Colin Addison
Nominated by Hereford United
Addison was a goal-scoring inside-forward with Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United, amongst others, before linking up with non-League Hereford when he was 31. He was the Southern League side’s player-manager when they famously knocked Newcastle United out of The Cup in a Third Round replay in 1972.
John Aldridge
Nominated by Tranmere Rovers
Aldridge was a legendary marksman for Liverpool, playing in the 1988 and 1989 Finals. He joined Tranmere from Real Sociedad in ‘91, initially as a player and then becoming player-manager five years later. His gutsy First Division outfit reached the Sixth Round in both 2000 and 2001, losing to Newcastle and Liverpool.
Martin Allen
Nominated by Brenford
Allen was a combative midfielder with QPR, West Ham, Portsmouth and Southend. He managed Conference Barnet before taking over at Brentford in March 2004. A big fan of The Cup, he has taken the League One side through to the Fifth Round two seasons running, both times going out to Premiership opposition.
Geoff Chapple
Nominated by Woking and Kingstonian
Chapple, the manager with the "Midas touch" in The FA Trophy with five Final wins in seven years, took non-League Woking and Kingstonian to FA Cup glory too. Isthmian League Woking won 4-2 at Second Division West Bromwich Albion in 1991 and Conference Kingstonian put out Brentford and Southend in 2001.
Steve Coppell
Nominated by Crystal Palace
Coppell starred on the right wing for Manchester United and England in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. In 1984, the year after an injury ended his playing career, he became manager of Second Division Crystal Palace and took the Eagles to their first Final in 1990. It was his former club United who beat them in a replay.
John Duncan
Nominated by Chesterfield
Duncan, a former top striker with Spurs and Derby, was in his second spell as Chesterfield’s manager when the Second Division side reached their first semi-final in 1997. They fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough at Old Trafford, arguably being denied a legitimate fourth goal, before losing the replay.
Sir Alex Ferguson
Nominated by Manchester United
Sir Alex’s success as a manager in The Cup is unrivalled. He became Manchester United’s boss in 1986 after winning a stack of trophies with Aberdeen. His first major trophy with United was The Cup in 1990 and he has now won five finals and been runner-up twice. He tells his players: "Play the game, not the occasion".
Bobby Gould
Nominated by MK Dons / AFC Wimbledon
Gould had a long career as a bustling striker, serving eight different League clubs over 16 years. He was appointed Wimbledon’s manager in 1987 after "Harry" Bassett had brought the club up from the Fourth Division to the First and, with Don Howe’s astute help, took them to their first Final in ’88. They beat mighty Liverpool.
Dick Graham
Nominated by Colchester United
Graham was Palace’s goalkeeper in the immediate post-war period and later managed the club. He had four years as boss of Fourth Division Colchester United, from 1968 to 1972, and led them to their greatest Cup triumph in ’71 against a Leeds United side who were then top of the League. U’s won 3-2 in the Fifth Round.
Ruud Gullit
Nominated by Chelsea
Gullit was the Dutch superstar who made a high-profile move from Serie A’s Sampdoria to Premiership Chelsea in 1995. In his first season after taking over as manager from England-bound Glenn Hoddle he became the first foreign coach to win The Cup, leading the Blues to a 2-0 success against Middlesbrough in ‘97.
Howard Kendall
Nominated by Everton
Kendall played for Preston in the Final at 17 and four years later for Everton, finishing on the losing side both times. In his first spell as Toffees’ manager, from 1981 to 1987, he took them to three consecutive finals. They beat Watford 2-0 to lift The Cup in ‘84 but were then runners-up to Man United and Liverpool.
John Lyall
Nominated by West Ham United
Lyall was a West Ham United full-back in the early ‘60s before injury cut short a promising career. He continued to serve the club in a coaching capacity, succeeding Ron Greenwood as manager in 1974. Hammers won The Cup twice under John, defeating London rivals Fulham and Arsenal in ’75 and ’80.
Lawrie McMenemy
Nominated by Southampton
McMenemy was the popular Geordie who made his reputation for good man-management in the lower divisions with Doncaster and Grimsby before taking over at Southampton in 1973. Within three years they had won The Cup for the first time, Bobby Stokes’ strike proving to be enough to beat Man U.
Jimmy Melia
Nominated by Brighton & Hove Albion
Melia, born in Liverpool, was a gritty little inside-forward for the Merseyside giants for nearly ten years. He was briefly boss of Brighton & Hove Albion, then struggling in the top division, and always provided good newspaper copy with his shiny white shoes and disco-dancing and he took them to their first Final in 1983.
Bill Nicholson
Nominated by Tottenham Hotspur
Nicholson, a Tottenham wing-half either side of the war, was later one of the great managers. Within three years of taking over the reins his classy Spurs team, with Danny Blanchflower as skipper, had become the first in the 20th century to achieve a League and Cup "Double". They won The Cup again in ’62 and ’67.
Joe Royle
Nominated by Oldham Athletic
Royle was a popular Everton centre-forward who appeared in the 1968 Final against West Bromwich. He also played for Man City, Bristol City and Norwich. The present Ipswich boss was appointed Oldham Athletic’s manager in 1982 and in 12 years there he took them to two Cup semi-finals. They lost both to Man United.
Bill Shankly
Nominated by Liverpool
Shankly, Liverpool’s wisecracking manager from 1958 to 1974, put his beloved Reds on the map with three League Championships, two FA Cups and one UEFA Cup. They won The Cup for the first time in 1965, St John’s extra-time header proving decisive, and won again in ’74 just before the great "Shanks" decided to retire.
John Sillett
Nominated by Coventry City
Sillett was a Coventry City full-back in the 1960s and also turned out for Chelsea and Plymouth Argyle. He took the Sky Blues to their first Final in 1987 in tandem with another ex-player, George Curtis, who became the club’s Managing Director. The pair danced with the trophy pitchside after Spurs were beaten 3-2.
Alec Stock
Nominated by Fulham
Stock, who always told his teams to "play with a bit of pride", made his mark on The Cup as player and manager. He scored for non-League Yeovil when they beat First Division Sunderland on their sloping pitch in 1949 and managed Fulham to their first Final in 1975. The Cottagers needed eleven games to get there.
Bob Stokoe
Nominated by Sunderland
Stokoe won The Cup as a Newcastle centre-half in 1955 and was back at Wembley nearly 20 years later to manage Second Division Sunderland to their Final victory over a Leeds side packed with internationals in ‘73. At the end he raced across the pitch, raincoat flapping in the wind, to embrace ‘keeper Montgomery.
Terry Venables
Nominated by Queens Park Rangers
Venables, who became "El Tel" with Barcelona, won The Cup as a Tottenham midfielder against former club Chelsea in 1967. He later took two London sides to the Final as manager: QPR to their first in 1982, which they lost to Spurs in a replay, and then Spurs to their eighth win in ’91, secured without "Gazza".
Neil Warnock
Nominated by Notts County
Warnock, presently Sheffield United’s boss, took the Blades to a semi-final in 2003 when they lost narrowly to Arsenal. He managed Notts County for a very successful four years from 1989, achieving two promotions and reaching The Cup’s Sixth Round in 1991, eventual winners Spurs edging them at White Hart Lane.
Arsene Wenger
Nominated by Arsenal
Wenger, Arsenal’s highly respected French manager, had watched The FA Cup Final on TV as a youngster in France. He was destined to make his mark on the competition, taking the Gunners to five finals in seven years. They were winners in 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2005, with two of them coming in "Double" years.
Barrie Williams
Nominated by Sutton United
Williams was the pipe-smoking, Kipling-quoting Sutton United manager who plotted the downfall of First Division Coventry City in The Cup’s Third Round in 1989. He thought the Sky Blues would be vulnerable at set-pieces and he was proved right as they conceded from two corners in the non-League side’s shock 2-1 win.
Dennis Wise
Nominated by Millwall
Wise was Millwall’s player-manager when the First Division side made it to their first Final in 2004, having managed to avoid Premiership opposition all the way through. It was Dennis’s fifth Final, which included two wins as Chelsea’s captain in 1997 and 2000 and one as Wimbledon’s goal-maker against Liverpool in ’88.
* The FA's expert panel selected two wild card players into the final 125.
We asked the 92 clubs from the Premier League and Football League along with the top 33 clubs in the history of The FA Cup from outside the top four divisions, based on number of wins in all rounds, for their five nominations. Where clubs were unable to decide, the panel and fans put forward their suggestions for players from these clubs.