Season 1871–72 marked the first occasion in which any

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 ...

team from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

participated in official competition, either at club or international level, when Queen's Park, the foremost club of the day, entered the inaugural

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 ...

Overview

The foundation of Queen's Park in 1867 had begun to put

, which had persisted in various wholly unorganised recreational forms for centuries, on a more organised basis. A number of other clubs had come into being, occasionally playing challenge matches against each other, but as yet no governing body for the game or organised competitions existed within Scotland. In England,

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 ...

(FA) had been in existence since 1863, and in 1871–72 it staged the first ever FA Cup competition. As it was not yet apparent that the FA and its Cup would become primarily English (as opposed to British even worldwide), Queen's Park were invited to enter. On the international front, official and fully representative matches had yet to be organised. A series of "England v Scotland" matches in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

organised by

C. W. Alcock Charles William Alcock (2 December 1842 – 26 February 1907) was an English sportsman, administrator, author and editor. He was a major instigator in the development of both international football and cricket, as well as being the creator of ...

had begun in 1870, however the Scottish sides were almost entirely selected from London residents, these matches are not officially recognised. It would be November 1872 before the first recognised international fixture took place.

Teams in F.A. Cup

Without any precedents to draw on, the first FA Cup was organised on a haphazard basis, as illustrated by Queen's Park's progress. They were drawn in the first round to play Donington School from

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, the only other entrants from outwith the

Home Counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inc ...

, but when the clubs were unable to agree a date for the fixture, the FA permitted both to progress to the next round. This time they were paired again, but Donington withdrew from the competition. With five teams left in the competition, Queen's were awarded a bye into the semi-finals, still without having played a match. The semi-final draw paired Queen's Park with Wanderers, and after raising money by public subscription the Scots travelled to London, where a goalless draw was secured at

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

. Queen's, however, could not afford to extend their stay long enough for the tie to be replayed and were forced to withdraw from the competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1871-72 in Scottish football Seasons in Scottish football