top of that, Everton was in the finals in 2009. Hey, that’s this millennium!

We’re up to the teams with at least six FA Cup wins. Blackburn has been down below the Premier League level for years now, but it was once a top team at the top level. So much so, in 1994-95 the Rovers won the Premier League title. That being said, all the FA Cup wins for Blackburn were back in the day. It won three in a row, but in 1884, 1885, 1886. The club also won in 1890 and 1891, before adding the sixth title in the 1900s, specifically in 1928.

The nouveau-riche Newcastle may get back to the FA Cup finals soon, but as of right now, it has not been back to the final since 1999. All six of Newcastle’s titles have come in the 1900s, at least. The club won all six between 1910 and 1955.

We’re up to the seven-timers. Aston Villa, notably, won the Champions League in the 1981-82 season. Villa also won seven First Division titles, though five of them were between 1890 and 1900. Six of Villa’s FA Cup wins were back in the day when the club was a turn-of-the-century force, but its seventh title came in 1957.

You might assume Manchester City has been racking up FA Cups in recent years, but, in fact, only three of them have been since 2010. Man City also won FA Cups in 1904, 1934, 1956, and 1969. Notably, the 2023 win was paired with a Premier League title and a Champions League title for a treble.

It’s time for the clubs with eight wins, and Spurs get credit for efficiency. Tottenham has eight wins in nine finals appearances, only losing in 1987. Spurs have won the FA Cup in back-to-back seasons twice, first in 1961 and 1962 and again in 1981 and 1982. The club also won the First Division in the 1960-61 season, pulling off the double.

In a way, Liverpool “only” having eight FA Cups feels a bit surprising. The Reds are one of the iconic clubs of English football. They have won the First Division/Premier League a whopping 19 times. Hell, Liverpool has six European Cup/Champions League titles too. It took the club a while to win its first one, which is why the number is where it is. Liverpool’s first FA Cup came in 1965, and would add titles in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. Since it won its first one, a decade has not gone by where Liverpool hasn’t hoisted an FA Cup.

Chelsea’s eight FA Cup wins come in an even more compressed timeframe than Liverpool. The Blues have more FA Cups than top-level titles, as they have won six of those, five in the Premier League era. To that end, five of Chelsea’s FA Cup wins came between 2007 and 2018. That means it owes a lot of its success to the Roman Abramovich era.

Things really get kicked up a notch when we get to the top two. It feels slightly surprising that Manchester United, the most successful club in English football, is only second. By qualifying for the 2023-24 finals, Man U now has 22 finals to its name, the most of any club. Interestingly, even with 12 FA Cups, Manchester United has never won in back-to-back years. Its titles also span from 1909 through 2016.

The Gunners are the kings of the FA Cup. They have won a whopping 14 of them. Only United could catch them, and it would have to win a couple first. Arsenal won its first title in 1930, so it has won all 14 of its FA Cups in a shorter time frame than United’s 12 wins. That includes three wins in a row in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Arsenal doesn’t have a Champions League title, but it can claim to be the most successful FA Cup club in history.