The 1899 FA Cup Final was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

match between

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on Saturday, 15 April 1899 at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

stadium in south London. It was the final match of the

1898–99 FA Cup The 1898–99 FA Cup was the 28th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). The cup was won by Sheffield United, who defeated Derby County 4&ndas ...

, the 28th edition of the world's oldest football knockout competition, and England's primary

cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as 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 compet ...

. Sheffield United were appearing in their first final and Derby County, who had been the 1898 runners-up, in their second. As members of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, they were both exempt from the competition's qualifying phase and joined it in the

first round proper First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...

, progressing through four rounds to the final. The final was watched by a crowd of 73,833 and Sheffield United, after being 0–1 down at half-time, dominated the second half of the match to win 4–1 with goals by Walter Bennett, Billy Beer, Jack Almond and Fred Priest after John Boag had scored a first-half opener for Derby. Sheffield United have won the cup four times in all, their next victory being in

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world' ...

. Derby County have won it once, in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

Background

The

, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

competition in men's domestic

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

. The competition was first proposed on 20 July 1871 by C. W. Alcock at a meeting of

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

committee. The tournament was first played in the 1871–72 season and is the world's oldest association football competition. The 1899 match between

and

was the 28th final and the penultimate one of the 19th century. Derby County had been runners-up in the previous season's competition while Sheffield United were appearing in the final for the first time. Derby County and Sheffield United were both members of the

. In the 1898–99 league championship, Derby amassed 35 points to finish in ninth place, ten points behind champions

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

. Sheffield United had won the league title in 1897–98 but had struggled in 1898–99 and finished in 16th place with 29 points, just above the relegation placings. Both teams were selected by a committee with the club secretary in charge on match days. Derby's secretary was

Harry Newbould Henry J. Newbould (1861 – April 1928, born in Liverpool, Lancashire) was an English football player and manager who managed Derby County and Manchester City. Before becoming a manager, Newbould combined a job at an iron foundry with playing fo ...

who, in 1900, became their first formally appointed

team manager A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

. Sheffield United retained the policy of selection by committee until 1932. In 1899, their secretary was John Nicholson, who was newly appointed.

Route to the final

Derby County

Derby County entered the competition in the

and played four matches en route to the final. Two of their opponents were in the First Division, one was in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and one was in the Southern League.

Early rounds

In the first round on Saturday, 28 January, Derby were away to Second Division Woolwich Arsenal at the Manor Ground in

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic county of Kent and the detail of much of its early history can ...

. They won 6–0 with goals by

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

(2), John Boag (2), Billy MacDonald and Harry Allen. Derby were at home to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

in the second round. This match was played on Saturday, 11 February, at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1 ...

and ended in a 2–1 win for Derby with a goal apiece by Allen and MacDonald. The Wolverhampton scorer was

Billy Beats William Edwin Beats (13 November 1871 – 6 April 1936) was an England international footballer. A centre-forward, he scored 150 goals in 403 league games in 16 years from 1891 to 1907. He began his career with Burslem Port Vale in 1891, and ...

. In the third round, Derby faced the Southern League champions

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

at The Dell. The match was played on Saturday, 25 February, and Derby won 2–1 with goals by Bloomer and MacDonald. Southampton's goal was scored by

Tom Nicol Thomas Nicol (24 February 1870 – 10 June 1915) was a Scottish footballer who played for Burnley first as a centre forward and then as a full back in the 1890s, before later becoming a bowls champion in Southampton. Football career Burnley ...

Semi-final

The semi-finals were staged at neutral venues on Saturday, 18 March, and Derby were drawn to play First Division Stoke FC at Molineux in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. Steve Bloomer scored all three goals in a 3–1 win which took Derby through to a second successive cup final. The Stoke goal was scored by William Maxwell.

Sheffield United

Sheffield United entered the competition in the

and played nine matches, including five replays, en route to the final. Their four opponents were all other teams in the First Division.

Early rounds

In the first round on Saturday, 28 January, Sheffield were away to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

Semi-final

The semi-finals were staged at neutral venues on Saturday, 18 March, and Sheffield were drawn against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

. This ended in a 2–2 draw and three replays were needed to settle the tie. The second replay was at the former

Fallowfield Stadium Fallowfield Stadium was an athletics stadium and velodrome in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. It opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Fallow ...

in Manchester. This match had to be abandoned at half-time because of a crush in the crowd.

Match details

Post-match

The crowd of 73,883 was a world record, though it would be beaten only two years later. Derby had lost the final two years in succession and talk began of a gypsy curse on the club, said to have originated after gypsies were forced to leave the land that became the Baseball Ground.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fa Cup Final 1899

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

1898–99 in English football Derby County F.C. matches Sheffield United F.C. matches April 1899 sports events 1899 sports events in London