1875 FA Cup final

1875 FA Cup Final Replay
Event	1874–75 FA Cup
Date	16 March 1875
Venue	Kennington Oval, London
Referee	Charles Alcock
Attendance	3,000

1875 FA Cup Final
	The Royal Engineers AFC squad that won the FA Cup. Left to right (standing): Mulholland (did not play in final), Onslow, Stafford, Rawson, Mein, Wingfield; (middle): Ruck, Merriman, Tailyour, Donop; (down): Sim, Jones (did not play in final).
Event	1874–75 FA Cup
Date	13 March 1875
Venue	Kennington Oval, London
Referee	Charles Alcock
Attendance	2,000
	← 1874 1876 →

The 1875 FA Cup Final was a football match between Royal Engineers and Old Etonians on 13 March 1876 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the fourth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known in the modern era as the FA 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. ^[1]

Prior to the final, the Royal Engineers had played one more match than the Old Etonians with the Etonians getting a bye in the second round due to the odd number of the teams that had entered the tournament. 2,000 people saw the match which ended in a 1–1 draw, Henry Renny-Tailyour scored for the Engineers but Alexander Bonsor replied to have the match end in a draw and have the final being replayed for the first time with goals from William Stafford and Henry Renny-Tailyour sealing the Royal Engineers first and only FA Cup title.

Route to the final

The Engineers, who lost the final on two of the three previous occasions, kicked off with a resounding 3–0 win over Marlow. They kept the scoring feat up in the next round, beating Cambridge University 5–0. The Quarter Final was a closely fought match against Clapham Rovers, just prevailing 3–2. The Semi-final produced a repeat fixture of the final of 1874, as the Engineers faced Oxford University. This time, the Engineers won 1–0.

The Old Etonians started off against the Swifts, which proved a very tough match. After two drawn games, the Etonians managed to pull off a 3–0 victory. In the second round they received a bye which led them into the quarter-finals. Following a win against Maidenhead, they played Shropshire Wanderers. An extremely close match was just edged out by a single goal to nil.^[2]

Final matches

The first match was notable chiefly because it was played in a "howling gale". The conditions considerably favoured the Etonians team, which had the wind at its backs for all but 10 minutes of the 90, and all 30 minutes of extra time (teams in this period changed ends after every goal- this game was the last to feature this rule).^[3] Cuthbert Ottaway received an ankle injury after 37 minutes into the final, following a collision with Richard Ruck, and was forced to leave the field; in his absence, the Old Boys were regarded as fortunate to have held on for a 1–1 draw.^[4]

Ottaway failed to recover in time for the replay, held only three days later, and Etonians also lost the services of three other players who had prior commitments. Unable to obtain adequate replacements, the Old Boys arrived at the ground an hour late and lost the delayed replay 0–2. Henry Renny-Tailyour scored all three goals in both matches for the Engineers.

The newspaper The Observer published the following chronicle of the match on 14 March 1875:

... considering the coldness of the weather, there was a large attendance of visitors, who must have numbered over 1,000... With the change of ends, the Engineers soon showed their superiority, and five minutes had scarcely elapsed before Von Donop ran the ball a short distance along the right side, planting it well in front of the Old Etonians goal, and Renny-Tailyour, who was in waiting, had little difficult in scoring the goal. The Engineers wore scarlet and blue jerseys and stockings, and blue serge knickerbockers, the Old Etonians being dressed in blue and white, which difference of uniform made the players on either side very discernible.^[5]

Final

13 March 1875

Royal Engineers	1–1	Old Etonians
Renny-Tailyour	Report	Bonsor

Kennington Oval

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Charles Alcock

R. Engineers

O. Etonians


GK		Capt William Merriman
DF		Lieut George Hamilton Sim
DF		Lieut Gerald Onslow
DF		Lieut Richard Ruck
FW		Lieut Pelham von Donop
FW		Lieut Charles Wood
FW		Lieut Herbert Rawson
FW		Lieut William FH Stafford
FW		Capt Henry Renny-Tailyour
FW		Lieut Alexander Mein
FW		Lieut Cecil Wingfield-Stratford


GK		Charles Farmer
DF		Francis Wilson
DF		Albert Thompson
DF		Edgar Lubbock
FW		Robert Benson
FW		William Kenyon-Slaney
FW		Frederick Patton
FW		Alexander Bonsor
FW		Cuthbert Ottaway
FW		Hon Arthur Kinnaird
FW		Sir James Stronge

Replay

16 March 1875

Royal Engineers	2–0	Old Etonians
Renny-Tailyour	Report

Kennington Oval

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Charles Alcock

R. Engineers

O. Etonians


GK		Capt William Merriman
DF		Lieut George Hamilton Sim
DF		Lieut Gerald Onslow
DF		Lieut Richard Ruck
FW		Lieut Pelham von Donop
FW		Lieut Charles Wood
FW		Lieut Herbert Rawson
FW		Lieut William FH Stafford
FW		Capt Henry Renny-Tailyour
FW		Lieut Cecil Wingfield-Stratford
FW		Lieut Alexander Mein


GK		Capt Edward Drummond-Moray
DF		Matthew George Farrer
DF		Edgar Lubbock
DF		Francis Wilson
FW		Thomas Hamond
FW		Alfred Lubbock
FW		Frederick Patton
FW		Alexander Bonsor
FW		Charles Farmer
FW		Hon Arthur Kinnaird
FW		Sir James Stronge

References

^ 1874–75 Competition Results by Macario Reyes on the RSSSF
^ "When the Sappers won the FA Cup". Archive.org. UK: Royal Engineers Museum. 20 December 2006.
^ Motson, John, "Motson's FA Cup Odyssey: The World's Greatest Knockout Competition”, Robson Publishing, 2005
^ "FA Cup Final: 1875". www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
^ 1875 FA Cup Final on Newspapers.com

[1] 1874–75 Competition Results by Macario Reyes on the RSSSF

[2] "When the Sappers won the FA Cup". Archive.org. UK: Royal Engineers Museum. 20 December 2006.

[3] Motson, John, "Motson's FA Cup Odyssey: The World's Greatest Knockout Competition”, Robson Publishing, 2005

[4] "FA Cup Final: 1875". www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2020.

[5] 1875 FA Cup Final on Newspapers.com

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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 Trophy List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award