The 1873–74 Football Association Challenge Cup was the third edition of the annual

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 oldest national

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 ...

tournament in the world. Entrants increased to 28 teams, 12 more than the previous season; six would never contest a match. It began on 9 October 1873 and ended at the final on 14 March 1874. Wanderers unsuccessfully defended its second 1873 title at a Replay on 31 January 1874, losing to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, 1–0.

successfully pursued its first

in the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 14 March 1874 in

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

against the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. 2–0. 2,000 attended.http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1874.html

Format

First round: 28 teams played. The winners moved on.
Second round: 14 teams played. The winner moved on.
Third round: 6 teams, with Swifts getting a bye, played.
Semi-final: 4 teams played.
Final: 2 teams played.

were the champions.

Calendar

First round

Replays

Second round

Replays

Third round

Replay

Semi-finals

Both semi-finals were played at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Final

References

FA Cup Results Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:FA Cup 1873-74 1873–74 1873–74 in English football cups