With the FA Cup Third Round Proper kicking off this week, our latest object takes us back to the very first final, which saw Wanderers beat Royal Engineers at at the Kennington Oval on 16th March 1872. The object is a gold winners medal, and is the only known surviving medal from the game. The tiny medal, measuring approximately 20mm across, is on display courtesy of the Players Foundation.
How did the FA Cup begin?
In 1863,The FA published the Laws of the Game, and then in 1871 decided they must create a challenge cup for all clubs belonging to the Association in which to compete: the The Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup, was born. As the oldest knockout football competition in the world, the FA Cup continues to celebrate football across all levels – as can be seen by successes of smaller clubs over the years.
What happened in the very first FA Cup final?
Wanderers F.C. were a London team that played between 1859-1887, until they were re-formed in 2009. They were initially founded as Forest Football Club, before they changed their name to Wanderers in 1864. One of the club’s founding members, Charles W. Alcock, is also the man who proposed the idea for the FA Cup. They ultimately won the FA Cup five times, prior to their decline and dissolution in 1887.
Royal Engineers A.F.C. are an association football team of the ‘sappers’ / engineers for the British Army, formed in 1863. The club is still running today: much like in the 19th century, its players are serving soldiers. Between 1872 and 1878, the club appeared in four FA Cup finals, winning on one of those four occasions.
The final between these two sides took place at Kennington Oval, more famous in modern times as the ground of Surrey County Cricket Club. Approximately 2,000 people were in attendance to see the inaugural final. Both sides set out to attack in different ways: Wanderers opted to rely on the technical dribbling skill of individuals, while the Royal Engineers favoured the passing game.
The Engineers were effectively reduced to ten men after ten minutes when one of their players, Edmund Cresswell, fractured his collarbone in an early melee: substitutes were not permitted, so Cresswell was stationed out of harm’s way on the wing.
Five minutes later, Wanderers took the lead through full-back Morton Betts, playing under the pseudonym AH Chequer. Wanderers were denied further goals by goalkeeper William Merriman, but fended off a late resurgence to close out a narrow win.
How did the teams fare thereafter?
Wanderers successfully defended the FA Cup the following year, having received a bye right through to the final, defeating Oxford University 2-0. After a couple of fallow seasons, they won the competition three times in a row between 1876 and 1878. The 1878 final was a repeat of their first FA Cup final encounter, pitting them against the Royal Engineers once again,
This time, Wanderers won 3-1, and, in accordance with the rules, were entitled to keep the trophy. Instead, they returned it to The FA, on the stipulation that it could never be retained outright by any one team.
Wanderers’ fortunes faded thereafter, pulling out of the FA Cup in 1880-81 due to a lack of players. After struggling on for a few years, the club eventually folded around 1887.
By contrast, the Royal Engineers still play to this day. They won the FA Cup once in 1875, winning a replay against the Old Etonians. They joined the Army Football Association in 1888: the Engineers’ Depot Battalion went on to win the Amateur Cup two decades later.