1877 FA Cup final

1877 FA Cup final
	An illustration of the FA Cup trophy awarded in 1876
Event	1876–77 FA Cup
	After extra time
Date	24 March 1877
Venue	Kennington Oval, London
Referee	Sidney Havell Wright (Great Marlow F.C.)
Attendance	3,000
	← 1876 1878 →

Last updated July 16, 2024

The 1877 FA Cup final was a football match between Wanderers and Oxford University on 24 March 1877 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the sixth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known in the modern era as the FA Cup). Wanderers were the reigning cup-holders and had won the competition three times in total. Oxford had also previously won the tournament, making this the first FA Cup final played between two former winners. Wanderers had reached the final without conceding a goal, defeating Cambridge University in the semi-finals. Oxford had only played three matches in the five rounds prior to the final due to a combination of byes and opponents withdrawing.

Oxford took the lead in the final when Arthur Kinnaird, the Wanderers goalkeeper, stepped behind his goal-line while holding the ball, thereby scoring an own goal. Wanderers equalised in the dying stages of the match and scored the winning goal in extra time. Oxford's goal was struck from the official records after the match, but reinstated over a hundred years later.

Route to the final

Wanderers were the reigning cup holders and had also won the tournament in both 1872 and 1873.^[1] Oxford University had won the competition in 1874.^[1] Both teams entered the competition at the first round stage and were allocated home matches against Saffron Walden and Old Salopians respectively. Neither match took place, however, as in each case the away team withdrew from the competition, giving their opponents a bye into the next round. In the second round, Wanderers and Oxford both scored six goals, defeating Southall and 105th Regiment respectively.^[2]

In the third round, Wanderers beat Pilgrims 3–0 and Oxford again progressed without playing when their scheduled opponents, the leading Scottish club Queen's Park, withdrew. Wanderers themselves progressed through the quarter-finals on a bye as an uneven number of teams remained in the competition. Oxford were held to a goalless draw by Upton Park, but emerged victorious after a replay two weeks later. In the semi-finals Oxford received a bye, progressing straight to the final, and Wanderers beat the other of the great universities, Cambridge University, 1–0.^[2]

Match

Summary

Both teams chose to play with two full-backs, two half-backs and six forwards, in keeping with the attacking style of play generally employed at the time.^[3] Arthur Kinnaird played in goal for Wanderers, even though he had played as a forward in three earlier cup final appearances.^[4] At the time, the position of goalkeeper was not considered a specialised one, and players often alternated between playing in goal and playing in outfield positions.^[5] The game was played at Kennington Oval, home of Surrey County Cricket Club and took place in extremely bad weather, with rain and sleet hampering the players. Wanderers won the coin toss and chose to begin the match defending the Harleyford Road end of the stadium.^[3]

The Wanderers players began the game in relative disarray, which the correspondent from The Sportsman reported was not an uncommon feature of their matches.^[6] After fifteen minutes Oxford were awarded a corner kick, which Evelyn Waddington kicked high towards the goal. Kinnaird caught the ball, but in doing so stepped behind the goal-line. The Oxford players immediately appealed for a goal to be awarded, and after a consultation the officials did so, giving the University team the lead.^[6] Some time later, Charles Wollaston was injured and swapped positions with Kinnaird.^[3] At the time the concept of substitution had not been introduced to the sport, so injured players were obliged to remain in the game unless they were completely unable to play on, but it was common for an injured player to "retire into goal", where it was felt he would be less of a liability.^[7]

As Wanderers pressed for an equaliser, Francis Birley took an indirect free kick, which went into the Oxford goal, but no goal was awarded as the ball had gone straight in without touching another player.^[3] Four minutes from the end of the game, Hubert Heron made what The Field called a "splendid run" and passed the ball to Jarvis Kenrick, whose shot eluded Oxford goalkeeper Edward Alington to level the scores and send the game into extra time.^[6] Seven minutes into the extra period, William Lindsay's goalbound shot was headed away by an Oxford player but the ball rebounded to Lindsay who sent it past Alington to give Wanderers a lead which the cup holders kept until the end of the game and thus retained the trophy.^[6]

Details

24 March 1877

Wanderers	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Oxford University
Kenrick 86' Lindsay 97'		Kinnaird 15' (o.g.)

Kennington Oval, London

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Sidney Havell Wright (Great Marlow F.C.)

Wanderers

Oxford Univ.


GK		Arthur Kinnaird
FB		Alfred Stratford
FB		William Lindsay
HB		Francis Birley
HB		Frederick Green
FW		Charles Wollaston
FW		Thomas Hughes
FW		Hubert Heron
FW		Henry Wace
FW		Charles Denton
FW		Jarvis Kenrick


GK		Edward Alington
FB		Owen Dunell
FB		William Rawson
HB		Evelyn Waddington
HB		Rev. James Henry Savory
FW		Rev. Philip Hosken Fernandez
FW		Edward Hagarty Parry
FW		Henry Otter
FW		Arthur Todd
FW		Arnold Hills
FW		John Bain

Match rules:

90 minutes normal time.
30 minutes extra-time if scores are level, at captains' discretion.
Replay if scores still level.
No substitutes.

Post-match

Some time after the match, Kinnaird informed the council of the Football Association (FA), of which he was a member, that in his opinion he had not carried the ball over the line for Oxford's goal.^[3] Despite the fact that the referee had awarded the goal and multiple newspaper reports stated that the ball had clearly gone over the line,^[8] Kinnaird's fellow council members took his word for it, and struck the goal from the records, changing the official score to 2–0 (although if Oxford had not scored, there would have been no reason for the game to go to extra time, so by rights they should have annulled Wanderers' second goal as well).^[3] For the next century, all sources reported the score of the match as 2–0.^[3] In the 1980s, after fresh research into contemporary reports of the game by football historians, the FA reinstated the Oxford goal, and now regard the official final score of the 1877 final as 2–1.^[9]

Related Research Articles

Wanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at various locations in London and the surrounding area. Comprising mainly former pupils of the leading English public schools, Wanderers was one of the dominant teams in the early years of organised football and won the inaugural Football Association Challenge Cup in 1872. The club won the competition five times in total, including three in succession from 1876 to 1878, a feat which has been repeated only once.

Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird, was a British principal of The Football Association and a leading footballer, considered by some journalists as the first football star. He played in nine FA Cup Finals, a record that stands to this day. His record of five wins in the competition stood until 2010, when it was broken by Ashley Cole.

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The 1872 FA Cup final was a 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, 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 1873 FA Cup final was an association football match between Wanderers F.C. and Oxford University A.F.C. on 29 March 1873 at the Lillie Bridge Grounds in London. It was the second final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. Unusually, the final kicked-off in the morning to avoid a clash with the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race which was held on the same day. The Wanderers reached the final without playing a match, as the original rules of the competition stated that the holders would receive a bye straight to the final and other teams would compete to gain the other place in the final and challenge them for the trophy. Oxford reached the final when their semi-final opponents, the Scottish club Queen's Park, withdrew from the competition.

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The 1875 FA Cup final was a football match between Royal Engineers and Old Etonians on 13 March 1875 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the fourth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. Heading into the final, the Royal Engineers were playing in their third final after losing the 1872 and 1874 finals while the Old Etonians were playing in their first FA Cup final.

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The 1876 FA Cup final was an association football match between Wanderers F.C. and Old Etonians F.C. on 11 March 1876 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the fifth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. The Wanderers had won the Cup on two previous occasions. The Etonians were playing in their second consecutive final, having lost in the 1875 match after a replay. Both teams had conceded only one goal in the four rounds of the competition prior to the final. In the semi-finals, the Wanderers defeated the Swifts and the Etonians beat the 1874 Cup winners Oxford University.

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The 1882 FA Cup final was contested by Old Etonians and Blackburn Rovers at the Kennington Oval. Old Etonians won 1–0, the only goal scored, according to most reports, by William Anderson, although another, questionably, gives Reginald Macaulay. It was the last final to be won by one of the Southern "gentleman amateur" teams who had dominated the first decade of the competition.

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Henry Wace was an English amateur footballer who made three appearances for England and played for Wanderers, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1877 and 1878. By profession he was a lawyer who specialised in bankruptcy law.

Colonel William Merriman was a British officer in the Royal Engineers who played as a goalkeeper in three FA Cup Finals, winning the cup in 1875.

Evelyn Waddington was a Welsh footballer and cricketer, who played in the 1877 FA Cup final for Oxford University.

References

General

Warsop, Keith (2004). The Early FA Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs. SoccerData. ISBN 1-899468-78-1.

Specific

1 2 "England FA Challenge Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
1 2 "England FA Challenge Cup 1876–77". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 27 January 2001. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Warsop, p. 47
↑ Warsop, p. 93
↑ Warsop, p. 55
1 2 3 4 Warsop, p. 34
↑ Warsop, p. 10
↑ Warsop, p. 35
↑ "Cup Final Statistics". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.

External links

FA Cup Final line-ups

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[RS1-1] 1 2 "England FA Challenge Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2009.

[RS-2] 1 2 "England FA Challenge Cup 1876–77". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 27 January 2001. Retrieved 30 November 2009.

[W47-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Warsop, p. 47

[4] Warsop, p. 93

[5] Warsop, p. 55

[W34-6] 1 2 3 4 Warsop, p. 34

[7] Warsop, p. 10

[W35-8] Warsop, p. 35

[9] "Cup Final Statistics". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.

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v t e FA Cup
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