FA Amateur Cup
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The FA Amateur Cup was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when
the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
abolished official amateur status.


History

Following the legalisation of professionalism within football, professional teams quickly came to dominate the sport's main national
knock-out tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
, 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 competi ...
. In response to this, the committee of the country's oldest club,
Sheffield F.C. Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire. They currently compete in the . Founded in October 1857,
, suggested in 1892 the organisation of a separate national cup solely for amateur teams, and even offered to pay for the trophy itself.
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
(the FA) declined the club's offer, but a year later decided to organise just such a competition. N. L. Jackson of
Corinthian F.C. Corinthian Football Club was an English amateur football club based in London between 1882 and 1939. Above all, the club is credited with having popularised football around the world, having promoted sportsmanship and fair play, and having ch ...
was appointed chairman of the Amateur Cup sub-committee and arranged for the purchase of a trophy valued at £30.00, and the first tournament took place during the 1893–94 season. The entrants included 12 clubs representing the old boys of leading public schools, and Old Carthusians, the team for former pupils of
Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...
, won the first final, defeating Casuals. The old boy teams competed in the Amateur Cup until 1902, when disputes with the FA led to the formation of the
Arthur Dunn Cup The Arthur Dunn Cup is a football cup competition played between the Old Boys of public schools. It started in 1903 and is named in honour of Arthur Dunn who had proposed such a competition but died very suddenly shortly after. Dunn was a leadin ...
, a dedicated competition for such teams. The 1973-74 competition was the last, as the FA abolished the distinction between professional and amateur clubs. The strongest amateur teams instead entered the
FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
, which had been set up five years earlier to cater for those teams outside
The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
which were professional rather than amateur. A new competition, the
FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
, was set up to cater for the remaining amateur clubs, and was generally regarded as a direct replacement for the old competition.


Structure

The first tournament attracted 81 entrants, with three qualifying rounds used to reduce the number down to 32 for the first round proper. For the following season, the previous season's semi-finalists joined at the first round proper along with other leading clubs chosen by the FA, with the numbers made up by teams progressing through the qualifying rounds. This remained the standard format until 1907, when the number of entrants to the first round was doubled to 64 and the number of rounds prior to the semi-finals increased to four. The competition continued under this format until it was discontinued in 1974.


Venues

Matches in the Amateur Cup were played at the home ground of one of the two teams, as decided when the matches are drawn. Occasionally games were moved to other grounds. In the event of a
draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
, the replay was played at the ground of the team who originally played away from home. The second replay, and any further replays, were usually played at neutral grounds. The final was held at various grounds in the early years of the competition, with a venue located somewhere in between the home towns of the two participating clubs usually chosen. In 1949 the final moved to
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, and was then played there every year until the competition ended. In the 1950s attendances for the final reached 100,000, comparable to the FA Cup final itself.


Winners and finalists

Almost all of the winners over the years were from either the
Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
, based in
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and the
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, or the Northern League, based in
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, with
Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...
the most successful club with 10 wins. Amateur Cup winners who later turned professional and gained entry to the
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
include
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,
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(merged to form
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...
),
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,
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
and
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
. Ilford,
Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...
and Walthamstow Avenue additionally merged to become Dagenham & Redbridge, a professional club which has also competed in the EFL. Thirty-six different clubs won the cup. The following clubs won the tournament more than once: *A. Clapton did not play in a league at the time of the club's first Amateur Cup win, but played in the Isthmian League at the time of the remaining four victories.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Amateur Cup
Amateur Cup An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History Hi ...
Amateur association football Amateur sport in the United Kingdom 1893 establishments in England 1974 disestablishments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1893 Recurring events disestablished in 1974