1873–74 Scottish Cup
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The 1873–74
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
knockout competition. A total of 16 teams from the west of Scotland entered the competition, but only 14 played a match after two teams withdrew. The competition began with a match between Renton and
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
on 18 October 1873 and concluded with the final on 21 March 1874. After 16 matches and 38 goals, the inaugural cup was won by Queen's Park who defeated fellow Glasgow club Clydesdale 2–0 in the final. The sixteen teams that entered the competition consisted of the eight founder members of the
Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
(SFA) – namely Clydesdale,
Dumbreck Dumbreck (; or ) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated south of the River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the Uni ...
, Eastern, Granville,
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
, Queen's Park,
Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven () is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ''fie ...
and the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers – as well as Alexandra Athletic, Blythswood,
Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...
,
Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
, Renton, Rovers, Southern and
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
. Subscription fees from 15 of these clubs were used to pay for the Scottish Cup trophy which the teams would compete for. Unlike the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
, the original trophy is still awarded to the winners of the competition. It is the oldest trophy in association football and the oldest national trophy in the world.


Background

Queen's Park had been founded in July 1867 and became the first Scottish club to join the previously solely England-based
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
three years later. They had contributed to the cost of the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
trophy and entered the competition in its inaugural season. However, the cost of travelling to England for matches was prohibitive. In both 1872 and
1873 Events January * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat the Unit ...
, they were forced to withdraw from the competition in the semi-finals. In March 1873, the club took out an advertisement in a Glasgow newspaper to invite football clubs to a meeting in the Dewar's Hotel with the intention of discussing the formation of a football association for Scotland. The club's secretary Archibald Rae also wrote a letter to a number of clubs, including
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
– who had been influenced by Queen's Park to play association football rather than rugby – to invite them to the meeting. Committee members from Queen's Park were joined by representatives from six other clubs – Clydesdale,
Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven () is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ''fie ...
,
Dumbreck Dumbreck (; or ) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated south of the River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the Uni ...
, the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers (more commonly known as 3rd Lanark RV or 3rd LRV), Eastern and Granville – at the meeting and a letter of support was received from Kilmarnock who were unable to attend. The eight clubs agreed to establish the
Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
(SFA) and resolved that: Eight further teams joined the SFA over the next few months and subscription fees from fifteen of the members were used to pay for the trophy; the only non-contributor was Southern, which was also the last club to enter. The Scottish Cup is the oldest trophy in association football. It has been awarded to the winner of every edition of the competition and is competed for on an annual basis by SFA member clubs.


Format

As 16 teams entered the competition, the first edition of the Scottish Cup took on the format of a straightforward knockout tournament. In future years, the number of entrants would expand to regularly include over 100 teams which resulted in the need for byes before the introduction of the
Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
in 1890 and the
Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cu ...
in 1895. For the first round, the names of the 16 teams were placed into a single lot and drawn into pairs. The home team for each tie was determined by the toss of a coin unless it was mutually agreed or only one of the two clubs drawn against one another had a private ground. In the event of a draw, the team who lost the toss would have the choice of ground for the replay. This process was repeated for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The choice of venue for the final and any replay(s) was reserved to the SFA.


Rules

The inaugural competition was played according to the rules of The Football Association, known as the Laws of the Game. Matches were 90 minutes long with a break after 45 minutes. Pitches could be no more than by and goals were marked by two upright posts at either end, apart, with tape between them at height of . A coin toss decided the ends each team would shoot towards and which team would kick off. A goal was scored when the ball passed between the posts below the tape. Ends were changed after each goal was scored unless no goals were scored in the first half. In the event that no goals were scored in the first half, ends would only be changed at half time. A player was considered " out of play" if he was nearer to the goal than a teammate who kicked the ball to him, unless there were at least three opponents between him and the goal. Players who were out of play could not touch the ball or prevent any other players from doing so until they were back "in play". The rules specifically forbade players from kicking and hacking their opponents as well as from wearing "projecting nails, iron plates or
gutta-percha Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus ''Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae, which is primarily used to create a high-quality latex of the same name. The material is rigid, naturally biologically Chemically inert, inert, resilient, electrically n ...
" on the soles of their boots.


Teams

All 16 teams entered the competition in the first round. Of the clubs that entered, eight were founder members of the SFA. Those included Clydesdale, Granville, Queen's Park and 3rd Lanark RV from
Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...
as well as Dumbreck from
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...
, Eastern from
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...
side Kilmarnock and Vale of Leven from
Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...
. A further five Glasgow clubs – Alexandra Athletic, Blythswood,
Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...
, Rovers, and
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
– entered alongside
Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
and Renton from Dunbartonshire and Southern from Renfrewshire. Of the 16 teams to enter the first round, Southern were the only team who would not play a single match in any edition of the Scottish Cup. By 1967, all the teams had become defunct except for Dumbarton, Kilmarnock, Queen's Park and Vale of Leven and, as of 2023, only the first three of these still compete regularly in the competition.


Calendar


First round

At a committee meeting of the Scottish Football Association on 9 October 1873, the first round ties were drawn. The first match took place on 18 October 1873 when Renton defeated Kilmarnock (who played the entire match with 10 players) 2–0 in the first round. The match was played in Crosshill, at the neutral
Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
. Newspaper reports from the time suggest Kilmarnock may have been at a disadvantage as they were more used to playing rugby. Later on the same day, Alexandra Athletic and Eastern recorded wins over Callander and Rovers respectively and the following week Queen's Park began the competition with a 7–0 win over Dumbreck in the highest scoring game in the inaugural competition. John McPherson scored the first ever Scottish Cup
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
as Clydesdale defeated Granville 6–0 in what would be the latter's only Scottish Cup match and Blythswood won 1–0 away to Western. Southern and Vale of Leven scratched their first round matches against Dumbarton and 3rd Lanark RV respectively. Sources:


Quarter-finals

The quarter-final stage began on 8 November 1873 when Clydesdale and 3rd Lanark RV drew 1–1 at
Kinning Park Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...
to set up the first Scottish Cup replay eight days later. This match also finished in a draw meaning a second replay was played on 6 December. In the meantime, Dumbarton lost 1–0 to Renton in a replay on a public park in Renton on 29 November 1873 after the first match had finished goalless a week earlier at the same venue. Queen's Park's match against Eastern was due to kick off at 15:00 but, due to the late arrival of the Eastern captain, kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes and the match was abandoned with 10 minutes still to play due to darkness as a result. Queen's Park were leading 1–0 and the result was allowed to stand. Blythswood also reached the semi-finals without the need for a replay as they defeated Alexandra Athletic 2–0. In the last match of the quarter-final stage, Clydesdale defeated 3rd Lanark RV 2–0 at Kinning Park in their second replay. Sources:


Semi-finals

The two semi-final matches were played a week apart in December 1873. Queen's Park were the first team to reach the final as they defeated Renton 2–0 at the original Hampden Park on 13 December. Clydesdale then booked their place in the inaugural final a week later as they recorded a 4–0 win over Blythswood at Kinning Park. The match had been abandoned after the fourth goal due to darkness but the result was allowed to stand. Sources:


Final

After 15 matches played and 36 goals scored, the tournament culminated in the 1874 Scottish Cup final on 21 March 1874. The match, played at the original Hampden Park in Crosshill, was watched by 2,500 spectators and refereed by James McIntyre of Eastern. As Hampden Park was the home of finalists Queen's Park, the match was one of a few cup finals in Scotland that were not played on neutral territory. Both goals came in the second half courtesy of the Scotland internationals Billy MacKinnon and Robert Leckie. Queen's Park won 2–0 to claim the trophy for the first of their 10 triumphs.


See also

* 1873–74 in Scottish football


Notes


References


External links


Season 1873-74 Queen's Park
esults list The Beautiful Dribbling Game
Scottish Cup 1873/74
RSSSF {{DEFAULTSORT:1873-74 Scottish Cup Scottish Cup seasons
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