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The FA Cup Final is intimately associated with Wembley... but it's not always been that way.
"Welcome to Crystal Palace, the Home of English Football". It's a sign the Crystal Palace Park Trust could quite legitimately place at the entrance to that marvellous green space. For 20 years, crowds surpassing 100,000 people would flock here to watch the men's FA Cup Final. It's part of London's pre-Wembley footballing history that's been largely forgotten.
A dozen or so grounds have had the honour of hosting the world's greatest club fixture. Five of them are, or were, in London... and only one of them was a club ground. Here, then, is our potted guide to the Cup Final venues of London.
1. Kennington Oval (1872...)
The first ever FA Cup final, in 1872, was contested by Wanderers and Royal Engineers, neither of whom ever troubled your childhood Panini sticker albums. Wanderers had their roots in Leytonstone, but lacked a home ground, hence their peripatetic name. The Royal Engineers were also named literally, and comprised a pack of sappers from Chatham.
The Kennington Oval was chosen as the venue for both the semi-finals and the final. It's today noted for cricket but originally supported a broader sports programme. The first (disputed) international football match in the world had been played here in 1870 between England and Scotland, and the Oval was a natural choice to host the first FA Cup final. Wanderers won 1-0. The only goal was scored by Morton Betts who, appropriately, was also a noted cricketer.
Kennington Oval would go on to host the Cup Final 19 times (or 21 including replays). After Wembley, it's the most oft-used venue for the event, though it's not had a look-in since 1892.
2. Lillie Bridge (1873)
The second Cup Final went north of the river, specifically to the Lillie Bridge sports ground. This long-vanished open space was just over the railway tracks from Brompton Cemetery. By 1873 it had made a name for itself as a venue for all kinds of sport, including bicycle racing, football, cricket, wrestling and even hot-air ballooning, which seems a bit reckless next to a railway line, but that's the Victorians for you.
Under the rules of the time, Wanderers — the cup holders from the debut tournament — could sit out the knockout stages. They only had to turn up for the final, to defend their title. They also got to choose the venue. Lillie Bridge was their pick, and Wanderers were once again triumphant, beating Oxford University 2-1. This is the only FA Cup Final ever to kick off in the morning. The timing was to avoid the University Boat Race later that day, which Oxford also lost.
Lillie Bridge never hosted another Cup Final. It was destroyed in 1888 by rioters, angry at an athletics cancellation. Today the site is covered by a modern development, with "No Ball Games" notices on its central lawn.
3. Crystal Palace Park (1895...)
The next 20 years or so saw most finals played in Kennington, with occasional excursions north to Derby, Manchester and Liverpool. The next new London venue came in 1895 with the first final to be held in Crystal Palace Park.
The Football Association were keen to keep things in London. Though many northern teams had larger grounds than anything in the capital, it was felt, somewhat snobbishly, that these grounds lacked the prestige that a London final would bring. Crystal Palace Park was chosen, as a well-known place of entertainment and spectacle ever since the namesake glass building had been erected there more than 40 years before. It was also roomy. Some finals here drew crowds of over 100,000.
The first final at Crystal Palace saw Aston Villa beat West Bromwich Albion by a single goal, but is one that will forever be remembered in the history books. Bob Chatt's "Crystal Palace Thunderbolt" hit the back of the net after just 30 seconds, the fastest goal in FA Cup final history until 2009.
Despite being something of a trek for northern teams, Crystal Palace proved a popular venue and continued to host the Cup Final for many years to come. The last occasion was Burnley's 1-0 defeat of Liverpool in 1914, watched for the first time by a reigning monarch, George V. But storm clouds were gathering...
4. Stamford Bridge (1920...)
Crystal Palace might have continued to host the Cup Final indefinitely were it not for the first world war. For the 1915 final, the action returned north to Old Trafford, as the Palace grounds were being used for military logistics. The next three tournaments were cancelled altogether. When a shaken nation returned to the game with the 1919-20 season, Crystal Palace's trustees were reluctant to host. The FA chose Chelsea's ground of Stamford Bridge, as the London stadium best equipped to deal with the large crowds.
The final, a 1-0 win for Villa over Huddersfield, was a success, though commentators lamented the lack of atmosphere compared to the established home of Crystal Palace. Talk was turning to the prospects of securing a national stadium for the sport. And it wouldn't be long in coming. Stamford Bridge would hold three successive finals before the action moved to...
5. Wembley (1923...)
The original Wembley Stadium was built to support the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, but it was ready to host events a year before that. The very first public spectacle was the 1923 FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham Utd. Bolton would win 2-0, but that debut Wembley final is remembered for other reasons.
By this time, the FA Cup Final was firmly established as the most popular event in the sporting calendar. The allure of watching in a brand new stadium proved irresistible, and exceptionally large crowds showed up. Perhaps as many as 300,000 people crowded into the park, against an official capacity of 125,000. The pitch was flooded with spectators.
Somehow, the police managed to regain control. The hoards were coaxed back behind the perimeter without serious injury. The pictures from that day are completely nuts, but one in particular stood out:
Here we see 'Billy' the police horse, appearing stark white (though he was actually grey) in contrast to the sea of darkly-clad supporters. The match became known as the White Horse Final because of this incident.
It was a moment that had after-effects for the local geography. In 2005, a rebuilt railway bridge was named the White Horse Bridge in commemoration of Billy.
Wembley's stadium was originally to be demolished after the British Empire Exhibition, but good sense prevailed and it was saved and shored up to become the home of English football. It would host every single men's FA Cup Final for the rest of the 20th century, with the exception of 1970, when Old Trafford handled the replay of a drawn Wembley fixture between Chelsea and Leeds.
Chelsea won that one, and they would also become the last team to win an FA Cup at the old Wembley, beating Villa 1-0 in 2000. The stadium was then demolished and rebuilt from scratch. This huge undertaking removed the men's Cup Final from London for six years, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium making a fine replacement. Since 2007 (another one won by Chelsea), all men's finals have been played at the new Wembley.
What about the Women's FA Cup?
All of the above relates to the men's game. If we extend the list to include the Women's FA Cup, then many more venues come into play. The first final was contested in 1971 between Southampton and Scottish team Stewarton Thistle. In a wonderful bit of continuity, this was played at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, rekindling the site's historic links to the men's tournament.
Since then, numerous other London grounds have hosted. Here's the full list:
1971: Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
1977: Champion Hill (Dulwich Hamlet's ground)
1980: Enfield Town
1982, 2004: Loftus Road (QPR)
1985: Craven Cottage (Fulham FC)
1996, 2006: The New Den (Millwall FC)
1997, 2005: Upton Park (West Ham FC)
1999: The Valley (Charlton Athletic)
2001-03: Selhurst Park (Crystal Palace FC)
2015-current: Wembley Stadium.
The women's game has grown in popularity to the point where only the national stadium can handle the demand.
