The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association. The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held.

The FA Cup was first held in 1871–72, and is the oldest association football competition in the world. Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other, there is the possibility for "minnows" from the lower divisions to become "giant-killers" by eliminating top clubs from the tournament, although lower division teams rarely reach the final. The holders of the FA Cup are Portsmouth, who beat Cardiff City 1–0 in the 2008 final on 17 May 2008

Wembley Arena is an indoor arena in Wembley, London, England. The arena is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for the 1934 Empire Games by Sir Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, the Empire Pool. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The building is used for music, comedy and family entertainment, and for sport. Music predominates, as the arena doesn't currently have a tenant sports team.

Wembley Arena was renovated along with Wembley Stadium as part of the regeneration of the Wembley area. The Arena refurbishment cost £35m and the new arena opened to the public on 2nd April 2006 with a concert by the pop group Depeche Mode.