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Crystal Palace v Aston Villa: FA Cup semi-final

Crystal Palace v Aston Villa: FA Cup semi-final

The Guardian26-04-2025

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Aston Villa last won the FA Cup in 1957, 68 of your Earth years ago, and even that's something of an outlier. Five of their other six wins came during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, so it's not as though they've got much of a modern tradition in this competition to fall back on. Compare and contrast to Crystal Palace, who, despite never winning the FA Cup, arguably boast a better record in recent times. At least they came close to winning the competition in 1990 and 2016, giving it a good go in the final; Villa's only two appearances in the final since that aforementioned Fifties triumph, in 2000 and 2015, were thundering non-events from their point of view. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that both of these clubs are desperate to reach this year's final and put right some modern-day wrongs. Kick-off at Wembley is 5.15pm BST. It's on! Share

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