The FA Cup: 137 years of history
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
The FA Cup 2007/08 semi-finals are served: Portsmouth v Barnsley and Cardiff City v West Bromwich Albion will play on April 5. Both matches as well as the Final match on May 17 will be played at the new Wembley Stadium.
But let us took a brief look at the rich history of the oldest and best domestic Cup competition in the world created on 20th July 1871 after a proposal by FA Honorary Secretary Charles Alcock when he said: “It is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete”. The competition was finally approved three months later. The original trophy, much smaller than the present one, was made by Messrs Martin, Hall & Co. and cost £20. In 1895 , after Aston Villa had won the competition, the cup was stolen from the window of a firm of football outfitters in Birmingham where it had been placed on display. It was never recovered. Manchester United have won the Cup the most times (11), followed by Arsenal (10) and Tottenham Hotspur (8). 42 different clubs have won it. In January 1922 the Duke of York, later to become King George VI, cut the first turf to mark the beginning of the building of Wembley Stadium and it was completed in under a year at a cost of £750,000. The Cup Final was played each year at Wembley Stadium except the war years until 2000.
The new Wembley hosted its first Final in 2007. Sir Bobby Robson, a Cup winner as Ipswich Town’s manager, once said: “The FA Cup Final is the greatest single match outside the World Cup Final - and it’s ours”.