The 1872–73 Football Association Challenge Cup was the second staging of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

's oldest national football tournament. Sixteen teams entered, one more than the previous season, although two of the sixteen never actually played a match. In keeping with the original concept of it being a "challenge" cup, the holders, Wanderers, were given a bye all the way to the final, for which they were also allowed to select the venue. This was the only season in which the holders were granted these privileges. Queen's Park were given byes until the semi-finals in order to reduce the amount of travelling necessary, but then withdrew anyway when scheduled to play Oxford University, who therefore received a walkover to the final.

Format

First Round: 14 teams (all except Queen's Park and defending champions Wanderers) would play, each match eliminating the loser. Second Round: 6 teams ( Royal Engineers getting a bye) would play, the winners advancing. Third Round: The 3 winners and Royal Engineers would play. The winners would advance. Fourth Round: The two remaining teams from the Third Round would play, the winner facing Queen's Park. Semi-Final: The Fourth Round team would face Queen's Park. However, this was not needed as Queen's Park withdrew. Final: The Semi-Final team would face Wanderers, the defending champion.

Calendar

First round

Second round

;Notes

Third round

Fourth round

Semi-final

Final

As the 1871–72 Cup winners, Wanderers had not played in the cup before this game. The

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

was played at

Lillie Bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) ...

. The attendance of 3,000 was considered low, and of those who did attend, not all stayed for the whole duration of the game. This was attributed to the

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

occurring later the same day.

References

Competition Results at rsssf.comCompetition Results at Soccerbase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Cup 1872-73 1872–73