After the 1873 final was held at Lillie Bridge, the event was held at the Oval until 1892. The 1893 and 1894 finals were respectively held at Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester and Goodison Park in Liverpool, before the event returned to London in 1895, being held at Crystal Palace until the outbreak of World War I. After the war, the event was held at Stamford Bridge, before Wembley Stadium opened in 1923. The first final at Wembley, in which Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2–0, had an official attendance of 126,047, although the actual figure is believed to be as much as 300,000. A police horse named Billy was used to regain control after the large crowd overflowed onto the field, earning it the nickname "White Horse Final". The 1927 final saw "Abide with Me" being sung for the first time at the Cup final, which has become a pre-match tradition.[1]
Wembley continued to host the final until 2000, when it closed for redevelopment. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final between 2001 and 2006, before the new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007.
Up to and including 1998, if the final ended in a draw, a replay would be required. This happened on 14 occasions, the last being in 1993 between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. In September 1998, the Football Association decided that all future finals would be decided "on the day", meaning that a penalty shootout would decide the winner if the score was level after normal and extra time.[2] Three finals since have been decided by a penalty shootout, those of 2005 (Arsenal defeating Manchester United), 2006 (Liverpool defeating West Ham United) and 2022 (Liverpool defeating Chelsea).
