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8 Premier League greats we can’t believe never won the FA Cup

The FA Cup is one of the most historic and prestigious trophies in English football, but you’d be surprised by just how many big names never managed to get their hands on the prize.

Former stars from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool are among the big-name players that never won the famous trophy.

In total, we’ve found eight former Premier League stars who we can’t quite believe have never won the FA Cup during their career.

Rio Ferdinand

Despite getting his hands on every other trophy on offer during his 12-year stint at Manchester United, the FA Cup always managed to elude him.

United did win the FA Cup in 2003–04 while Ferdinand was at the club, but this coincided with his eight-month ban from football due to missing a drugs test. As a consequence of the ban, he was ineligible to take part in the FA Cup that year.

“It still grates, definitely. I’m sitting here looking at it (the trophy) and I want to launch it,” Ferdinand told BT Sports.

“They were bad moments. I was lucky enough to win quite a lot of stuff in my career. But I tell you, I probably spend more time even in retirement thinking about not getting my hands on that trophy.”

Nemanja Vidic

Ferdinand’s fellow defensive partner also never managed to lift the FA Cup. The Serbian defender came close to winning it in 2007 but lost the final to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

Emmanuel Adebayor

Despite playing for the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, Adebayor actually came closest to winning the FA Cup during his time with Crystal Palace.

The Togo forward made it to the final in 2016, but Palace ended up losing to Manchester United in a game that will forever be remembered for Alan Pardew’s dodgy dancing.

Harry Kane

Alright, this one won’t come as much of a surprise, but we can’t believe the former Tottenham man is still on the hunt for his first-ever trophy. Kane managed to make the FA Cup semi-final twice but lost on both occasions to Manchester United and Chelsea.

With Bayern Munich now trailing Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and having already been knocked out of the DFB-Pokal, Kane’s trophy drought could continue for a while longer.

Alan Shearer

While on punditry duty, Gary Lineker is usually quick to remind Shearer that he never managed to get his hands on the FA Cup.

The Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer came agonisingly close to winning it on a couple of occasions, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Shearer lost back-to-back finals with Newcastle in the nineties against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Edwin van der Sar

Undoubtedly, one of the finest goalkeepers the Premier League has ever seen. Van der Sar got his hands on 11 trophies during his spell at Old Trafford, but surprisingly, never added the FA Cup to his collection.

Georginio Wijnaldum

The Dutch midfielder played an integral role in Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League triumphs. He also got his hands on the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup during his Anfield spell.

However, Wijnaldum doesn’t have an FA Cup medal as part of his collection as he left Liverpool one year before they eventually won it in 2021–22.

Diego Costa

Chelsea have won eight FA Cups during their history, but none of their triumphs came while Costa was at the club.

The Spanish forward was absolutely box office in the Premier League and his three-year stint at Stamford Bridge will forever be iconic.

He did manage to win two league titles and a League Cup during his Chelsea spell, but the FA Cup trophy eluded him. Costa lost the final in 2016–17 and left Chelsea the year they managed to win the trophy.


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