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Football tournament season

1871–72 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England Scotland
Dates	11 November 1871 – 16 March 1872
Teams	15
Final positions
Champions	Wanderers (1st title)
Runner-up	Royal Engineers
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	26 (2 per match)
1872–73 →

The 1871–72 FA Cup is the modern era name of the 1871–72 Football Association Challenge Cup, the first staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest association football competition in the world. Fifteen of the association's fifty member clubs entered this tournament, although three withdrew without contesting. Wanderers successfully pursued on 16 March 1872, at Kennington Oval, London the first FA Cup defeating the Royal Engineers by a single goal, made by Morton Betts, who was playing under the pseudonym A. H. Chequer.

Background

The Football Association, the governing body of the sport in England, had been formed in 1863, and for the first eight years of its existence, its member clubs contested only each other inconsequentially in friendly matches, no prizes at stake. In 1871, however, Charles Alcock, the association's secretary, conceived the idea for a knock-out tournament open to all member clubs, with a trophy to be awarded to the winner. Alcock's inspiration came from his days at Harrow School, where the houses which comprised the school competed each year for the title of "Cock House".

Rules

The rules of the competition stipulated that each team should consist of eleven players, and that each match should last 90 minutes (at this time, the Laws of the Game did not specify these matters). They made no provision for extra time. When a match was drawn after 90 minutes, there would either be a replay, or both teams would be allowed to proceed to the next round; the choice between these alternatives was left to the organising committee's discretion in each case. Matches were officiated by two umpires, one provided by each team: following disputes over the laws in the earlier rounds of the competition, a neutral referee was added in the later rounds

At this time, changes in the laws of the game came into force immediately. Thus the laws of 1871 were used for most of the competition, but the laws of 1872, which introduced the corner kick and the free kick for handball, were used for the last two matches (the final and the semi-final replay between Royal Engineers and Crystal Palace).

Format

First Round: 14 teams (with Hampstead Heathens getting a bye) would play against a different team. The seven winners would advance. Hitchin, Crystal Palace, Queen's Park and Donington School all advanced because of either a draw or the match not being played

Second Round: The remaining 10 teams would play. The 5 winners would move on.

Third Round: 4 teams would play, Queen's Park would advance to the Semi-Final without even playing a single match

Semi-Final: With Crystal Palace and Wanderers drawing in the Third Round, they would both advance. The four teams all had to replay. The winners all advanced.

Final: The two remaining teams would play at the Kennington Oval. The winner would be crowned Champions.

Results

Fifty clubs were eligible to enter, but only twelve chose to do so: Barnes, Civil Service, Clapham Rovers, Crystal Palace, Hampstead Heathens, Harrow Chequers, Harrow School, Lausanne, Royal Engineers, Upton Park, Wanderers and Windsor Home Park. Before the first round took place, however, Harrow School, Lausanne and Windsor Home Park all withdrew, reducing the number of entrants to nine. Six other clubs agreed to enter, however, including the leading club in Scotland, Queen's Park.

Most of the original entrants are now defunct. Queen's Park continued to compete in the FA Cup until 1887, when the Scottish Football Association banned its member clubs from entering the English competition. They are still active in the lower divisions of the Scottish Professional Football League. Marlow and Maidenhead (now Maidenhead United) are still active, and each has only missed a single season in the history of the competition. A team from the Civil Service still exists, playing in Amateur Football Alliance competitions. Crystal Palace was thought to be from 1871 to 1872 a defunct former amateur club, although historians have found links to the Crystal Palace professional club which exists today; this has yet to be officially ratified. Hitchin in the 1870s reformed to eventually become in 1928 the modern Hitchin Town.

Scotland's leading club Queen's Park entered the competition and managed to reach the semi-finals without having to play a match, due to a combination of an inability to agree venue, opponents withdrawing from the competition and byes. After holding Wanderers to a draw in the semi-final, however, they could not afford to return to London for a replay and were themselves forced to withdraw, giving their opponents a walkover into the final.

Calendar

Round	Date	Fixtures				Clubs	New entries this round
Round	Date	Original	Replays	Walkovers	Byes	Clubs	New entries this round
First Round	11 November 1871	7	0	2	3	15 → 10	15
Second Round	16 December 1871	5	1	1	0	10 → 5	none
Third Round	20–27 January 1872	2	0	0	1	5 → 4	none
Semi-finals	17 February - 5 March 1872	2	2	1	0	4 → 2	none
Final	16 March 1872	1	0	0	0	2 → 1	none

First round

Although there were seven matches scheduled in the first round, only four took place. Wanderers and Royal Engineers both won their matches by walkover when their opponents withdrew from the competition, and as Queen's Park and Donington School were unable to agree on a mutually acceptable date for the game, they were both allowed to progress to the second round without playing. Due to there being an odd number of entrants, Hampstead Heathens were awarded a bye to the second round. Barnes beat a Civil Service team consisting of only eight players. The first goal in FA Cup competition was scored by Jarvis Kenrick of Clapham Rovers.

11 November 187115:00

Barnes	2–0	Civil Service
Dunnage' Weston'

Barnes

11 November 187115:00

Hitchin	0–0	Crystal Palace

The Cricket Ground, Hitchin

11 November 187115:20

Maidenhead	2–0	Marlow
Young' (2)

York Road, Maidenhead

11 November 187115:30

Upton Park	0–3	Clapham Rovers
		Kenrick' (2) Thompson'

West Ham Park, London

Queen's Park	vs.	Donington School

Royal Engineers	w/o from	Reigate Priory

Wanderers	w/o from	Harrow Chequers

Hampstead Heathens	bye

Queen's Park and Donington School were both permitted to advance to the second round because they could not agree on a venue. Hitchin and Crystal Palace were both permitted to advance to the second round without staging a replay.

Second round

In the second round Queen's Park and Donington School were again drawn together. This time the school club withdrew from the competition altogether, meaning that Queen's Park progressed to the quarter-final, still without having played a match. At Kennington Oval, The Royal Engineers easily beat Hitchin that could muster only eight players. The match between Barnes and Hampstead Heathens ended in a draw after bad light stopped play. The committee ordered a replay (the first in FA Cup history), with the Heathens emerging victorious, despite playing both matches away from home and with only ten players.

16 December 1871

Crystal Palace	3–0	Maidenhead
Bouch' Chenery' Lloyd'

Crystal Palace Park

16 December 1871

Wanderers	3–1	Clapham Rovers
Pelham' Unknown' Unknown'		Unknown'

23 December 1871

Barnes	1–1	Hampstead Heathens
Highton' (68)		Barker'

Barnes

10 January 1872

Hitchin	0–5	Royal Engineers
		Unknown' (5)

Kennington Oval, London

Queen's Park	w/o from	Donington School

Replays

6 January 187215:15

Barnes	0–1	Hampstead Heathens
		Leach'

Barnes

Third round

The odd number of teams at this stage in the competition resulted Queen's Park receiving a bye and reach the semi-finals without having played a match in this round. The match between Wanderers and Crystal Palace finished in a draw; both teams were allowed through to the semi-finals. Royal Engineers completed the semi-final line-up after beating Hampstead Heathens. The Heathens never again entered the competition.

20 January 187215:15

Wanderers	0–0	Crystal Palace

Clapham Common

27 January 1872

Royal Engineers	3–0	Hampstead Heathens
Unknown' (3)

Chatham

Queen's Park	bye

Wanderers and Crystal Palace were both permitted to advance to the semi-finals without a replay

Semi-finals

All matches from this stage of the competition onwards were played at Kennington Oval in London. Both semi-finals finished in goalless draws and thus went to replays. Queen's Park, however, could not afford to make the long trip from Glasgow a second time and thus withdrew from the competition, giving Wanderers a place in the final. Wanderers proposed thirty minutes of extra time to settle the match, but Queen's Park refused. Royal Engineers secured the second place in the final by defeating Crystal Palace at the second attempt.

17 February 187215:15

Crystal Palace	0–0	Royal Engineers

Kennington Oval, London

5 March 187215:35

Queen's Park	0–0	Wanderers

Kennington Oval, LondonReferee: T. Lloyd

Replays

8 March 187215:00

Royal Engineers	3–0	Crystal Palace
Renny-Tailyour' (2) Mitchell'

Kennington Oval, London

Wanderers	w/o from	Queen's Park

Final

Main article: 1872 FA Cup final

The final took place at Kennington Oval between Wanderers and Royal Engineers. The Engineers were leading exponents of the tactic of passing the ball, which at the time was known as the "Combination Game" and considered extremely innovative at a time when most teams relied solely on dribbling. Despite this, Wanderers dominated the game and won 1–0 with a goal from Morton Betts. For unclear reasons, Betts played in the final under the pseudonym "A.H. Chequer", derived from his membership of the Harrow Chequers club.

16 March 187215:05

Wanderers	1–0	Royal Engineers
Betts 15'	Report

Kennington Oval, LondonAttendance: 2,000Referee: Alfred Stair (Upton Park F.C.)

References

^ Davies, Hunter (2003). Boots, Balls and Haircuts: An Illustrated History of Football from Then to Now. Cassell Illustrated. p. 31. ISBN 1-84403-261-2.
^ "Barnes v. Civil Service". Sportsman: 3. 15 November 1871.
"The Visit of a Scotch Club to London". The Scotsman: 7. 5 March 1872.
"Football". Morning Post: 2. 11 March 1872.
^ Matthews, Tony (2006). Football Firsts. Capella. p. 85. ISBN 1-84193-451-8.
^ "F.A". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
"The Association Challenge Cup". Field: 40. 13 January 1872.
"Hampstead Heathens v. Barnes". Sportsman: 3. 28 December 1871.
^ "Hampstead Heathens v. Barnes (Association Cup)". Bell's Life in London: 5. 13 January 1872.
"The Association Challenge Cup". Field: 85. 27 January 1872.
"Notes and Notions". Sportsman: 3. 3 February 1872.
"Wanderers v. Queen's Park Club, Glasgow". Sportsman: 3. 5 March 1872.
"Queen's Park v. Wanderers". Glasgow Herald: 5. 4 March 1872.
Warsop, Keith. The Early FA Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs. p. 28.
Warsop. Early FA Cup Finals. p. 40.

External links

FA Cup History at The Football Association
1871–72 FA Cup at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

Portal:

Association football

Categories:

Background

Rules

Format

Results

Calendar

First round

Second round

Replays

Third round

Semi-finals

Replays

Final

See also

References

External links