Mark Hughes (left) and Eric Cantona
May 14, 1994: The FA Cup Final is held at the original Wembley Stadium in London. It is a no-win situation for a lot of people, as it's between London club Chelsea FC and Manchester United, two clubs that each have a notorious following that makes just about everyone else in the country hate them.
The game was played in rainy weather, and was scoreless in the 1st half. But United won, 4-0, with 3 goals in a 9-minute stretch, 2 of them penalties taken by their French striker Eric Cantona, his collar up for both. (Lucky for him, he wasn't playing in the NFL, or he'd have been fined.)
Referee David Elleray later admitted that he shouldn't have given the 2nd penalty, but the 1st was not controversial, and United likely would have won anyway.
Having also won the League title, they thus complete "The Double" for the first time in club history, joining Arsenal (in 1971), Liverpool (1986), Tottenham (1961), Aston Villa (1897) and Preston North End (1889, the 1st season of League football) as clubs that have done it. They have now done it 3 times (also in 1996 and 1999), as have Arsenal (in 1998 and 2002). Chelsea (in 2010) and Manchester City (2019) have also done it since. (UPDATE: Man City won a 2nd Double in 2023.)
Former Tottenham star Glenn Hoddle managed Chelsea, and inserted himself as a substitute, to no avail. This is the last time a player-manager has played in an FA Cup Final.
Katharine, Duchess of Kent, representing the Royal Family, as she had many times before, handed the Cup to United Captain Steve Bruce.
Despite blowing a 16-point lead in 3 months, United had won the League title on the last day of the season, May 1, going to Portman Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, and defeating Ipswich Town 2-1. They got a gift from a linesman, and even Andy Gray, the former Everton striker providing heavily Scottish-accented color commentary for the BBC, admitted it. So both trophies were asterisk-worthy.
It would not be the first time for Alex Ferguson and his Red Devils. It would be far from the last.
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May 14, 1994, like all FA Cup Final days, was a Saturday. American football was out of season. There were 2 games in the NBA Playoffs. The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 101-81 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. And the Utah Jazz beat their arch-rivals, the Denver Nuggets, 111-109 in overtime at the McNichols Arena.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 7 of a Western Conference Semifinal was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-2. This was the Sharks' 3rd season, and their 1st time in the Playoffs. They beat the Detroit Red Wings before losing to the Leafs.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Yankees scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th inning, making Donn Pall a winning pitcher in relief of Jim Abbott. Don Mattingly went 2-for-3 with 2 walks.
* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-4 at Shea Stadium. Mauro Gozzo outpitched John Smoltz. Ryan Thompson and David Segui hit home runs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 6-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Rickey Henderson was on the A's roster, but did not play.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-4.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the California Angels, 10-7 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk.
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