Up for the Cup! London’s FA Cup Final Venues

This series, ‘Up for the Cup’, will focus on the 17 London clubs who currently play in the top 5 tiers of English football and their histories in the FA Cup.

This episode will centre on the cup final venues of London before we release separate episodes on each of the clubs.

#facup #footballhistory #englishfootball

Welcome back and thank you for tuning in to  Stadium Hotdog, your comments and feedback from   the previous series have been much appreciated. This series, ‘Up for the Cup’, will focus on   the 17 London clubs who currently  play in the top 5 tiers of English  

Football and their histories in the FA Cup. This episode will centre on the cup final venues   of London before we release separate episodes  on each of the clubs. Before we go further,   here’s a quick overview of the competition. The Football Association Challenge Cup more  

Widely known as the FA Cup was first played in  the 1871-72 season. The FA Cup is the oldest   national football competition in the world. The competition is open to all eligible football   clubs down the 9th tier of English football with  tier 10 clubs acting as stand-ins in the event of  

Non-entries. Entrants are not seeded, although  a system of byes based on league level ensures   higher ranked teams enter in later rounds –  the minimum number of games needed to win,   depending on which round a team enters the  competition, ranges from six to fourteen. 

The first six rounds are the Qualifying rounds  contested by clubs in the National League,   levels 5 to 10 of the English football  system, more commonly called non-league.  32 of these teams’ progress to the first round of  the Competition Proper, meeting the first of the  

48 professional teams from Leagues One and Two. The last entrants are the 20 Premier League   and 24 Championship clubs, who enter  the draw for the third round proper.  Winners receive the FA Cup trophy: there have been  two designs and five actual cups. The latest is a  

2014 replica of the second design, introduced in  1911. Winners also qualify for the UEFA Europa   League and a place in the upcoming FA Community  Shield. Arsenal is the most successful club with   fourteen titles after their victory in 2020:  there will be more on this in the next episode. 

Onto the London cup final venues. The first FA Cup final was held at   the Kennington Oval, the home of Surrey County  Cricket Club. In front of a crowd of 2,000 the   Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers by 1-0: Martin  Betts the first goal scorer in an FA Cup final. 

The Wanderers Football Club formed in 1859  as Forest Football Club. They played their   home games at Forest Place on Leyton Flats: a  part of Epping Forest between Snaresbrook and   Leytonstone. Then became known as the Wanderers  as they didn’t have a home ground and played  

At a variety of grounds throughout London. The Wanderers won the FA Cup 5 times between   1872 and 1878, the club wound up in 1887. Their  tally of cup final victories was finally surpassed   in 1920 when Aston Villa beat Huddersfield Town  1-0 after extra time: this final was also the  

First since the outbreak of the First World War. The last final at the Kennington Oval was in 1892:   West Bromwich Albion beating their  midland rivals Aston Villa by 3-0.  The Lillie Bridge Grounds were located on  the Fulham side of West Brompton. The ground  

Opened in 1866, along with the opening of the West  Brompton railway station. It was named after the   local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868)  and the Lillie bridge over the West London Line,   that links Old Brompton Road with Lillie Road. The grounds were also close by the  

Present-day Stamford Bridge. The Wanderers, after winning   the first FA Cup final in 1872, were allowed  to defend the cup in the second final of 1873   with a choice of venue. Not having a ground of  their own, they chose Lillie Bridge and Oxford  

University were defeated 2–0. The attendance  was over 1,000 higher than the previous final.  The London Athletic Club, founded in  1866, moved into the Lillie Bridge   Grounds and were ever present until 1876  when the club moved into Stamford Bridge.   After the London Athletic Club’s exit the  Grounds began hosting other sports such as:  

Bicycle racing, football, cricket and wrestling. The Grounds were neglected after a riot on 18   September 1888. The incident involved  a cancellation of an athletics meeting   at where 6,000 to 7,000 people had paid to  watch and placed their bets. The subsequent   riot ruined the track and grandstand,  leading to closure the following year. 

The Crystal Palace Stadium hosted  the FA Cup final from 1895 to 1914.  The first Cup Final at the ground was a  midlands derby between Aston Villa and   West Bromwich Albion. Over 42,000 fans were in  attendance to witness Bob Chatt scoring the then  

Fastest goal in an FA Cup final after 30 seconds. The first London side to play in an FA Cup final   at the ground were Tottenham Hotspur in 1901.  110,802 fans would see Spurs and Sheffield United   draw 2-2. Spurs would become the one and only  non-league side to win the Cup after beating the  

Blades at Burnden Park in Bolton in the replay. Staggeringly Spurs were the only London club to   make an FA Cup final appearance at Crystal  Palace Stadium. The 20 FA Cup finals at the   venue were dominated by teams from the North  and Midlands. Aston Villa won the cup on four  

Occasions at the ground whilst Newcastle United  made 5 Cup final appearances in this period   without lifting the trophy during this time. The then record FA Cup final attendance was   set at Crystal Palace. 120,028, watched the  penultimate final at the ground in 1913:  

Aston Villa beating Sunderland by 1-0. The last FA Cup final at the venue was   in 1914: Burnley beating Liverpool  by 1-0 in front of over 72,000 fans.  The current Athletics stadium is located on the  same land as the original football ground. Crystal  

Palace Football Club played there from 1905 until  they had to vacate in 1915 due to the First World   War. It’s still there for now and let’s hope that  remains the case: even better if the much-needed   funding is acquired to give the Crystal Palace  National Sports Centre a new lease of life. 

Stamford Bridge hosted the FA  Cup Final from 1920 to 1922,   before Wembley Stadium became the venue in 1923. The inaugural Cup Final at the Bridge was between   Aston Villa and Huddersfield Town: Villa winning  1-0 to secure a then record of 6 FA Cup trophies. 

The only London club to feature at the venue were  Tottenham Hotspur who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers   by 1-0. Jimmy Dimmock scoring the solitary  goal with over 72,000 in attendance. This was   Spurs’ second FA Cup and set the foundations  of a sequence winning a trophy when the year  

Ended in one. I’ll get in there quick being a  Spurs fan, now that hasn’t happened in a while.  The third and final FA Cup final to  be played at Stamford Bridge was in   1922 when Huddersfield Town beat Preston  North End by 1-0 in front of 53,000 fans. 

There is more on Stamford Bridge in a separate  series, Archie’s Football Grounds of London:   most definitely worth a watch. Originally known as the Empire Stadium,   Wembley Stadium became the permanent  FA Cup Final venue for 72 years.  Brazilian footballer Pelé stated that: “Wembley  is the cathedral of football. It is the capital  

Of football, and it is the heart of football”. The first Wembley FA Cup final was in 1923 and   was also the inaugural event at the venue going  down in history as the White Horse Final. The   ground was ready four days prior to kick off and  took 300 days to complete construction costing  

£750,000 (in today’s money over £40 million). Wembley was described before a ball was kicked   as being the world’s greatest sporting arena.  The FA had not considered admission inside   the ground by ticket, totally misjudging the  number of fans who flocked to the 104 gates  

On match day. However, after this, every event  apart from the 1982 replay would be ticketed.  The first FA Cup final held at Wembley between  Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United is known   as the White Horse Final. The fans eagerly  anticipated this historic day and crowds  

Spilled over onto the pitch as terraces were  full. The estimates on the attendance figures   were understandably hard to gather, however, the  range was from 240,000 and exceeding 300,000.  It was staggering that the match went  ahead especially with the number of  

Spectators inside the stadium that were on the  pitch. Mounted police which included Police   Constable George Scorey and his white horse,  Billy, gradually forced the crowds back to   the sides of the field of play. The kick off was  only delayed by 45 minutes. In honour of Billy,  

The footbridge outside the new Wembley Stadium has  been named the White Horse Bridge. The official   attendance is often quoted as 126,047. The match  saw a 2–0 victory for Bolton Wanderers, with David   Jack scoring the first ever goal at Wembley. The first London side to win at the original  

Wembley Stadium was Arsenal when they beat  Huddersfield Town by 2-0 in front of over 92,000   fans. Alexander James scoring after 16 minutes and  John Lambert sealing the win in the 88th minute.  There will be more in separate episodes  on each of the featured London club’s  

FA Cup records and achievements. The old Wembley hosted its last FA   Cup in the year 2000 not as eventful  as the White Horse Final, however,   Dennis Wise’s Chelsea lifted their third FA Cup  trophy after beating Aston Villa by 1-0. Italian  

Roberto Di Matteo scored in the 73rd minute. We are focusing on the cup final venues in London,   however, London teams dominated FA Cup final  days from 2001 until 2006 which were held at   the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. There was a  London team in every final, Arsenal were regular  

Attendees they lost in the first final to be  held in Cardiff, 2-1 to Liverpool, however,   lifted the trophy on three occasions  in 2002 in a London derby vs Chelsea,   2003 vs Southampton and 2005 vs Man Utd. Millwall  were runners up in 2004 after losing 3-0 to Man  

Utd and West Ham runners up in 2006 after a  heartbreaking penalty shootout to Liverpool:   perhaps one of the greatest finals  to be played with game ending 3-3   after extra time: the Steven Gerrard final. The new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 on  

The site of the original Wembley Stadium,  which was demolished from 2002 to 2003.  During excavation, mechanical diggers unearthed  the concrete foundations of Watkin’s Tower,   a failed attempt to construct a rival to the  Eiffel Tower in London. Only the base of the  

Tower was ever built before being abandoned and  demolished in 1907; the site was later used as   the location for the first Wembley Stadium. At the time of construction there were   numerous delays which sparked quite a bit  of controversy to put it diplomatically. 

The Sports Minister in 2005 remarked that  “They say the Cup Final will be there,   barring six feet of snow or something like  that”. All set for a 2006 final, well not quite,   snow would’ve been a more pleasant substance for  a delay. Instead, the sewers beneath the stadium  

Buckled due to ground movement in the Spring  of 2006: we would have to wait another year.  Finally, the stadium was officially opened on  Saturday 19 May, with the staging of the 2007   FA Cup Final. Eight days before that on Friday 11  May, the statue of Bobby Moore had been unveiled  

By his former England team-mate Sir Bobby Charlton  outside the stadium entrance, as the “finishing   touch” to the completion of the stadium. The  twice life-size bronze statue, sculpted by Philip   Jackson, depicts England’s 1966 World Cup winning  captain Bobby Moore, looking down Wembley Way. 

The inaugural FA Cup final at the new Wembley  Stadium was between Chelsea and Manchester   United. Chelsea won 1-0 after extra time after  a Didier Drogba goal. Chelsea would make history   being the last team to win at the old Wembley and  the first to win at the new Wembley. Incidentally  

This was Chelsea’s 4th FA Cup trophy. Since the opening of new Wembley to the   present day, Chelsea have been regular attendees  with 9 FA Cup final appearances winning on five   occasions bringing their FA Cup trophy haul up to  8 (joint with Spurs and Liverpool) Arsenal have  

Won 4 FA Cups at the new stadium and are also the  record holders in the competition overall with 14   FA Cups. Other than Arsenal and Chelsea, Crystal  Palace are the only other London club to make an  

FA Cup final appearance at the new Wembley when  they lost 2-1 to Man Utd after extra time in 2016.  Thank you for watching Stadium Hotdog,  there will be more to come in this series,   Up for the Cup with separate episodes  for each of the current 17 London clubs  

In the top five tiers of English Football. Please like share and subscribe. Mention your   experiences in the comments. Stay  well and safe: see you next time.