FA Cup 1871/1872

[anthony.brown]

Away from the FA Cup for a moment; the 1872 Football Annual info indicates that one of the earliest Bedford Road games was possibly the Hitchin v St Albans Pilgrims game on 23rd November 1872 (a 1-1 draw)?

[anthony.brown]

I have amended the initial posting in this thread. William Tindall Lucas's (only?) appearance for the Wanderers at Cambridge was two days after he appeared for Hitchin against Crystal Palace.

[anthony.brown]

The first FA Cup was decidedly low key compared to today's highly popular competition. The article below from 1869 shows the huge popularity of the Wanderers in that era.

A New Perfume.
The French gourmand regarded the inventor of a new sauce as the saviour of society; what shall be done unto him who invents a new perfume? Such honour as may be awarded belongs of right to Mr S.Perks, of this town (Hitchin), who has just perfected a new and most delicious concoction, and christened it 'The Wanderers Bouquet' in complement to the renowned football players who adopt that name. Each bottle bears a handsome label in black, violet and orange, which tri-colour forms the distinctive emblem of the club; and the new production may safely be recommended as an acceptable present to any appreciative fair. The perfume is sufficiently pungent without harshness; sufficiently sweet, yet not sickly. It is as though all the subtle essences by which the goddess Flora charms the olfactory sense had been blended to produce one perfect odour.
Hertfordshire Express Saturday 13th February 1869

[MichaelD]

Found this on hertfordshire- genealogy.co.uk

The next match played under F A Laws took place on January 10th 1872 when Hitchin entertained Royal Engineers at Top Field in the second round of the F A Cup. Despite only 60 minutes play being possible, Royal Engineers were 5-0 ahead when play was brought to a halt. Hitchin could field only 8 men (F H Lucas, W Hill, H Mainwaring, H O Crow, E Woodgate, T McKenzie, A Baily and A Dawson). The result stood and the Engineers went on to reach the first F A Cup Final where they lost 1-0 to The Wanderers.

The first match at Top Field ?

[anthony.brown]

Found this on hertfordshire- genealogy.co.uk

The next match played under F A Laws took place on January 10th 1872 when Hitchin entertained Royal Engineers at Top Field in the second round of the F A Cup. Despite only 60 minutes play being possible, Royal Engineers were 5-0 ahead when play was brought to a halt. Hitchin could field only 8 men (F H Lucas, W Hill, H Mainwaring, H O Crow, E Woodgate, T McKenzie, A Baily and A Dawson). The result stood and the Engineers went on to reach the first F A Cup Final where they lost 1-0 to The Wanderers.

The first match at Top Field ?

Definitely not. The Royal Engineers match was played at the Oval, Kennington. Yet more misinformation to (easily) refute! Also, the Bedford Road ground was not routinely referred to as Top Field until the mid 1940s.
Such a pity that the hertfordshire-genealogy site is now almost dormant. Chris Reynolds who did such a great job while the site was active, has had to take a back seat due to old age, meaning that parts of his site have 'become out of date'.

[MichaelD]

Thank you for your information

[anthony.brown]

I have updated the Hitchin team v Crystal Palace on page 1 of this thread. Any further info or corrections welcome.

[anthony.brown]

The initial draw for the first round of the first ever FA Cup did not include Hitchin, Crystal Palace, Great Marlow or Maidenhead. The FA invited provincial teams to apply AFTER the initial draw on Monday 23rd October 1871.
ERROR ALERT!!!!! Hitchin and Crystal Palace WERE in the initial draw. See correction on next page......................

[Stuart]

Fascinating Anthony, maybe as part of the 150 year celebration of this, it could be arranged to have a rerun of the Hitchin v Crystal Palace & Great Marlow v Maidenhead with a final between the 2 winners ? strips and rules as were then would apply with say 30 minutes each way per game and straight to penalty shoot out if required so as to fit it all into one day of celebration?
Just a thought on my part.

[anthony.brown]

Fascinating Anthony, maybe as part of the 150 year celebration of this, it could be arranged to have a rerun of the Hitchin v Crystal Palace & Great Marlow v Maidenhead with a final between the 2 winners ? strips and rules as were then would apply with say 30 minutes each way per game and straight to penalty shoot out if required so as to fit it all into one day of celebration?
Just a thought on my part.

Absolutely superb idea Stuart but I don’t think logistically it would be viable given the current pandemic. But if there is any way such a game could happen it would be pretty fantastical.

Digging deeper, and consulting other press reports, I find that Hitchin and Crystal Palace were indeed included in the first drawing of the FA Cup on 23rd October 1871. The late comers, Great Marlow and Maidenhead were the last to be confirmed, and played each other. Sources The Sportsman Tuesday 24th October 1871 and The Field Saturday 28th October 1871.