1873–74 FA Cup

1873–74 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England
Dates	9 October 1873 – 14 March 1874
Teams	28
Defending champions	Wanderers
Final positions
Champions	Oxford University (1st title)
Runner-up	Royal Engineers
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	58 (2.23 per match)
	← 1872–73 1874–75 →

The 1873–74 Football Association Challenge Cup was the third edition of the annual FA Cup, the oldest national football tournament in the world. Entrants increased to 28 teams, 12 more than the previous season; six would never contest a match. It began on 9 October 1873 and ended at the final on 14 March 1874.

Wanderers unsuccessfully defended its second 1873 title at a Replay on 31 January 1874, losing to Oxford University, 1–0.

Oxford University successfully pursued its first FA Cup in the Final on 14 March 1874 in Kennington Oval against the Royal Engineers. 2–0. 2,000 attended.^[1]

Format

First round: 28 teams played. The winners moved on.
Second round: 14 teams played. The winner moved on.
Third round: 6 teams, with Swifts getting a bye, played.
Semi-final: 4 teams played.
Final: 2 teams played. Oxford University were the champions.

Calendar

Round	Date	Fixtures				Clubs	New entries this round
Round	Date	Original	Replays	Walkovers	Byes	Clubs	New entries this round
First round	9 October - 17 November 1873	14	2	5	0	28 → 14	28
Second round	15 November - 20 December 1873	7	2	1	0	14 → 7	none
Third round	6 December 1873 - 17 January 1874	3	1	0	1	7 → 4	none
Semi-finals	January 28 - February 28, 1874	2	0	0	0	4 → 2	none
Final	March 14, 1874	1	0	0	0	2 → 1	none

First round

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Date
Marlow	0–1	Pilgrims	9 October 1873
Royal Engineers	5–0	Brondesbury	11 October 1873
Woodford Wells	3–2	Reigate Priory	11 October 1873
Swifts	1–0	Crystal Palace	18 October 1873
1st Surrey Rifles	0–0	Barnes	25 October 1873
Cambridge University	1–0	South Norwood	25 October 1873
Uxbridge	3–0	Gitanos	28 October 1873
Upton Park	0–4	Oxford University	29 October 1873
Shropshire Wanderers	0–0	Sheffield	30 October 1873
Clapham Rovers	Walkover	Amateur Athletic Club
High Wycombe	Walkover	Old Etonians
Maidenhead	Walkover	Civil Service
Trojans	Walkover	Farningham
Wanderers	Walkover	Southall

Replays

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Attendance	Date
Barnes	1–0	1st Surrey Rifles		8 November 1873
Sheffield	0–0 Sheffield won on coin toss^[2]	Shropshire Wanderers		17 November 1873

Second round

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Date
Clapham Rovers	1–1	Cambridge University	15 November 1873
Maidenhead	1–0	High Wycombe	22 November 1873
Oxford University	2–0	Barnes	22 November 1873
Sheffield	1–0	Pilgrims	22 November 1873
Swifts	2–1	Woodford Wells	22 November 1873
Royal Engineers	2–1	Uxbridge	26 November 1873
Wanderers	Walkover	Trojans

Replays

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Attendance	Date
Clapham Rovers	1–1	Cambridge University		29 November 1873
Clapham Rovers	4–1	Cambridge University		20 December 1873

Third round

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Attendance	Date
Wanderers	1–1	Oxford University		6 December 1873
Royal Engineers	7–0	Maidenhead		10 December 1873
Clapham Rovers	2–1	Sheffield	Matched played at Peterborough^[3]	17 January 1874
Swifts	Bye

Replay

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Attendance	Date
Oxford University	1–0	Wanderers		31 January 1874

Semi-finals

Home Club	Score	Away Club	Attendance	Date
Royal Engineers	2–0	Swifts		28 January 1874
Oxford University	1–0	Clapham Rovers		28 February 1874

Both semi-finals were played at Kennington Oval, London.

Final

14 March 1874

Oxford University	2–0	Royal Engineers
Mackarness 10' Patton 20'	Report

Kennington Oval

Attendance: 2,000

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

References

FA Cup Results Archive

^ http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1874.html
^ Only FA Cup match to be decided by coin toss; Sheffield called correctly. Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of The FA Cup. p. 537. ISBN 1-899807-19-5.
^ Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle - Saturday 10 January 1874

[1] ttps://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1874.html

[Sheffield-2] Only FA Cup match to be decided by coin toss; Sheffield called correctly. Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of The FA Cup. p. 537. ISBN 1-899807-19-5.

[3] Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle - Saturday 10 January 1874

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 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
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 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
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
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

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