FA Cup Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
6correct to beat the crowd
43 free FA Cup trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
This FA Cup trivia quiz covers the world's oldest national football competition from Wanderers beating the Royal Engineers at the Oval in 1872 to Crystal Palace's first major trophy in 2025. It asks about the format and the rules — how many rounds there are, when replays were scrapped, why the final moved to Cardiff — as well as the trophy itself, the 'little tin idol' that was stolen in 1895 and never seen again. The bulk of the questions are about the finals and the shocks: the White Horse Final of 1923, 'Abide with Me' in 1927, Cardiff taking the cup out of England, the Matthews Final, Sunderland in 1973, Wimbledon's Crazy Gang in 1988, Wigan in 2013, and the giant-killings by Hereford, Sutton United and Lincoln City. Records too: Arsenal's fourteen wins, Arsène Wenger's seven, Ashley Cole's seven medals, Ian Rush's five final goals and Preston's 26–0. Some are easy for any football fan; a few will stretch even Cup obsessives. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and each question carries a citation to the page it came from.
30 of 43 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who proposed the creation of a Challenge Cup at the offices of The Sportsman newspaper in July 1871?
C. W. Alcock
C. W. Alcock then captained his club in the first final, where a goal he scored was disallowed because a teammate had handled the ball.
Q 02Who won the first FA Cup final in 1872?
Wanderers
Wanderers won the first Cup after winning just one match before the final: two opponents withdrew, and a goalless quarter-final sent both sides through.
Q 03Where was the first FA Cup final played?
Kennington Oval
Kennington Oval was a natural choice: it was home to Surrey County Cricket Club, whose secretary from 1872 was also the FA's secretary.
Q 04Which Manchester City goalkeeper played the last 17 minutes of the 1956 FA Cup final with a broken neck?
Bert Trautmann
Bert Trautmann, a former German paratrooper and prisoner of war, kept making saves to protect a 3–1 lead; an X-ray three days later showed his neck was broken.
Q 05Which club had won the FA Cup a record fourteen times by 2026?
Arsenal
Arsenal won their fourteenth in August 2020, after the coronavirus outbreak had suspended the competition and pushed the final back.
Q 06Which manager has won the FA Cup a record seven times?
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger's team came from two goals down to beat Hull City in the 2014 final, ending a nine-year wait for a trophy.
Q 07Which full-back has won the FA Cup a record seven times, with two London clubs?
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole won four of them at Chelsea, a move preceded by a 2005 fine for a tapping-up meeting with the club.
Q 08Who has scored the most goals in FA Cup finals, with five?
Ian Rush
Ian Rush came off the bench in the 1989 final and scored twice in extra time to beat Everton 3–2.
Q 09Which club, soon nicknamed 'The Invincibles', beat Hyde 26–0 in 1887 for the FA Cup's record win?
Preston North End
Preston North End lost that season's final 2–1 to West Bromwich Albion, then won the first Football League without losing a match.
Q 10Which club, expelled from the Football League in 2019, still shares the FA Cup final record win, 6–0 in 1903?
Bury
Bury were expelled in August 2019, after longstanding debts left them unable to start the season and a last-minute takeover bid collapsed.
Q 11Which Victorian amateur, later FA president for 33 years, played in a record nine FA Cup finals?
Arthur Kinnaird
Arthur Kinnaird meant so much to the Cup that when a new trophy was made in 1911, the FA gave him the old one to keep.
Q 12Blackburn Olympic's 1883 win was a turning point because they were the first winners of what kind?
A northern, working-class club
Blackburn Olympic, a northern, working-class club, prepared for the 1883 final by taking the team to Blackpool for special training.
Q 13Which Glasgow club, Scotland's oldest, lost the FA Cup finals of 1884 and 1885?
Queen's Park
Q 21Who scored the only goal when Wimbledon shocked Liverpool in the 1988 final?
Lawrie Sanchez
Liverpool had a Peter Beardsley chip ruled out, yet Lawrie Sanchez's header from Dennis Wise's free-kick won it.
Q 22Who made the first ever penalty save in an FA Cup final, in 1988?
Dave Beasant
Wimbledon had only been in the Football League for eleven years.
Q 23Who scored twice for Everton in the 1989 final, which Liverpool won 3–2 after extra time?
Stuart McCall
Stuart McCall came off the bench to equalise twice, late in normal time and again in extra time.
Queen's Park had first entered in 1871–72, reaching the semi-finals without playing, then withdrew because they could not afford another trip to London.
Q 14Tottenham's 1901 win is unique since 1888 because Spurs were then playing in which competition?
The Southern League
Tottenham were only fifth in The Southern League that season, yet beat First Division Sheffield United in a replay to lift the Cup.
Q 15The 1923 'White Horse Final' at the new Wembley was named after a police horse called what?
Billie
Billie was actually a grey horse that only looked white in the high-contrast black-and-white newsreel footage.
Q 16Who won the White Horse Final of 1923?
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers won 2–0 once mounted police had pushed the overflowing crowd off the pitch and back to the touchlines.
Q 17As of 2026, which is the only non-English club to have won the FA Cup?
Cardiff City
Cardiff City won the 1927 final 1–0 when Hughie Ferguson's shot slipped from the goalkeeper's grasp and into the net.
Q 18The 1953 final is nicknamed after which Blackpool winger, then aged 38?
Stanley Matthews
Stanley Matthews had lost two earlier finals, then inspired Blackpool's comeback from 3–1 down to win 4–3 and finally collect a winner's medal.
Q 19Which Second Division side stunned Leeds United in the 1973 final?
Sunderland
Sunderland held on to their 1–0 lead thanks to goalkeeper Jim Montgomery's famous double save.
Q 20As of 2026, who last won the FA Cup from outside the top flight, beating the holders in 1980?
West Ham United
West Ham United won with a rare Trevor Brooking header, and 17-year-old Paul Allen was denied a second only by Willie Young's cynical foul.
Q 24Who scored the long-range equaliser in Hereford United's 1972 giant-killing of Newcastle?
Ronnie Radford
Ronnie Radford's shot sparked a pitch invasion, and another followed when Ricky George scored the winner.
Q 25Which non-League club knocked out 1987 winners Coventry City in the 1989 FA Cup?
Sutton United
Sutton United's reward was a trip to Norwich City in the next round, where they lost 8–0.
Q 26Which National League club reached the 2016–17 FA Cup quarter-finals, the first non-League side to do so since 1914?
Lincoln City
Lincoln City also won the National League that season, returning to the Football League after six years away.
Q 27Who scored the injury-time winner for Wigan against Manchester City in the 2013 final?
Ben Watson
Ben Watson's header came two days before Manchester City sacked their manager, Roberto Mancini.
Q 28Wigan Athletic are the only club to have done what in the same season as winning the FA Cup?
Been relegated from the top flight
West Brom in 1931 are the only club to win the Cup and get promoted in the same season.
Q 29Where were FA Cup finals played from 2001 to 2006 while Wembley was rebuilt?
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff kept the final for 2006 too, after building delays forced the FA to drop plans to reopen Wembley that year.
Q 30Whose injury-time strike from 30 yards forced extra time in the 2006 FA Cup final?
Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard's strike rescued a side that had trailed twice, and goalkeeper Pepe Reina, at fault earlier, redeemed himself as Liverpool won the shoot-out 3–1.