50 free FA Cup trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 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 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which season was the FA Cup first played?
1871–72
The Football League did not arrive until 1888, sixteen years later.
Q 02Who proposed the creation of a Challenge Cup at the offices of The Sportsman newspaper in July 1871?
C. W. Alcock
Alcock also captained Wanderers, who won the first two competitions.
Q 03Who won the first FA Cup final in 1872?
Wanderers
They beat the Royal Engineers 1–0 at the Kennington Oval.
Q 04Where was the first FA Cup final played?
Kennington Oval
The Oval hosted 22 finals in all before the move to Crystal Palace.
Q 05The only goal of the 1872 final was scored by Morton Betts, playing under what pseudonym?
A. H. Chequer
The Royal Engineers were famous for their pioneering passing 'combination game' but could not score.
Q 06Which club has won the FA Cup the most times, with fourteen?
Arsenal
Manchester United are next; Arsène Wenger alone accounts for seven of Arsenal's wins.
Q 07Which manager has won the FA Cup a record seven times?
Arsène Wenger
All seven came with Arsenal.
Q 08Which full-back has won the FA Cup a record seven times, with two London clubs?
Ashley Cole
Three came at Arsenal and four at Chelsea.
Q 09Who has scored the most goals in FA Cup finals, with five?
Ian Rush
Two came in the 1989 Merseyside derby final.
Q 10What is the record margin of victory in an FA Cup tie?
Preston North End 26–0 Hyde
Bury's 6–0 over Derby in 1903 remains the biggest winning margin in a final.
Q 11Which final holds the record for the biggest winning margin, 6–0 in 1903?
Bury v Derby County
Manchester City's 6–0 over Watford in 2019 equalled the scoreline.
Q 12Who made a record nine FA Cup final appearances for the Wanderers and Old Etonians?
Arthur Kinnaird
Kinnaird later served as FA president for 33 years.
Q 13Blackburn Olympic's 1883 win was a turning point because they were the first winners of what kind?
A northern, working-class club
Every previous winner had been a team of wealthy southern amateurs.
Q 21Which Second Division side stunned Leeds United in the 1973 final?
Sunderland
Southampton (1976) and West Ham (1980) also won from the second tier soon after.
Q 22Who were the last team from outside the top division to win the FA Cup, beating the holders in 1980?
West Ham United
Only eight winners have come from outside the top flight since 1888.
Q 23Who scored the only goal when Wimbledon shocked Liverpool in the 1988 final?
Lawrie Sanchez
Dave Beasant also made the first penalty save in a Cup final, from John Aldridge.
Q 14Which Glasgow club lost the finals of 1884 and 1885 before being barred by the Scottish FA?
Queen's Park
Blackburn Rovers won three in a row from 1884 to 1886.
Q 15Tottenham's 1901 win is unique since 1888 because Spurs were then playing in which competition?
The Southern League
They beat Sheffield United in a replay after a draw at Crystal Palace.
Q 16The 1923 'White Horse Final' at the new Wembley was named after a police horse called what?
Billie
The official attendance was 126,047 but police estimated nearly 300,000 got in.
Q 17Who won the White Horse Final of 1923?
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton won 2–0 and David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley.
Q 18Which hymn was first sung at the FA Cup final in 1927 and has been a tradition ever since?
Abide with Me
The 1927 final was also the only one won by a non-English club.
Q 19Which is the only non-English club to have won the FA Cup?
Cardiff City
Arsenal keeper Dan Lewis blamed his greasy new woollen jersey; Arsenal have washed new keeper shirts before matches ever since.
Q 20The 1953 final is nicknamed after which Blackpool winger, then aged 38?
Stanley Matthews
Blackpool beat Bolton 4–3, and Stan Mortensen scored the only hat-trick in a Wembley final.
Q 24Who 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 25Who scored twice for Everton in the 1989 final, which Liverpool won 3–2 after extra time?
Stuart McCall
The final was played five weeks after the Hillsborough disaster.
Q 26Who scored the long-range equaliser in Hereford United's 1972 giant-killing of Newcastle?
Ronnie Radford
The goal is still shown regularly whenever the third round comes round.
Q 27Which non-League club knocked out 1987 winners Coventry City in the 1989 third round?
Sutton United
Coventry had won the Cup less than two years earlier.
Q 28Which National League club reached the 2016–17 quarter-finals, the best non-League run since 1921?
Lincoln City
They lost 5–0 at Arsenal in the quarter-final.
Q 29Who scored the injury-time winner for Wigan against Manchester City in the 2013 final?
Ben Watson
Wigan were relegated three days later, the only club ever to win the Cup and go down in the same season.
Q 30Wigan 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.