The 2003 FA Cup final was the 122nd final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on Saturday 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of a crowd of 73,726. It was the third consecutive year the final was played at the stadium, due to the ongoing reconstruction of Wembley Stadium, the final's usual venue. The 2003 final was the first to be played indoors; the roof was closed because of bad weather. The clubs contesting the final were Arsenal, the holders of the competition and Southampton. This was Arsenal's sixteenth appearance in a final to Southampton's fourth.
The match programme cover
Sir Bobby Robson was the chief guest for the final, and presented the trophy to the winners
Robert Pires scored the only goal of the final
Southampton Football Club is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, that competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Its home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which it was based at The Dell. The team play in red and white shirts. They have been nicknamed "The Saints" because of the club's beginnings as a church football team at St Mary's Church. Southampton shares a long-standing South Coast derby rivalry with Portsmouth, in part due to geographic proximity and both cities' respective maritime histories.
Friendly match at Holstein Kiel, Germany, 15 May 1964
Southampton players form a huddle before kicking off against Derby in 2007
Ronald Koeman (front left) as manager
View from the Chapel Stand