FA Challenge Cup

Wanderers in 1873

FA Challenge Cup

In the earliest years of the FA Cup, the competition was set up in a “challenge cup” format.

This format meant that the previous year’s champion would skip straight to the final. The FA Cup’s knockout rounds were used to determine which club would have the right to face the champions.

Technically speaking, the February 3, 1873 fourth round match between Oxford University and Maidenhead was the true “final” of the FA Cup, since both teams had to play through several elimination rounds to reach that point.

Unfortunately, newspaper coverage of the sport in 1873 was pretty sparse, and I’ve been unable to find any contemporary accounts of Oxford’s 4-0 victory.

In theory, Oxford University should have then faced Glasgow side Queen’s Park. Queen’s Park were allotted a bye to the fifth round to compensate for the distance they would have to travel.

However, despite the generosity of the Football Association, Queen’s Park decided to withdraw again:

From Glasgow Daily Mail, March 3, 1873, page 5

By the way — this article from only a week later demonstrates what a powerful hold rugby had over the footbal culture of the day:

From The Daily Telegraph, March 10, 1873, page 2

This feels particularly ironic considering how much the association game grew in the years to come.