1872–73 FA Cup

1872–73 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England; Scotland
Dates	19 October 1872 –; 29 March 1873
Teams	16
Defending champions	Wanderers
Final positions
Champions	Wanderers (2nd title)
Runners-up	Oxford University
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	35 (2.69 per match)

The 1872–73 Football Association Challenge Cup was the second edition of the annual FA Cup, the oldest national football tournament in the world. Sixteen teams entered, one more than the previous season, although two teams never contested a match. It began on 19–26 October 1872 and ended at the final on 29 March 1873.

Wanderers successfully pursued its second Cup title, on 29 March 1873 in Lillie Bridge^[1] having been accorded a bye to the final in keeping with the tournament being a "challenge" cup. They were also for the first and only time in Cup history accorded choice of venue.

Oxford University pursued the Cup defeating in the Fourth round Maidenhead, 4–0. They were to contest Queen's Park, who had been accorded a bye to the Semi-final in consideration of reducing traveling costs for the team. Queen's Park withdrew giving Oxford University a walkover to the final that they lost, 2–0. Either 3,000 or 150 attended.^[2]

The final had the only morning kick off in Cup history and the low attendance was attributed to attendees not staying the entire match as the Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race was occurring later the same day.

Format

First round: Fourteen teams (all except Queen's Park and defending champions Wanderers) played and the seven winners advance.
Second round: Six teams played, the winners advancing. One team would get a bye.
Third round: The four second-round winners played. The winners advanced.
Fourth round: The two third-round winners played. The winners advanced.
Semi-final: The winning team from the fourth round would face Queen's Park. (However, this match was not needed as Queen's Park withdrew.)
Final: The semi-final winners faced Wanderers, the defending champions.

Calendar

Round	Date	Fixtures				Clubs	New entries this round
Round	Date	Original	Replays	Walkovers	Byes	Clubs	New entries this round
First round	19–26 October 1872	7	0	1	2	16 → 9	14
Second round	23 November – 7 December 1872	3	0	0	3	9 → 6	none
Third round	9–21 December 1872	2	0	0	2	6 → 4	none
Fourth round	3 February 1873	1	0	0	2	4 → 3	none
Semi-final	none	1	0	1	1	3 → 2	1
Final	29 March 1873	1	0	0	0	2 → 1	1

First round

19 October 1872

Barnes

0–1

South Norwood

26 October 1872

Civil Service

0–3

Royal Engineers

26 October 1872

Maidenhead

1–0

Marlow

26 October 1872

Reigate Priory

2–4

Windsor Home Park

26 October 1872

1st Surrey Rifles

2–0

Upton Park

26 October 1872

Crystal Palace

2–3

Oxford University

Clapham Rovers

Walkover

Hitchin

Second round

23 November 1872

Clapham Rovers

0–3

Oxford University

7 December 1872

1st Surrey Rifles

0–3

Maidenhead

7 December 1872

Windsor Home Park

3–0^{[nb 1]}

South Norwood

Royal Engineers

Bye

Notes

^ Originally played 23 November 1872 at South Norwood's ground, South Norwood winning 1–0. The match was ruled as void, and ordered to be replayed.^[3]

Third round

9 December 1872

Oxford University

1–0

Royal Engineers

21 December 1872

Windsor Home Park

0–1

Maidenhead

Fourth round

3 February 1873

Oxford University

4–0

Maidenhead

Semi-final

Oxford University

Walkover

Queen's Park

Final

29 March 1873

11:30

Wanderers	2–0	Oxford University
Kinnaird 27' Wollaston 80'	Report

Lillie Bridge

Attendance: either 3,000 or 150^[2]

Referee: Alfred Stair (Upton Park F.C.)

The final was played at Lillie Bridge, and had a morning kick-off for the only time in Cup history. The attendance was considered low, and of those who did attend, not all stayed for the whole duration of the game. This was attributed to the Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race occurring later the same day.

References

^ "1873 FA Cup Final Match | Wanderers vs Oxford University | FA Cup Finals".
^ ^a ^b "Football contest". London Daily Chronicle. 3 April 1873. Retrieved 22 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Results Archive - Emirates FA Cup - Competitions | the Football Association".

[4] Originally played 23 November 1872 at South Norwood's ground, South Norwood winning 1–0. The match was ruled as void, and ordered to be replayed.^[3]

[1] "1873 FA Cup Final Match | Wanderers vs Oxford University | FA Cup Finals".

[ldc-2] "Football contest". London Daily Chronicle. 3 April 1873. Retrieved 22 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[3] "Results Archive - Emirates FA Cup - Competitions | the Football Association".

[1]

[2]

[nb 1]

[3]

FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award