The birth of the FA Cup

"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

One of the key events in this period was not a change in the way the game was played but an administrative appointment. Charles Alcock was an Old Harrovian who, along with his elder brother James, had helped to found the Forest club. Forest was among those clubs represented at the historic meeting at the Freemasons’ Tavern, although Alcock himself was not present. James Alcock became an FA Committee member when it was first constituted, but within three years Charles had replaced him and it was he who became one of the most influential figures of the day. Alcock was a driving force in the effort to establish a unified game throughout the land. In 18 7 0 he was appointed Secretary to the FA, a position he held for 25 years. His greatest contribution came just one year into that appointment, when he was the prime mover in the birth of the FA Cup.

15 clubs enter inaugural FA Cup

It was at an FA Committee meeting on 20 July 1871 that Alcock proposed the following motion: “That it is desirable diat a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete”. The idea was probably based on the mter-house competitions he had participated in during his time at Harrow.

As there were no league matches at this time, fixtures were an ad hoc mish-mash cobbled together between club secretaries with varying degrees of success. A Cup competition suddenly gave football a focal point, and it quickly caught the imagination of the clubs. By this time some fifty of them were affiliated to the FA, yet logistical problems meant that only 15 entered the inaugural competition, held in the 1871-72 season. There was an overwhelming southern bias, 13 of the entrants coming from that region, including eight from the environs of the capital. Bonington Grammar School in Lincolnshire was England’s most nortlierly participant, while Queen’s

Park ignored a daunting

Travel schedule and flew the flag for Scotland. With the aid of two byes and a walk-over - after Bonington scratched - Queen’s Park found themselves in the semi-finals witliout having kicked a ball! They funded their trip to London to play the Wanderers from public subscription. The game ended in a goalless draw, and as the Scottish club’s resources wouldn’t stretch to a replay, it was the Wanderers who went on to contest the Final.

Cambridge University football team in 1894. Until the 1880s football was dominated by the gentlemen-amateur teams coming mainly from the public schools and universities of the south. In 1881 Old Etonians played Old Carthusians for the Cup, the last time two amateur sides appeared in the final.