FA CUP 1875-76

Winners: Wanderers

Runners-up: Old Etonians

Holders from previous season: Royal Engineers

 

First round
6 November 1875105th Regiment0-0Crystal Palace 
WalkoverCambridge University   Civil ServiceScratched
WalkoverClapham Rovers   HitchinScratched
6 November 1875Herts Rangers4-0Rochester 
 Day 2, Gilbert, Sparks     
WalkoverLeyton   Harrow ChequersScratched
23 October 1875Maidenhead2-0Ramblers 
 Goulden, Price     
9 November 1875Old Etonians4-1Pilgrims 
 Bonsor, A.Lyttleton, Patton, Wilson   T.Letchford 
6 November 1875Oxford University6-0Forest School 
 Bain 2, Otter, Parry, Simpson, og     
6 November 1875Panthers1-0Woodford Wells 
 not known     
30 October 1875Reigate Priory1-0Barnes 
 not known     
10 November 1875 Royal Engineers15-0High Wycombe 
 

Middlemiss 5, Rawson 5,

Blackburn 2, von Donop 2, Tower

     
WalkoverSheffield   Shropshire WanderersScratched
WalkoverSouth Norwood   ClydesdaleScratched
3 November 1875Swifts2-0Great Marlow 
 Joll, Talbot     
23 October 1875Upton Park1-0Southall 
 not known     
23 October 1875Wanderers5-01st Surrey Rifles 
 Kenrick 2, Maddison 2, Alcock     
Replay
20 November 1875Crystal Palace3-0105th Regiment 
 EP Barlow, Neame, CP Smith     
Second round
18 December 1875Clapham Rovers12-0Leyton 
 

Geaves 3, Hunter 2, Bevington, 2 og,

Birkett, Buchanan, Smith, Stanley

     
11 December 1875Old Etonians8-0Maidenhead 
 Patton 3, Thompson 2, Courthope, Griffith, og     
18 December 1875Oxford University8-2Herts Rangers 
 Simpson 2, Bain, Parry, 4 others   Gilbert, 1 other 
11 December 1875Reigate Priory0-8Cambridge University 
     Cole 4, Roffey 2, Sparham, Steel 
WalkoverRoyal Engineers   PanthersScratched
WalkoverSheffield   Upton ParkScratched
11 December 1875South Norwood0-5Swifts 
     W.Bambridge, Post, Sale, Talbot, 1 other 
11 December 1875Wanderers3-0Crystal Palace 
 Wollaston 2, F.Heron     
Quarter-final
31 January 1876Cambridge University0-4Oxford University 
     Bain, Parry, 2 ogs 
29 January 1876Old Etonians1-0Clapham Rovers 
 Bonsor     
29 January 1876Royal Engineers1-3Swifts 
 Rawson   W.Bambridge, Sale, Selwyn 
29 January 1876Wanderers2-0Sheffield 
 F.Heron 2     
Semi-final
19 February 1876 Oxford University0-1Old EtoniansPlayed at Kennington Oval, London
     Sturgis 
26 February 1876 Wanderers2-1SwiftsPlayed at Kennington Oval, London
 Birley, Wollaston   Sale 
Final
11 March 1876Wanderers1-1Old EtoniansPlayed at Kennington Oval, London
3,500Edwards (35)   Bonsor (50)aet
 

Team

GK: W.D.O. Greig

FB: Albert Stratford

FB: William Linsday

HB: Frederick Maddison

HB: Francis Birley

FW: Charles Wollaston

FW: Francis Heron

FW: Hubert Heron

FW: John Hawley Edwards

FW: Jarvis Kenrick

FW: Thomas Hughes

   

Team

GK: Quintin Hogg

FB: James Welldon

HB: Hon. Edward Lyttleton

HB: Albert Thomspon

FW: Arthur Kinnaird

FW: Charles Meysey

FW: Capt. William Kenyon-Slaney

FW: Hon. Alfred Lyttleton

FW: Julian Sturgis

FW: Alexander Bonsor

FW: Herbert Alleyne

Referee:

W S Buchanan

(Clapham Rovers)

Replay
18 March 1876Wanderers3-0Old EtoniansPlayed at Kennington Oval, London
3,500Wollaston (30), Hughes (33, 50)     
 

Team

GK: W.D.O. Greig

FB: Albert Stratford

FB: William Lindsay

HB: Frederick Maddison

HB: Francis Birley

FW: Charles Wollaston

FW: Francis Heron

FW: Hubert Heron

FW: John Hawley Edwards

FW: Jarvis Kenrick

FW: Thomas Hughes

   

Team

GK: Quintin Hogg

FB: Edgar Lubbock

HB:Hon. Edward Lyttleton

HB: Matthew Farrer

FW: Arthur Kinnaird

FW: James Stronge

FW: Capt. William Kenyon-Slaney

FW: Hon. Alfred Lyttleton

FW: Julian Sturgis

FW: Alexander Bonsor

FW: Herbert Alleyne

Referee:

William Rawson

(Clapham Rovers) 

 

Match Summary

Three sets of brothers played in the match. Francis and Hubert Heron lined up for the Wanderers, while the Etonians' team included Hon. Edward Lyttelton and his brother Hon. Alfred Lyttelton and Albert Meysey-Thompson and his brother Charles.

 

The latter pair's surname had been simply Thompson until it was changed in 1874, and for the final Albert played under the name Thompson and Charles under the name Meysey. This is the only occasion that two or more pairs of brothers have played in the same FA Cup Final.

 

Later that year, Francis Birley married Margaret, sister of his team-mate Jarvis Kenrick. The Etonian team also included Julian Sturgis, who had been born in the USA and was the first foreign-born player to appear in the Cup Final (discounting those born to British parents in the British Empire), as well as Arthur Kinnaird, who had captained Wanderers to victory in the 1873 FA Cup Final.

 

Wanderers began the match with two full-backs, two half-backs and six forwards, while the Etonians opted for one full-back, two half-backs and seven forwards.

 

Wanderers won the coin toss and chose to start the game defending the Harleyford Road end of The Oval. The crowd was estimated at 3,500, the largest for an FA Cup Final up to that point. The match was played in a strong wind, to the extent that when Frederick Maddison took a corner kick for Wanderers, the gale blew the ball back out of play. The Wanderers dominated the early stages of the game, but the Etonians kept them at bay for around 35 minutes until Charles Wollaston eluded Thompson and passed the ball to John Hawley Edwards, who kicked it narrowly under the crossbar of the Etonians' goal to give Wanderers the lead.

 

In the second half the Old Etonians had the wind in their favour and had the better of the play. Around five minutes after the interval, a corner kick to the Etonians led to a "scrimmage" (a term in common use at the time to describe a group of players struggling to gain possession of the ball) in front of their opponents' goal, which resulted in the ball and a number of players being forced over the goal-line, uprooting the goalposts in the process.

 

Modern sources credit the goal to Alexander Bonsor, but contemporary newspaper reports in The Sporting Life and Bell's Life in London do not mention his name, merely noting that the goal was scored "from a scrimmage". Neither team could manage to score another goal, and the game finished with the scores level, meaning that for the second successive season a replay would be needed to determine the winners of the competition.

 

The replay took place one week later at the same venue. The Wanderers fielded an unchanged team, but the Etonians had to make a number of changes, as Meysey was injured and three other players were unavailable due to other commitments. One of the replacements, Edgar Lubbock, had not long recovered from a bout of illness and was noted as being out of practice, and Kinnaird was still suffering the after-effects of an injury sustained in the original match.

 

The weather on the day of the match was extremely cold, with the threat of snow. The Etonians began the match playing in a rough manner, and there were also many appeals from the players for handball, which disrupted play.

 

After around half an hour, the Wanderers' forwards surged towards their opponents' goal and Charles Wollaston got the final kick which sent the ball past goalkeeper Quintin Hogg, one of the replacement players brought in for the replay. Almost immediately afterwards, another massed attack by the Wanderers led to Thomas Hughes doubling the lead.

 

Soon after half-time, Hawley Edwards, Francis Heron and Jarvis Kenrick combined in a skillful attack and set up Hughes to score his second goal of the game. Although the Wanderers' goalkeeper, W. D. O. Greig, was called into action several times, the Etonians were unable to get the ball past him, and the match finished 3–0 to the Wanderers. The winning team's captain Francis Birley was praised for his performance by the press, as were both Lyttleton brothers for the Etonians.

 

Post-match

 

As occurred each year until 1882, the winning team did not receive the trophy at the stadium on the day of the match, but later in the year at their annual dinner.

 

In addition to receiving the Cup, the winning team each received a gold medal from the committee of Surrey County Cricket Club. A week after the replay, four of the victorious Wanderers were chosen to represent London in a match against an equivalent team from Sheffield. Despite their presence, the London XI lost the game 6–0.