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February 20, 2007

The first big day out

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard celebrates the FA Cup trophy after the win against West Ham United in the FA Cup Final soccer match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on May 13, 2006. Gerrard will receive an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in Britain's New Years Honours List. — AP

Last week, I wrote about the events leading up to the very first FA Cup final. For football supporters and players alike, the FA Cup final is "the big day out", a day that will never be forgotten and will live in memory forever, and the first FA Cup final was perhaps just as memorable for those who were there to witness it, and to appear in it.

The very first FA Cup final was held between the Wanderers and the Royal Engineers at Kennington Oval, (a ground famous for cricket at the time and home then and now of Surrey CCC), on Saturday, March 16, 1872, in front of 2000 curious spectators.

The finalists

The Wanderers FC was based in Battersea, Wandsworth, London, and was initially formed as Forest FC in Leytonstone in 1859. As their name suggests, the club never had a permanent home and was mainly made up of ex-public schoolboys, with Harrow School providing many of the players. The Royal Engineers AFC was founded in 1863 by members of the army commonly known as the Sappers, the Corps of Royal Engineers, and was a team entirely of soldiers.

The Wanderers were led by the creator of the FA Cup and the club itself, Charles Alcock, who would later twice become an FA Cup final referee. Reginald de Courtenay Welch was between the posts protected by lone full-back Edgar Lubbock and half-back Albert Thompson. Up front, Alcock was supported by seven other strikers: Edward Bowen, Alexander Bonsor, AH Chequer, WP Crake, TC Hooman, Robert Vidal and Charles Wollaston.

The Royal Engineers team consisted of two captains and nine lieutenants and was captained, appropriately, by Captain Francis Marindin, the club's founder who would later become president of the FA and would referee several FA Cup finals. In goal was Captain William Merriman, with Marindin and Addison as full-backs in defence and Alfred Goodwyn in midfield as half-back behind seven forwards: Mitchell, Edmund Cresswell, Henry Renny-Tailyour, Rich, Muirhead, Cotter and Bogle.

The kick off

The Wanderers won the toss and chose the Harleyford Road end, playing with the wind and the sun behind them, as the match kicked off at 3:05PM with the Royal Engineers as favourites. The pitch was not the same as it is today as it had no interior markings, no nets and the crossbar was merely a simple strip of tape.

Alfred Stair, a civil servant and a player for Upton Park FC was the neutral referee assisted by two umpires from Civil Service FC, JH Gifford for the Royal Engineers and J Kirkpatrick for the Wanderers. Both clubs played in their traditional colours, with the Wanderers wearing purple, black-and-red-hooped shirts with white shorts and black-and-white-hooped socks, while the Royal Engineers wore red-and-blue-hooped shirts, black shorts and red socks. The goalkeepers wore the same kit as their team-mates, as was normal in those days.

Winners and losers

Disaster struck early, as Cresswell fell awkwardly after ten minutes and broke his collar bone after just ten minutes. With no substitutes available in those days, the Royal Engineers were forced to play with ten men as he received lengthy treatment but then played on in severe pain.

They held out for only five minutes, as eighteen-year-old Robert Vidal dribbled through the depleted defence and Chequer scored what proved to be the winning goal. Alcock had a goal disallowed on twenty minutes due to handball by Wollaston and the Wanderers then hit the post as they dominated the match and their solid defence allowed their opponents only two chances.

Bizarrely, the goal-scoring hero didn't use his real name, as he was really Morton Peto Betts, one of the leading sportsmen of the time. He had originally been registered to play for Harrow Chequers, and was seemingly ineligible to play for another team, although this was in doubt as his original team had withdrawn without playing a game.

The pseudonym was hardly a disguise, however, and perhaps the sporting superstar was merely giving thanks to his original club by calling himself AH Chequer, or perhaps "A Harrow Chequer". No protests followed and the Wanderers became the first winners of the FA Cup.

The winners had to wait almost a month to receive the trophy, however, and finally got their hands on the first FA Cup trophy at the club's annual gala dinner at the Pall Mall Restaurant, Charing Cross, London on April 11, where each player received a special commemorative silken badge from the Football Association and an inscribed gold medal from the club.

QUESTIONS

Understanding the story

1. What event does the story describe?
2. When did it happen?
3. Where?
4. What time did it start?
5. Who won?
6. What was the score?

True or false?

1. The losing team were all soldiers.
2. Both teams played in hooped shirts.
3. Both teams played with seven forwards.
4. The winning goal-scorer had a false name.
5. He had played for another team earlier in the tournament.
6. The winning team waited almost a month to receive the trophy.

Find the information

1. Which team originally had a different name and what was that name?
2. What two things did the two captains have in common?
3. What was different about the pitch then compared to today?
4. What did Alfred Stair do at the event?
5. Who was injured and what was the injury?
6. What did the winners receive?

Vocabulary
Match the meanings below to the words and phrases in bold in the story.

1. inside something
2. single or only
3. existing for a long time in the future
4. false name
5. with fewer people than usual
6. not allowed by the rules
7. produced to help remember an important event
8. with words written or cut into it
9. moved with the ball
10. wanting to find out about something

ANSWERS

Understanding the story

1. The first FA Cup final
2. Saturday, March 16, 1872
3. Kennington Oval, London
4. 3:05PM
5. The Wanderers
6. 1-0

True or false?
1. True
2. True
3. False (the Wanderers had 8)
4. True
5. False (he had been registered but didn't play)
6. True

Find the information

1. The Wanderers who were originally Forest FC
2. They both created their clubs and would later be FA Cup final referees
3. It didn't have interior markings, nets or a solid crossbar
4. He was the referee
5. Edmund Cresswell, who broke his collar bone
6. The FA Cup trophy, commemorative silken badges and inscribed gold medals

Vocabulary 1. interior
2. lone
3. permanent
4. pseudonym
5. depleted
6. ineligible
7. commemorative
8. inscribed
9. dribbled
10. curious

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