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.
And it is a history every bit as colourful as the modern game. Classic goals and major upsets, outlandish mascots and crazy songs – the history of the FA Cup would be nothing without them.
Known affectionately as the Little Tin Idol, the original trophy was stolen from a Birmingham shop window in 1895. The FA Cup today’s teams compete for is the fourth one in the competition’s history.
The number of teams that now enter is at levels not seen since the 1920s. No fewer than 674 sides kicked off the present campaign in August 2005 – from Arsenal to Yeading FC (nicknamed “Ding”) of the Nationwide Conference South.
