Trophies - All that glitters is not gold


Introduction

Like all sport football is competitive; the object of the game is to win by scoring more goals that your opponents.


However, winning a game means more if it is part of an organised competition, with the success of the winner being universally acclaimed by the presentation of a trophy. So proving the old saying - "to the victors belong the spoils"


There are many EnglishTrophies for which football clubs compete but the five most important for English football clubs are:

Date Established

  • 1871 The Football Association Challenge Cup - known simply as The FA Cup
  • 1888 The Football League Championship Trophy
  • 1907 The Charity Shield
  • 1960 The Football League Cup
  • 1992 The FA Premier League Cup


1960-61 Tottenham Hotspur proudly dis

play the FA Cup and League Championship Trophy.


They were the first team to do the double since
1896-97 (64 years.)

 1960-61 Tottenham Hotspur



The Charity ShieldThe Charity Shield

This trophy was presented in 1907 by Lord Kinnaird one of the pioneers of Victorian football.

For many years the shield was awarded to the winners of inter club matches or representative games both professional and amateur.


Since 1962 - the year after Tottenham did the double, it has matched the Football League Champions with the FA Cup Winners with the exception
of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United "Double seasons"


The Charity Shield match has been staged at Wembley Stadium since 1974. In recent times it has been played in August each year and has become the curtain raiser for the season.


2000-01 Chelsea's Dennis Wise shows the Charity Shield to the Wembley fans after the defeat of Manchester United.


1871 - The FA Cup

The F A Cup was the first important soccer trophy. The idea of holding a knock-out competition for a prize was born at a meeting held in the offices of a London newspaper, The Sportsman, on 20 July 1871.


Charles Alcock, the Secretary of the FA, suggested that a Challenge Cup competition be introduced for all clubs belonging to the FA to add excitement to the newly developing sport.


His idea was accepted and twenty pounds was eventually raised to buy a silver cup.

Fifteen teams entered the first competition the final of which was played at The Kennington Oval (cricket ground) in London on 16 March 1872.


There was a crowd of 2,000 people and they each paid one shilling (5p) to watch the game.


The Royal Engineers in 1872. Although favourites

to win the cup they were only the runners up.

It was won by The Wanderers, a team of former public school and university players. In goal for them that day was Charles Alcock.

The Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0.


The early years of the FA Cup were dominated by such teams as this table shows:


1872 - Wanderers v Royal Engineers
1873 - Wanderers v Oxford University
1874 - Oxford University v Royal Engneers
1875 - Royal Engineers v Old Etonians
1876 - Wanderers v Old Etonians
1877 - Wanderers v Oxford University
1878 - Wanderers v Royal Engineers
1879 - Old Etonians v Clapham Rovers
1880 - Clapham Rovers v Oxford University
1881 - Old Carthusians v Old Etonians
1882 - Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers
1883 - Blackburn Olympic v Old Etonians


Blackburn Olympic (not to be confused with Blackburn Rovers), beat the elite Old Etonians 2-1.


For the first time the cup was not only taken north but was won by a team of workers employed in the Lancashire cotton mills.


From then on football became a working class interest centred around factories, textile mills, churches and organisations that lay at the heart of the new industrial communities.


An artist's impression of the 1891 cup final played at the Oval. Blackburn Rovers, (who were then a team of aristocrats from public schools and universities) attack the Notts County goal.
Blackburn Rovers won 3-1

 1891 cup final of the Oval


The Competition

  • There is much more to the FA Cup than the glamorous final. Because it is a knock-out competition open to both League and non-League clubs there is always the possibility of an upset - the chance of a 'giant killing'. This means a small club sometimes knocks out a top class club. A good cup run is important to smaller clubs because it gives their finances a welcome boost.
  • The FA Cup competition proper consists of six rounds, the semi-final and the final.
  • Before the competition proper starts there are several qualifying rounds for non-Football League clubs. The winners join the Second and Third Division clubs in the first round.
  • The surprises start coming from the third round when the Premier League and First Division clubs join the competition.
  • At each stage the match winner moves on to the next round and the loser is eliminated. If a game is drawn it is replayed. If the replay is a draw at the end of 90 minutes, there is thirty minutes extra time after which the result is decided by a penalty shoot-out.
  • The competition begins in September each year and continues until mid-May when the Final until 2000 took place at Wembley Stadium.The FA Cup winners are entitled to enter the UEFA Cup competition where they play top teams from other European countries.


1923 - Wembley Stadium "The Venue of Legends"

Wembley Stadium was built in 1923. The first football match to be played there was the 1923 FA Cup Final. Prior to the game, the stadium had received a great deal of publicity which had obviously aroused public curiosity. The event proved memorable. Although the official crowd was given as 125,047 some estimates suggested that there were more than 200,000 people there.


The scene was chaotic as crowds jostled up to and over the touch lines until the pitch became a sea of people. It seemed that it would not be possible to start the match.


About this time King George V arrived and the playing of the national anthem calmed the swirling crowd. Mounted police gained control and with a nudge here and there and some gentle shepherding space was cleared and the crowd drifted back to the terraces.

Until the New Wembly Stadium is finished all matches previously played at Wembley are being played at the Milenium Stadium, Cardiff


The press decided that the hero of the hour was Constable George Storey and his 13 year old white horse Billy. Obviously PC Storey was just one of a team of mounted policemen who saved the day - but he was the only one on a white horse.

The final has always been remembered as the 'White Horse' final.


The match between Bolton Wanderers and Second Division West Ham United kicked off 45 minutes late with thousands of spectators standing on the touchlines.


At half-time the players stayed on the pitch. Bolton were winning 1-0. Eight minutes into the second half Bolton scored their second goal when John Smith smashed the ball into the back of the net.


However, because there were spectators pressed up against the netting, the ball instantly rebounded and many people mistakenly thought that the ball had bounced back off the goal-post.

Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2-0


PC Storey on his white horse Billy at the new Wembly Stadium in 1923.

 1923 The White Horse at Wembley
Wembley - The Twin Towers



The Cup Final has been played at Wembley Stadium ever since, but it has always been an all-ticket game to prevent over crowding.



The famous twin towers of Wembley - the Venue of Legends

1923 - The Programme used for the first FA Cup tie
at Wembley Stadium

2000 - The programme for the first FA Cup Tie was reproduced for the last FA Cop Tie at Wembley Stadium
Impression of the new Wembley Stadium


Artist's impressions of the 133 metre high arch which will replace the twin towers as the Wembley hall mark.

The arch will be four times as high as the towers.

At the end of the 2000 season Wembley was closed. It was demolished to make way for a brand new stadium to be opened in about 2005.


However much controversy followed the closure and doubts were expressed as to where the new stadium should be built.


Bids were made by Birmingham, Coventry and the original Wembley Consortium.


Eventually approval was given for the Wembley Consortium to rebuild the new stadium on the original site. Demolition of Wembley started in September 2002.

It was not completed until 2007


May 2007 - The first FA Cup Tie between Manchester United and Chelsea was played at the new Wembly Stadium. Chelsea won 1-0. Although the game lacked lustre, the crowd of over of 90,000 people judged the new Wembly Stadium to be a resounding success. Well worth waiting for.


1872 - The Trophy

There have been four FA Cups

First Cup 1872 - 1895

When Aston Villa won the cup in 1895 it was taken back to Birmingham and put on display in a local shop from where it was stolen. It has never been recovered. This reward poster of the time explained the circumstances.

Second Cup 1896-1910

A second cup, identical to the first, was used until 1910 when it was withdrawn because too many replicas of it were in circulation. The original was presented to Lord Kinnaird in 1911 to celebrate his 21 years as President of the Football Association.


He played in nine FA Cup finals, three with the Wanderers. He was a superstar of his time.

Third Cup 1911-1992

The third cup, made in 1911, was used until 1992 when it was retired because it had become frail. It is regularly on display at promotional functions around the country. It attracts great interest.


Fourth Cup 1993 - to present

The fourth cup is an exact replica of its predecessor .


The most times the Cup has been won by the same team is eight. This was achieved by Tottenham Hotspur in 1991.


Only Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers have won the first three cups.


Aston Villa missed the opportunity to be the only team to lift all four cups when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2000 Cup Final.