Every year, the FA Cup final is one of the great days in the English sporting calendar. But the competition began in a far humbler way: with fifteen entries, a small silver trophy and a final watched by a crowd of around two thousand at a cricket ground in south London.
Charles Alcock's idea
The man behind it was Charles William Alcock, secretary of The Football Association and captain of the Wanderers club. As a schoolboy at Harrow he had taken part in an inter-house competition decided by knockout games, and he believed the same format could bring football clubs together. On 20 July 1871, at a meeting in the offices of The Sportsman newspaper, he proposed that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association. The idea was accepted, and the Football Association Challenge Cup was born.
The first competition
Fifteen clubs entered the first tournament in 1871–72, though several withdrew without playing. Most were based in and around London, but Queen's Park of Glasgow also took part. The rules were unusual by today's standards: in the early rounds a drawn tie could see both teams go through, and some clubs progressed without kicking a ball because their opponents scratched.
Queen's Park reached the semi-final and drew 0–0 with the Wanderers at the Oval, but could not afford another long journey south for the replay and withdrew. The Wanderers were through to the final.
The final at the Oval
On 16 March 1872, the Wanderers met the Royal Engineers at the Kennington Oval. The Engineers were the favourites — a disciplined army side known for playing together as a team. But one of their players broke his collarbone early on and, with no substitutes allowed, played on in pain.
The only goal came from Morton Peter Betts, who played under the pseudonym "A. H. Chequer" — a reference to the Harrow Chequers club he belonged to. The Wanderers won 1–0. The trophy, bought for about £20, was later nicknamed the "little tin idol".
From gentlemen to workers
For its first decade the FA Cup was dominated by former public schoolboys and gentleman amateurs. The Wanderers won it five times in its first seven years, and the Old Etonians and Old Carthusians also lifted the trophy.
That changed in 1883, when Blackburn Olympic — a team of mill workers and tradesmen from Lancashire — beat the Old Etonians in the final. It was a turning point. The cup now belonged to the industrial north and to the growing number of players who were paid, secretly or openly, to play. Two years later, in 1885, the FA legalised professionalism.
The magic of the cup
More than 150 years later, the FA Cup is still the oldest national football competition in the world. Hundreds of clubs, from part-time village sides to Premier League giants, enter every season. The famous "magic of the cup" — the chance for a small club to knock out a big one — comes straight from Alcock's simple idea: one match, and the winner goes through.
Watch: The FA Cup's sensational solo goals
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