1871–72 in English football

The 1871–1872 season was the first season of competitive football in England.

Overview

See also: England v Scotland representative matches (1870–1872)

The world's oldest formal competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (now better known as the FA Cup), was played for the first time in 1871–72 and it is still played every year among English/Welsh teams. The FA Cup attracted entrants from all over the UK. It was not for many years that both the FA and the FA Cup came to be solely English institutions (and even now there are still clubs from outside of England that are members of the FA and compete in the FA Cup).

The first FA Cup final was won 1–0 by Wanderers over Royal Engineers[1] at Kennington Oval, London. Under the original rules of the competition, Wanderers automatically qualified for the following year's final to defend their trophy.

As yet, the concept of international football had not been invented, making the 1871–1872 season one of the few seasons without any international fixtures.

Honours

Competition Winner Runner-up
FA Cup Wanderers Royal Engineers

References

  1. ^ TheFA (2008). "Cup Final Statistics" (web). Find out the result of every each and every Cup Final, as well as venue records, most wins and most appearances... Past FA Cup Finals. The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2003/11/FACupStatistics.htm. 

1866–67 | 1867–68 | 1868–69 | 1869–70 | 1870–71 | 1871–72 | 1872–73 | 1873–74 | 1874–75 | 1875–76 | 1876–77