The 2008–09 FA Youth Cup was the 57th FA Youth Cup. A record 474 clubs participated in the competition. The competition started in September 2008 with the preliminary round and concluded with the final on 22 and 26 May 2009.
Arsenal knocked out holders Manchester City en route to the final, where they beat 2006 and 2007 winners Liverpool 6–2 on aggregate to lift the FA Youth Cup for the 7th time.
Calendar Qualifying ties played in the week commencing; proper ties played by the closing date.
Round Date Fixture(s) Clubs New entriesPreliminary Round 8 September 2008 119 474 → 355 238First Round Qualifying 15 September 2008 132 355 → 223 145Second Round Qualifying 6 October 2008 66 223 → 157 Third Round Qualifying 20 October 2008 33 157 → 124 First Round 11 November 2008 40 124 → 84 47Second Round 26 November 2008 20 84 → 64 Third Round 15 December 2008 32 64 → 32 44Fourth Round 20 January 2009 16 32 → 16 Fifth Round 7 March 2009 8 16 → 8 Sixth Round 16 March 2009 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals First leg: 16 April 2009Second leg: 22 April 2009 2 4 → 2 Final First leg: 22 May 2009Second leg: 26 May 2009 1 2 → 1
First round The League One and League Two teams will enter at this round except Notts County which did not apply, along with the winners of the previous round. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Grimsby Town0–1Lincoln City2Bradford City1–0Scunthorpe United1723Rochdale1–0Huddersfield Town3024Hartlepool United1–4Carlisle United1165Bury0–2Crewe Alexandra2376Worksop Town0–3Rotherham United917Darlington2 – 3(aet)Tranmere Rovers2108Nantwich Town5–0Curzon Ashton1579York City2–3Stockport County15510Chester City0–2Leeds United24711Macclesfield Town4–1Morecambe8912Accrington Stanley3–1Wakefield27513Fleetwood Town0–3Oldham Athletic12014Shrewsbury Town2–0Chesterfield11015Leicester City2–1Port Vale33016Coventry Sphinx2–3Milton Keynes Dons19617Solihull Moors2–0FCV Reds9518Oadby Town2–1Hinckley United11019Mansfield Town3–2Peterborough United12420Rushden & Diamonds1–2Northampton Town215Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance21Walsall5–3Hednesford Town29922Millwall2–0Luton Town23Gillingham3–0Eastbourne Borough42524Brighton & Hove Albion5–1Dover Athletic8825Southend United3 – 3(8–9p)Brentford25226Stevenage Borough2–3Thurrock12227Banbury United1–2Dagenham & Redbridge20328Cambridge United4–1Colchester United17129Lewes2–0Histon18730Boreham Wood0–5Leyton Orient15131Hayes & Yeading United1–2Croydon Athletic9632Burgess Hill Town0–2Wycombe Wanderers20533Basingstoke Town0–2Barnet17234Aldershot Town1–4Havant & Waterlooville16935Didcot Town2 – 2(1–4p)Cirencester Town12636Cheltenham Town5–1Newport County23237AFC Bournemouth0–1Bristol Rovers38Swindon Town4–1Eastleigh22939Yeovil Town4–1Hereford United14740Woking1 – 2(aet)Exeter City 147
Second round The winners from the first round matches will progress to second round. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Accrington Stanley0–3Carlisle United2452Oldham Athletic2–0Rotherham United1523Walsall4 – 3(aet)Rochdale1554Solihull Moors0–2Tranmere Rovers1675Nantwich Town2–1Macclesfield Town4786Stockport County3 – 3(2–4p)Crewe Alexandra2367Lincoln City3–1Mansfield Town1058Shrewsbury Town2–0Bradford City1359Oadby Town0–3Leeds United52110Leicester City3–1Milton Keynes Dons292Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance11Swindon Town3–0Exeter City 175 or 35012Yeovil Town1–2Cirencester Town14413Cambridge United0–2Northampton Town25214Lewes3–0Croydon Athletic19515Barnet3–1Havant & Waterlooville9216Brentford6–2Thurrock25317Bristol Rovers3–1Brighton & Hove Albion14018Millwall5–1Dagenham & Redbridge37219Cheltenham Town0–1Gillingham24020Wycombe Wanderers1–2Leyton Orient215
Third round The 20 Premier League and 24 Championship teams enter at this stage, along with the winners of the second round. Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Swansea City0–3Manchester City9452Brentford1–2Middlesbrough3563Manchester United2–3Chelsea1,2464Cardiff City3–0Blackpool3255Swindon Town1–5Crystal Palace 3886Reading0–1Preston North End3037Tottenham Hotspur3–0Sheffield United2,6628Portsmouth2–1Gillingham1669Leyton Orient0–4Watford32810Barnsley2–3Walsall13011Norwich City1–0Wigan Athletic40512Sunderland2–1Cirencester Town25313Leeds United1–2Liverpool90814Carlisle United1–3Crewe Alexandra26715Sheffield Wednesday1–3Millwall32916Coventry City2 – 3(aet)Stoke City335Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance17Ipswich Town1–0Shrewsbury Town41118Bolton Wanderers2–0Doncaster Rovers87619Burnley3–1West Bromwich Albion 47020Northampton Town0–3Tranmere Rovers21221Aston Villa2–3Arsenal1,06022Southampton3 – 1(aet)Derby County32723Barnet1–2Bristol Rovers7224Plymouth Argyle2–1Fulham35525Newcastle United2–1Oldham Athletic1,17126Lewes1–2Hull City52927Queens Park Rangers5 – 3(aet)Bristol City23928Everton2–0Nantwich Town79829Birmingham City2 – 1(aet)Lincoln City13630Leicester City2–3Wolverhampton Wanderers44831Charlton Athletic2 – 1(aet)Blackburn Rovers80732Nottingham Forest3–1West Ham United472
Fourth round Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Ipswich Town4 – 2(aet)Crystal Palace 4132Arsenal3–1Wolverhampton Wanderers 7123Preston North End0 – 1(aet)Sunderland5654Chelsea5–1Walsall2175Queens Park Rangers1–3Newcastle United5176Norwich City1 – 1(4–2p)Stoke City8177Southampton0–1Watford5868Plymouth Argyle3–2Millwall4439Bristol Rovers2 – 2(2–4p)Liverpool2,45910Bolton Wanderers4–0Hull City94711Burnley1–3Everton47812Middlesbrough1–2Nottingham Forest68613Charlton Athletic0–3Tottenham Hotspur96814Birmingham City3–2Crewe Alexandra17115Portsmouth0–1Manchester City27616Cardiff City0 – 0(5–4p)Tranmere Rovers485
Fifth round Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1Ipswich Town2 – 3(aet)Watford 1,8232Liverpool1–0Chelsea 2,1933Sunderland0–4Arsenal 1,2074Plymouth Argyle0–3Tottenham Hotspur2,1115Everton1 – 1(1–3p)Norwich City2496Manchester City4–2Newcastle United 9057Nottingham Forest0–2Bolton Wanderers4508Cardiff City0–2Birmingham City499
Quarter-finals Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamReportAttendance1Birmingham City1–0WatfordReport2,4042Manchester City1–0Norwich CityReport3,2543Tottenham Hotspur1–3ArsenalReport 19,0844Liverpool4–2Bolton WanderersReport2,676
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Arsenal won 6–2 on aggregate.
Liverpool won 6–1 on aggregate.
Final
First leg
ARSENAL: 1 James Shea 2 Craig Eastmond 3 Thomas Cruise 4 Kyle Bartley 5 Emmanuel Frimpong 6 Luke Ayling 7 Henri Lansbury 8 Francis Coquelin 9 Gilles Sunu 10 Jack Wilshere 11 Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (c)Substitutes: 12 Rhys Murphy 13 Charlie Mann 14 Sanchez Watt 15 Conor Henderson 16 Cedric EvinaManager: Steve BouldLIVERPOOL: 1 Dean Bouzanis 2 Karl Clair 3 Christopher Buchtmann 4 Daniel Ayala 5 Joe Kennedy (c) 6 Andre Wisdom 7 David Amoo 8 Steven Irwin 9 Lauri Dalla Valle 10 Tom Ince 11 Alexander KačaniklićSubstitutes: 12 Nathan Eccleston 13 Deale Chamberlain 14 Michael Roberts 15 Alex Cooper 16 Jack RobinsonManager: Hughie McAuley
Second leg
LIVERPOOL: 1 Dean Bouzanis 2 Steven Irwin 3 Jack Robinson 4 Daniel Ayala 5 Joe Kennedy (c) 6 Andre Wisdom 7 David Amoo 8 Christopher Buchtmann 9 Lauri Dalla Valle 10 Tom Ince 11 Alexander KačaniklićSubstitutes: 12 Nathan Eccleston 13 Deale Chamberlain 14 Alex Cooper 15 Michael Roberts 16 Karl ClairManager: Hughie McAuleyARSENAL: 1 James Shea 2 Craig Eastmond 3 Thomas Cruise 4 Kyle Bartley 5 Francis Coquelin 6 Luke Ayling 7 Henri Lansbury 8 Jack Wilshere 9 Gilles Sunu 10 Sanchez Watt 11 Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (c)Substitutes: 12 Rhys Murphy 13 Charlie Mann 14 Conor Henderson 15 Oğuzhan Özyakup 16 Cedric EvinaManager: Steve Bould Arsenal won 6–2 on aggregate.
See also 2008–09 Premier Academy League 2008–09 Premier Reserve League 2008–09 FA Cup 2008–09 in English football
References
External links The FA Youth Cup at The Football Association official website