50 Fun Facts About FA Cup

In which season was the FA Cup first played?

The Football League did not arrive until 1888, sixteen years later.

Who proposed the creation of a Challenge Cup at the offices of The Sportsman newspaper in July 1871?

Alcock also captained Wanderers, who won the first two competitions.

Who won the first FA Cup final in 1872?

They beat the Royal Engineers 1–0 at the Kennington Oval.

Where was the first FA Cup final played?

The Oval hosted 22 finals in all before the move to Crystal Palace.

The only goal of the 1872 final was scored by Morton Betts, playing under what pseudonym?

The Royal Engineers were famous for their pioneering passing 'combination game' but could not score.

Which club has won the FA Cup the most times, with fourteen?

Manchester United are next; Arsène Wenger alone accounts for seven of Arsenal's wins.

Which manager has won the FA Cup a record seven times?

All seven came with Arsenal.

Which full-back has won the FA Cup a record seven times, with two London clubs?

Three came at Arsenal and four at Chelsea.

Who has scored the most goals in FA Cup finals, with five?

Two came in the 1989 Merseyside derby final.

What is the record margin of victory in an FA Cup tie?

Bury's 6–0 over Derby in 1903 remains the biggest winning margin in a final.

Which final holds the record for the biggest winning margin, 6–0 in 1903?

Manchester City's 6–0 over Watford in 2019 equalled the scoreline.

Who made a record nine FA Cup final appearances for the Wanderers and Old Etonians?

Kinnaird later served as FA president for 33 years.

Blackburn Olympic's 1883 win was a turning point because they were the first winners of what kind?

Every previous winner had been a team of wealthy southern amateurs.

Which Glasgow club lost the finals of 1884 and 1885 before being barred by the Scottish FA?

Blackburn Rovers won three in a row from 1884 to 1886.

Tottenham's 1901 win is unique since 1888 because Spurs were then playing in which competition?

They beat Sheffield United in a replay after a draw at Crystal Palace.

The 1923 'White Horse Final' at the new Wembley was named after a police horse called what?

The official attendance was 126,047 but police estimated nearly 300,000 got in.

Who won the White Horse Final of 1923?

Bolton won 2–0 and David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley.

Which hymn was first sung at the FA Cup final in 1927 and has been a tradition ever since?

The 1927 final was also the only one won by a non-English club.

Which is the only non-English club to have won the FA Cup?

Arsenal keeper Dan Lewis blamed his greasy new woollen jersey; Arsenal have washed new keeper shirts before matches ever since.

The 1953 final is nicknamed after which Blackpool winger, then aged 38?

Blackpool beat Bolton 4–3, and Stan Mortensen scored the only hat-trick in a Wembley final.

Which Second Division side stunned Leeds United in the 1973 final?

Southampton (1976) and West Ham (1980) also won from the second tier soon after.

Who were the last team from outside the top division to win the FA Cup, beating the holders in 1980?

Only eight winners have come from outside the top flight since 1888.

Who scored the only goal when Wimbledon shocked Liverpool in the 1988 final?

Dave Beasant also made the first penalty save in a Cup final, from John Aldridge.

Who made the first ever penalty save in an FA Cup final, in 1988?

Wimbledon had only been in the Football League for eleven years.

Who scored twice for Everton in the 1989 final, which Liverpool won 3–2 after extra time?

The final was played five weeks after the Hillsborough disaster.

Who scored the long-range equaliser in Hereford United's 1972 giant-killing of Newcastle?

The goal is still shown regularly whenever the third round comes round.

Which non-League club knocked out 1987 winners Coventry City in the 1989 third round?

Coventry had won the Cup less than two years earlier.

Which National League club reached the 2016–17 quarter-finals, the best non-League run since 1921?

They lost 5–0 at Arsenal in the quarter-final.

Who scored the injury-time winner for Wigan against Manchester City in the 2013 final?

Wigan were relegated three days later, the only club ever to win the Cup and go down in the same season.

Wigan Athletic are the only club to have done what in the same season as winning the FA Cup?

West Brom in 1931 are the only club to win the Cup and get promoted in the same season.

Where were FA Cup finals played from 2001 to 2006 while Wembley was rebuilt?

The 2006 final there saw Steven Gerrard's late equaliser and a Liverpool shoot-out win over West Ham.

In the 2006 final in Cardiff, Liverpool beat West Ham on penalties after what score?

Steven Gerrard's stoppage-time long-range strike forced extra time.

Which team did not defend the FA Cup in 1999-2000 because they were playing in the first Club World Championship?

Alex Ferguson later admitted regret about how the club handled it.

How many teams entered the FA Cup in the record year of 2011–12?

The number is now standardised at around 732, matching levels one to nine of the pyramid.

How many rounds are there in the FA Cup, before the semi-finals and final?

Six are qualifying rounds and six are 'proper' rounds.

At which stage do Premier League and Championship clubs enter the FA Cup?

The third-round draw is the one everyone watches.

Multiple replays were scrapped from the competition proper in which season?

Alvechurch and Oxford City once needed six matches to settle a 1971 qualifying tie.

Replays were removed from all rounds from the first round proper onwards starting in which season?

Lower-league clubs and government figures criticised the loss of replay revenue.

Which was the last FA Cup final to be settled by a replay?

Replays were removed from the semi-final and final in 2000.

The original FA Cup trophy, the 'little tin idol', was stolen in which year and never recovered?

It had been on display in a Birmingham shop window while Aston Villa held it.

How many physical FA Cup trophies have there been?

The FA redesigned it in 1911 after Manchester United made their own replica of the old one.

How long does the engraver have to add the winners' name to the trophy before the presentation?

The trophy is only loaned to the winners and must be returned by 1 March.

Since 2008, where have the FA Cup semi-finals been played?

The FA said it needed the revenue to pay off the new stadium's debts.

Whose injury-time penalty did Schmeichel save in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay before Giggs's winner?

United were down to ten men after Roy Keane's red card, and went on to complete the treble.

Who scored Leicester City's winner against Chelsea in the 2021 final, their first ever FA Cup?

Leicester had lost all four of their previous finals.

Crystal Palace won their first major trophy in the 2025 final by beating Manchester City 1–0. Who scored?

Dean Henderson also saved an Omar Marmoush penalty.

How many clubs have won the FA Cup as part of a League and Cup double?

Preston's 1889 'Invincibles' did the first double without losing a league game.

Which is the only club to have won the FA Cup three seasons in a row twice?

Wanderers also won three in a row from 1876 to 1878.

Fulham's 1975 run to Wembley set what record?

They lost the final 2–0 to West Ham.

Which competition, run alongside the men's, has been held since 1970?

The FA Trophy and FA Vase are the non-League knockout competitions.