Biography
As well as tracing the history of the world's favourite national football competition, we also take a look at the origins of the game itself in mass medieval kickabouts.
FA Cup: the Basics
The oldest knockout football tournament in the world was dreamt up in a newspaper office in the 1870s. Acknowledging the growing popularity of the game – whose rules had only recently been agreed and written down – the Football Association invited teams to compete for a £20 silver trophy. The rest is history.
The Birth of the FA Cup
The first FA Cup competition took place in the 1871-2 season, when just 15 teams entered. Compare that to the record entry of well over 600 sides in 2004-5!
History of Football
The earliest written reference to a game called “football” dates from the 15th century, although the game itself has been around a lot longer.
Wembley and the Modern FA Cup
Wembley Stadium, showcase of the FA Cup Final, was originally planned as a venue for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, but held its first Cup final in 1923 - having taken less than a year to build. The cost was just £750,000. Compare that to the new stadium, which is taking five years to construct (at the last count) and costing more than £750 million!
