The 1871–72 Football Association Challenge Cup was the first organised association football competition in the world. Fifteen clubs entered that first competition, although three withdrew without playing a game. In the final, held at Kennington Oval on March 16, 1872, Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers by a single goal, scored by Morton Betts under the pseudonym A H Chequer, as he was formerly a member of the Harrow Chequers Club.
Of the 15 origi...
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The 1871–72 Football Association Challenge Cup was the first organised association football competition in the world. Fifteen clubs entered that first competition, although three withdrew without playing a game. In the final, held at Kennington Oval on March 16, 1872, Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers by a single goal, scored by Morton Betts under the pseudonym A H Chequer, as he was formerly a member of the Harrow Chequers Club.
Of the 15 original entrants, Queen's Park (from Glasgow) are now members of the Scottish League (Scottish teams entered the FA Cup until 1887). Marlow and Maidenhead (now Maidenhead United) are still around, and each have only missed a single season in the history of the Competition. A team from the Civil Service still exists, playing in Amateur Football Alliance competitions. The Crystal Palace team from 1871-1872 is not connected to the modern day Crystal Palace. The team from Hitchin in the 1870s reformed to become the modern Hitchin Town in 1928.
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