Robbie Fowler (left) and Gary McAllister with the UEFA Cup
May 16, 2001: Liverpool Football Club complete a series of three cup final wins, a "Treble" never achieved before or since.
With the old Wembley Stadium in West London being demolished, and the new one built on the site, the Finals of both the FA Cup and the Football League Cup were held at the next-biggest stadium in Great Britain: The Millennium Stadium (since renamed the Principality Stadium) in Cardiff, Wales.
On February 25, Liverpool, managed by Gerard Houllier, played Birmingham City for the League Cup, then named the Worthington Cup, as it was sponsored by Worthington's brewery -- a far cry from when the national dairy board sponsored the tournament, and it was known as the Milk Cup.
Robbie Fowler scored in the 30th minute, and it looked like the Mersey Reds had it wrapped up. But in the 90th and last minute of normal time, the Brummies were awarded a penalty, and Darren Purse converted it. After extra time, the game went to penalties. Birmingham goalkeeper Ian Bennett could only stop 1 of 5 Liverpool shots, while Liverpool's Dutch goalie, Sander Westerveld, stopped 2 out of 5, and Liverpool won.
They were not as successful in the Premier League: They finished 3rd, 11 points behind winners Manchester United, and 1 point behind 2nd-place Arsenal of North London. But they reached the FA Cup Final, by beating Yorkshire teams Rotherham United and Leeds United, then Manchester City in the 5th round; then foiled a pair of upset bids, by fellow Merseysiders Tranmere Rovers in the Quarterfinal, and Buckinghamshire side Wycombe Wanderers in the Semifinal.
Arsenal, a perennial Cup contender, having beating Liverpool in the Final in 1950 and 1971, and beaten former Liverpool star and manager Kenny Dalglish as he took Newcastle United into the Final in 1998, would be a harder nut to crack. But conditions would be unusual, as this Final, also, was held in Cardiff. For the 1st time since 1922 -- not counting the 1970 replay at Old Trafford in Manchester -- the FA Cup Final was held outside of the old Wembley. For the 1st time ever, this event that began in 1872 was held outside England. And it was between 2 historic teams, both of whom had received significant contributions from Welsh players in their histories.
In the 17th minute, Stephane Henchoz of Liverpool committed a handball in the penalty area, which should have given Arsenal a penalty, and gotten him sent off. Referee Steve Dunn didn't see it, and waved play on.
Freddie Ljungberg, Arsenal's Swedish midfielder, scored in the 72nd minute, and it looked like Arsenal had their 8th FA Cup. But Michael Owen, an Englishman but appropriately of Welsh descent, struck in the 83rd minute, and again in the 88th, doing a somersault after the 2nd, and Liverpool were 2-1 winners, in a game where they should have been playing with 10 men for 75 minutes.
Liverpool's Captain, the Finnish centreback Sami Hyypiä, received the Cup from Adam Crozier, the Chief Executive of the FA. Hyypiä brought Jamie Redknapp onto the podium with him, as Redknapp had been the Captain, but had been injured for much of the season, and was in a suit rather than a uniform (or a kit, as they would say over there).
This completed a "Cup Double," which had only been done once before, by Arsenal in 1993.
Four days later, at the neutral site of the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany, Liverpool took the pitch for the Final of UEFA's secondary tournament, the UEFA Cup. Their opponents were Alavés, of the Basque Country of northern Spain, a team that has spent most of its history, before and since, in Spain's second division. Its lineup included Jordi Cruyff, son of the legendary Dutch star Johan Cruyff.
The Scousers jumped out to an early lead, as German right back Markus Babbel scored in the 3rd minute, and rising English midfielder Steven Gerrard scored in the 16th. Iván Alonso, a Uruguayan forward who had entered the game in the 22nd minute due to an injury, scored for Alavés in the 26th. Liverpool were awarded a penalty in the 40th, and Scottish midfielder Gary McAllister converted it. It was 3-1 at the half, and there seemed little doubt that European giants Liverpool would hang on against the would-be Cinderella side.
But Spanish forward Javi Moreno stunned everyone by scoring in the 47th minute, and again in the 49th, tying the game. In the 72nd, Fowler scored, and at 4-3, viewers again figured that Liverpool had the win. But Cruyff, while nowhere near the player his father was, proved himself a dangerous attacking midfielder, by tying the game back up in the 88th.
This was during FIFA's "Golden Goal" period, which meant that, in extra time, whichever team scored first would win, a rule that proved so unpopular that it didn't last long, only from 1993 to 2004. (France had beaten Italy in the Euro 2000 Final on a golden goal.) In the 93rd minute, Alonso had put the ball in the Liverpool goal, but it was ruled offside. In the 94th, Brazilian forward Magno was shown a 2nd yellow card for a two-footed challenge on Babbel, and was sent off, reducing Alavés to 10 men. In the 105th minute, Fowler thought he had scored the winning goal, but, as with Alonso's goal, it was correctly disallowed for offside.
In the 115th minute of the match, Alavés were reduced to 9 men, when their Captain, Antonio Karmona, received a 2nd yellow card for fouling Vladimir Šmicer, Liverpool's Czech midfielder. McAllister took the resulting free-kick, which Catalan left wingback Delfí Geli headed into his own goal. It was over, and Liverpool had won, 5-4.
It wasn't a domestic Treble, which would be the League, the FA Cup, and the League Cup: That wouldn't be done in England until Manchester City did it in 2019. And it wasn't a European Treble, which would be the League, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. That had been done by Manchester United in 1999. (UPDATE: It was done again by Manchester City in 2023.) But it was a Cup Treble that had never been done before, and has never been done since.
On August 12, Liverpool beat Premier League winners Manchester United in the FA Charity Shield in Cardiff. And on August 24, they beat Champions League winners Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup in Monte Carlo. Their fans began to brag about having won 5 major trophies, which led to a debate about which trophies were "major." On September 11, that debate was put aside for a while.
When the cloud lifted, fans resumed talking about how Liverpool hadn't won the top flight since its rebranding as the Premier League, and about how Arsenal won the Double for the 2001-02 season. As time passed, and as other achievements were raised -- an unbeaten League season by Arsenal, back-to-back titles and later a Double by West London team Chelsea, 3 straight titles and a Champions League win by Manchester United, and of course Liverpool's own Champions League triumph of 2005 -- the Cup Treble (or "Quintuple") of 2001 faded in relevance.
In 2010, UEFA rebranded the UEFA Cup as the UEFA Europa League.
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May 16, 2001 was a Wednesday. American-style football was out of season. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). The Yankees trailed 3-0 after 5 innings, and tied the game in the 9th, but Frank Menechino singled Mark Bellhorn home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Brian Boehringer lost the game in relief of Andy Pettitte. Derek Jeter hit a home run.
* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 5-2 at Shea Stadium. Adam Eaton got the win, while Glendon Rusch didn't get out of the 3rd inning. Tony Gwynn, in his final season, did not play, but Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for the Padres.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 7-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken, in his final season, went 0-for-3.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Tom Glavine started, but José Cabrera got the win.
* The Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Darryl Kile pitched a 7-hit shutout. Albert Pujols went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in
Cincinnati. Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and did not play.
* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-5 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at The Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Anaheim Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-1 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors, 121-88 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. Allen Iverson scored 52 points.
There was 1 game played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. Scott Young scored the winning goal, 10:27 into the 2nd overtime. This would be the only game the Blues won in the series.
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