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1872 FA Cup final

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1872 FA Cup final
A trophy, silver in colour and topped by a figure of a footballer, on an ebony plinth
An illustration of the FA Cup trophy awarded in 1872
Event1871–72 FA Cup
Wanderers Royal Engineers
1 0
Date16 March 1872
VenueKennington Oval, London
RefereeAlfred Stair (Upton Park)
Attendance2,000
1873 →

The 1872 FA Cup final was an association football match between Wanderers and Royal Engineers on 16 March 1872 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the final of the first staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup (known in the modern era as the FA Cup), which became the primary cup competition in English football and the oldest football competition in the world. Fifteen teams entered the competition in its first season and, due to the rules in place at the time, Wanderers reached the final having won only one match in the four preceding rounds. In the semi-finals, they drew with the Scottish club Queen's Park, but reached the final when the Scots withdrew from the competition as they could not afford to return to London for a replay.

The final was decided by a single goal, scored after fifteen minutes by Morton Betts of Wanderers, who was playing under the pseudonym "A. H. Chequer". Royal Engineers were noted for their innovative use of passing, then referred to as the "Combination Game", at a time when most teams relied almost solely on dribbling tactics. Despite this, they could not manage to score a goal. The winning Wanderers team did not receive the trophy until the following month, when it was presented to them at the club's annual dinner at the Pall Mall Restaurant.

Background

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The Football Association Challenge Cup (commonly known in the modern era as the FA Cup) was the first formal competition created for the sport of association football, which had first been codified in England in 1863.[1][2] The Football Association (the FA) had been created in an attempt to formalise a standard set of rules for football, as no universally agreed rules for the sport existed; although many clubs adopted what came to be known as association football, many others did not and continued to use differing rules.[3] The creation of the cup tournament was proposed in 1871 by Charles W. Alcock, the secretary of the FA, the sport's governing body, who wrote that "it is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete".[4] His inspiration had been a similar competition between houses during his time as a pupil at Harrow School.[4][5] The first FA Cup competition took place during the 1871–72 football season.[6] Although fifty clubs were members of the FA, only twelve opted to take part although three of these quickly withdrew; a further six clubs then decided to enter, taking the total number of entrants to fifteen.[6] Some clubs declined to enter because they had already arranged a full season of matches and did not wish to cancel any, while others felt that competing for a prize was not in keeping with the amateur ethos of the sport.[7] The clubs taking part were mostly based in London and the surrounding area, but also included the leading team in Scotland, Queen's Park.[6] The players involved were drawn from the upper classes; the members of the Wanderers club were wealthy gentlemen who had attended some of the leading English public schools, including Harrow and Eton College, and the Royal Engineers team consisted of officers from the Corps of Royal Engineers, a division of the British Army.[8][9]

Route to the final

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View of the Kennington Oval sports ground
Both semi-finals took place at London's Kennington Oval (pictured in 1891).

The random draw for the first round paired Wanderers with Harrow Chequers, a team consisting of former pupils of Harrow School, and Royal Engineers with Reigate Priory.[10] Neither match actually took place, however, as both the Chequers and Reigate withdrew from the competition, sending their opponents through to the next round on a walkover.[11][12] In the second round, Wanderers defeated Clapham Rovers 1–0 in December in a match which ended in near darkness after the start was delayed due to the late arrival of a number of players;[13] the following month, Royal Engineers won 5–0 at London's Kennington Oval against Hitchin, who could only muster eight players.[14]

At the quarter-final stage, Wanderers drew 0–0 with Crystal Palace.[a][10] Rather than be made to replay the match, however, both teams were permitted to go through to the semi-finals under one of the competition's original rules, which stated that in the event of a drawn match, the teams would either be made to play again or both progress to the next round at the organising committee's discretion.[15] Royal Engineers beat Hampstead Heathens 2–0.[11]

In the semi-finals, Wanderers took on Queen's Park who, due to a combination of walkovers and byes, had reached this stage of the competition without actually playing a match.[10] The rules of the competition stated that all matches from the semi-final stage onwards would take place at Kennington Oval and, after being held to a 0–0 draw, the Scottish club could not afford to make the lengthy trip from Glasgow a second time for a replay and withdrew from the competition, sending Wanderers into the final.[12][16] An article published in Bell's Life in London after the final criticised the requirement for teams from so far afield to have to repeatedly travel to the capital, which put them at a severe disadvantage against London-based clubs.[17] Wanderers thus reached the final having won only one match and scored only one goal in the four preceding rounds.[12] The second semi-final, between Royal Engineers and Crystal Palace, also finished goalless; the military team won 3–0 in a replay.[10][18]

Match

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Summary

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Soldier and sportsman Francis Marindin
Francis Marindin captained the Royal Engineers team.

The final took place at Kennington Oval on 16 March.[16] Previewing the game, The Morning Post described the Wanderers team as "the crème de la crème of the Association players" and noted that in the earlier rounds of the competition, some of their best players had been unavailable, but that they were expected to be at full strength for the final.[16] The writer also commented on Royal Engineers' preferred tactics of passing the ball between players, a style then known as the "Combination Game" and considered innovative; most teams at the time relied on players making long runs dribbling the ball until they found themselves in potential goalscoring positions or were dispossessed by an opponent.[16][19] The Field wrote that "the general feeling [...] seemed to be in favour of a victory for the Sappers",[20] using a traditional nickname of the Corps of Royal Engineers.[21]

Alcock, the man who had proposed the creation of the tournament, was the captain of the Wanderers team and Francis Marindin captained their opponents.[22] Morton Betts of Wanderers played under the pseudonym "A. H. Chequer", referencing his membership of the Harrow Chequers club.[23] Some modern sources assert that he played under an assumed name to disguise the fact that he was cup-tied, having been a registered player of the Chequers club at the start of the competition and therefore ineligible to play for any other club in that season's cup (even though the Chequers team withdrew from the competition without playing a match).[24][25] No such rule existed at the time, however;[26] in the early amateur days of the sport, players usually held membership of multiple clubs and indeed Cuthbert Ottaway played for two different clubs in consecutive rounds of the 1871–72 FA Cup without incident.[27] The Morning Post wrote that "a vast number of spectators" was present at the final,[28] and The Field described the attendance as "much above average", despite the fact that the game clashed with public trials for the upcoming Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race.[20] In contrast, Bell's Life in London stated that there were "not a great number of visitors" and blamed the decision to charge an admission fee of one shilling.[17] Modern sources give an attendance figure of 2,000.[29][30] The umpires were J. H. Giffard for Royal Engineers and James Kirkpatrick for Wanderers, and Alfred Stair, the assistant honorary secretary of the FA, was the referee.[20] At the time, the umpires had the primary responsibility for enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match and the referee's role was to resolve disputes if the umpires could not agree.[31][9]

As was common at the time, both teams focused mainly on attack rather than defence,[9] Royal Engineers lining up with seven forwards and Wanderers with eight.[32] Alcock won the coin toss and chose to begin the game defending the goal at the western end of the ground, meaning that the military team initially had the wind and sun in their faces.[17][33] Royal Engineers were quickly hard-pressed by their opponents' attacking play and Wanderers completely dominated the early part of the game,[17][20] surprising onlookers with a greater degree of combination play than was their norm.[34] Ten minutes after the kick-off, a melee took place and Edmund Creswell of Royal Engineers suffered a broken collarbone.[20] He refused to leave the pitch, but due to his injury, was moved to a wing position where he would have less involvement in play.[b][35] Wanderers took the lead fifteen minutes into the game when Walpole Vidal made a long dribbling run before passing the ball to Betts, who, according to The Field, "was able to effect the reduction of the military goal with but little difficulty".[20] Under the rules in use at the time, the teams changed ends after the goal, but the military team were unable to take advantage of the fact that the sun and wind were now behind them, and Wanderers remained dominant.[20] After twenty minutes Alcock put the ball past Royal Engineers' goalkeeper, William Merriman, but the goal was disallowed because Charles Wollaston had handled the ball in the build-up.[32]

Herbert Muirhead had the best chance for Royal Engineers, making a run close to their opponents' goal before being blocked by Albert Thompson.[34] Wanderers continued to exert further pressure and only the skill of Merriman was able to prevent his opponents from increasing their lead; The Field wrote that "so resolute was the front offered by Capt. Merriman [...] and so judicious his defence that further reverses were averted".[20] The newspaper described his overall performance as "perfect".[20] A shot from a Wanderers player also hit one of the goalposts following "a protracted bully [which] raged on the very edge of the Engineers' lines", in the words of The Sportsman.[34] Despite a late rally from their opponents, Wanderers were able to hold on to their lead and the game ended in a 1–0 victory.[34] The reporter for The Field called the final "the fastest and hardest match that has ever been seen at The Oval" and said that the victors displayed "some of the best play, individually and collectively, that has ever been shown in an Association game".[20] The Morning Post described the match as one-sided and said that the soldiers "could never get within many yards of their opponents' quarters",[28] and The Sportsman commented that they "only on two occasions endangered the enemy's goal".[34]

Details

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Wanderers1–0Royal Engineers
Betts 15'
Attendance: 2,000[32]
Wanderers[36]
Royal Engineers[36]
Wanderers:[32]
GKReginald Courtenay Welch
FBEdgar Lubbock
HBAlbert Thompson
FWCharles W. Alcock
FWEdward Bowen
FWAlexander Bonsor
FWMorton Betts
FWWilliam Crake
FWThomas Hooman
FWWalpole Vidal
FWCharles Wollaston
Royal Engineers:[32]
GKCapt. William Merriman
FBCapt. Francis Marindin
FBLieut. George Addison
HBLieut. Alfred Goodwyn
FWLieut. Hugh Mitchell
FWLieut. Edmund Creswell
FWLieut. Henry Renny-Tailyour
FWLieut. Henry Rich
FWLieut. Herbert Muirhead
FWLieut. Edmond Cotter
FWLieut. Adam Bogle

Umpires:

Post-match

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The trophy was presented by the President of the Football Association, Ebenezer Morley, at the annual dinner of the Wanderers club at the Pall Mall Restaurant in London, on 11 April.[6] The Football Association also gave each player in the winning team a silk badge commemorating the victory and the club's committee presented each player with an inscribed gold medal.[32] As cup-holders, Wanderers received a bye straight to the final of the following year's FA Cup, in keeping with the original concept of the competition being a "challenge cup"; this was the only time this rule was used.[10] The FA Cup continues to be contested each season and is the oldest association football competition in the world.[37] Even after the advent of professional league football in England in 1888,[38] winning the FA Cup was for decades seen as an equal achievement to winning the league championship,[39] but the growing importance of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League has seen its prestige diminish.[40][41]

In 1938, several newspapers published obituaries for Thomas Hooman which stated that he had scored the winning goal in the 1872 cup final.[42][43] This is not backed up by contemporary newspaper reports, all of which list Betts as the goalscorer.[44] The obituaries contain other information about the match which Hooman had "told a reporter some time ago", such as the claim that it was played without a referee or umpires; as these claims are demonstrably false, it is likely that the statement that he scored the goal was also based on his reminiscences and that so many years after the fact he was confusing the 1872 final with another match in which he played.[44]

In 2010, the only known surviving medal from the final was offered for sale at an auction in London. It had been purchased by a jeweller as part of a house clearance in the 1950s and was expected to sell for up to £50,000,[45] but was ultimately purchased by the Professional Footballers' Association for £70,500.[46] A revived version of the Wanderers club was formed in London in 2009, reportedly with the approval of the descendants of players from the Victorian era;[47][48] this team played a Royal Engineers side at the Oval in 2012 to mark the 140th anniversary of the first FA Cup final.[49]

Footnotes

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a. ^ This Crystal Palace club is not generally regarded as being the same as the modern club of the same name. In 2020, the modern club, which had long been regarded as having been formed in 1905, began asserting that it was a direct continuation of the team which existed in the 1870s based on new research by club historians,[50] but this was disputed by other football researchers and rejected by the English football authorities.[51]
b. ^ The concept of substitutes was not introduced to English football until the 1960s; previously, an injured player had to play on or else the team had to continue with a reduced number of players.[52]

References

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  1. ↑ Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Collett 2003, p. 16.
  3. ↑ Hughes 2009, pp. 44–45.
  4. 1 2 Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 19.
  5. ↑ Collett 2003, p. 17.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Matthews 2006, p. 85.
  7. ↑ Hughes 2009, p. 60.
  8. ↑ Hughes 2009, p. 49.
  9. 1 2 3 "The first FA Cup final: A shilling to get in, no nets and seven up front". BBC Sport. 28 May 2015. Archived from the original on 1 November 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 154.
  11. 1 2 Collett 2003, p. 528.
  12. 1 2 3 Collett 2003, p. 630.
  13. ↑ "Wanderers v Clapham Rovers". Bell's Life in London. 23 December 1871. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "The Association Challenge Cup". The Field. 13 January 1872. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ Warsop 2004, p. 29.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "London, Saturday, March 16, 1872". The Morning Post. 16 March 1872. Retrieved 21 January 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Wanderers v Royal Engineers". Bell's Life in London. 23 March 1872. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ↑ "Royal Engineers". Army and Navy Gazette. 16 March 1872. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. ↑ Warsop 2004, p. 14.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "The Association Challenge Cup". The Field. 23 March 1872. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ↑ "Corps of Royal Engineers". National Army Museum. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Collett 2003, p. 754.
  23. ↑ Warsop 2004, p. 62.
  24. ↑ Lennox 2009, p. 107.
  25. ↑ Davies, Gregg (23 January 2015). "Mickey, Ricky, Ronnie, Harry and Billy the horse: the FA Cup's 90 minute heroes". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "Five things you never knew about the FA Cup final". BBC Radio 5 Live. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  27. ↑ Warsop 2004, p. 111.
  28. 1 2 "The Champion Cup at Football". The Morning Post. 18 March 1872. Retrieved 24 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  29. ↑ Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 24.
  30. ↑ Rollin 1985, p. 39.
  31. ↑ Hart 1995, p. 156.
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Warsop 2004, p. 40.
  33. ↑ "Football: Wanderers v Royal Engineers". The Daily Telegraph. 18 March 1872. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Association Challenge Cup: The final tie". The Sportsman. 19 March 1872. Retrieved 26 July 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  35. ↑ Warsop 2004, p. 28.
  36. 1 2 Warsop 2004, p. 20.
  37. ↑ "The FA Cup: History of a trophy". BBC. May 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  38. ↑ Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 159.
  39. ↑ Delaney, Miguel (14 May 2021). "'A national phenomenon': What the FA Cup final used to mean". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  40. ↑ Storey, Daniel (25 January 2019). "Who still cares about the FA Cup? We'll tell you..." FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  41. ↑ Johnston, Neil (25 April 2025). "FA Cup or Champions League qualification – which means more?". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2026. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  42. ↑ "Obituary: Mr T.C. Hooman". The Daily Telegraph. 24 September 1938. p. 15. Retrieved 7 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ↑ "Played in first cup final". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 23 September 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 7 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. 1 2 Warsop 2004, p. 90.
  45. ↑ "Great season of sporting antiques". Antiques Trade Gazette. 25 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  46. ↑ "PFA buy medal from first FA Cup Final". Daily Mirror. 9 November 2010. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  47. ↑ Buckley, Will (30 October 2009). "The forgotten story of ... the first ever FA Cup winners". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  48. ↑ Porter, Toby (13 January 2020). "South London Memories: 'I'm a wanderer, yeah the wanderer, I roam around, around, around'". London News Online. South London Press. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  49. ↑ "First FA Cup final recreated". BBC Sport. 8 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  50. ↑ "Crystal Palace claim they are oldest professional football club in existence". Sky Sports. 21 April 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  51. ↑ "Crystal Palace come full circle after 150 years – but are they the real Palace?". The Times. 16 April 2022. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  52. ↑ Bateman, Peter (18 September 2015). "Fifty years of substitutions in football: from necessary novelties to tactical tools". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

Works cited

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