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                             F.A. Cup
                                                   1888/89  Results
* denotes non-league club
 

For the first time there were qualifying rounds in the FA Cup with round of entry being decided on previous FA Cup performance and not League membership. Four of the twelve Football League clubs were included in the qualifiers with Stoke becoming the first League side to be knocked out by a non-league team. The results of qualifying round matches played by League sides were.....

1st Qualifying Round
Sat Oct 6 Notts County 4 - 1 Eckington Works*
Sat Oct 6 Hurst* 0 - 0 Bolton Wanderers
(Hurst withdrew from the FA Cup before the replayed was played)
Sat Oct 6 Stoke 1 - 2 Warwick County*
Ulster*  (walk-over) Everton  (scratched)
2nd Qualifying Round
Sat Oct 27 Notts County 4 - 2 Beeston St John's*
Sat Oct 27 West Manchester* 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers
(The FA ordered that the match be replayed - match void)
Wed Oct 31 Bolton Wanderers 9 - 0

West Manchester*

3rd Qualifying Round
Sat Nov 17 Notts County 2 - 1 Derby Midland*
Sat Nov 17 Linfield Athletic* 4 - 0 Bolton Wanderers
4th Qualifying Round
Sat Dec 8 Staveley* 1 - 3 Notts County
First Round
Sat Feb 2 Accrington1-1Blackburn Rovers
Sat Feb 9 Blackburn Rovers5-0

Accrington

Sat Feb 2 Aston Villa3-2Witton*
Sat Feb 2 Birmingham St George's* 3-2Long Eaton Rangers*
Sat Feb 2 Bootle* 0-3Preston North End
Sat Feb 2 Burnley4-3Old Westminsters*
Sat Feb 2 Chatham* 2-1South Shore*
Sat Feb 2 Derby County1-0Derby Junction*
Sat Feb 2 Grimsby Town* 3-1Sunderland Albion*
Sat Feb 2 Halliwell* 2-2

Crewe Alexandra*

Sat Feb 9 Crewe Alexandra* 1-5

Halliwell*

Sat Feb 2 Nottingham Forest* 2-2Linfield Athletic*
Nottingham F.* (walk-over)

Linfield Athletic* (scratched)

Sat Feb 2 Notts County2-0Old Brightonians*
Sat Feb 2 Notts Rangers* 1-1Sheffield Wednesday*
Sat Feb 9 Sheffield Wednesday* 3-0

Notts Rangers*

Sat Feb 2 Small Heath* 2-3West Bromwich Albion* (holders)
Sat Feb 2 Swifts* 3-1Wrexham*
Sat Feb 2 Walsall Town Swifts* 5-1Sheffield Heeley*
Sat Feb 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers4-3Old Carthusians*
Second Round
Sat Feb 16 Aston Villa5-3Derby County
Blackburn Rovers  (walk-over)Swifts  (scratched)
Sat Feb 16 Chatham* 1-1Nottingham Forest*
Sat Feb 23 Nottingham Forest* 2-2

Chatham*

Thur Feb 28 Chatham* 3-2

Nottingham Forest*

(the match was played at the Kennington Oval)
Sat Feb 16 Grimsby Town* 0-2Preston North End
Sat Feb 16 Halliwell* 2-3Birmingham St George's*
Sat Feb 16 Sheffield Wednesday* 3-2Notts County
Sat Feb 16 West Bromwich A. (holders)5-1Burnley
Sat Feb 16 Wolverhampton Wanderers6-1Walsall Town Swifts*
Third Round
Sat Mar 2 Blackburn Rovers8-1Aston Villa
Sat Mar 2 Chatham* 1-10West Bromwich Albion (holders)
Sat Mar 2 Preston North End2-0Birmingham St George's*
Sat Mar 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers3-0Sheffield Wednesday*
Semi-Finals
Sat Mar 16 Wolverhampton Wanderers1-1Blackburn Rovers
(played at Alexandra Road, Crewe)
Sat Mar 23 Wolverhampton W.3-1

Blackburn Rovers             

(played at Alexandra Road, Crewe)
Sat Mar 16 Preston North End 1-0West Bromwich Albion(holders)      
  (played at Bramall Lane, Sheffield)

              

Final (at the Oval)
Sat Mar 30 Preston North End3-0Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bramall Lane
My first thought was to add 'Sheffield United FC' to 'Bramall Lane' as the venue for the Preston v WBA semi-final but to do so would not, strictly speaking, be correct.

Originally Bramall Lane was the home of Sheffield Cricket Club who were formed in 1854 with Yorkshire County Cricket Club playing their first match there a year later. The first football match to be played on the ground was between Sheffield FC (the oldest club in the world) and Hallam in 1862 and later Sheffield Wednesday (then The Wednesday) played a few of their more important fixtures there. History was made on Monday October 14th 1878 when the ground hosted the first recorded floodlit fixture. Two representative sides from Sheffield provided the opposition and a crowd of around 20,000 - which was massive for the times -  witnessed the spectacle which was considered a great success.

In March 1883 England entertained Scotland in the first international match at Bramall Lane but still there was no regular football at the ground. That was to change just six days after the Preston v WBA semi in 1889. Such was the success of the match - with nearly £600 in receipts being taken -  the cricket club were convinced it would be a good move to form their own football club, and so Sheffield United were born as a direct result of that semi-final. Three years later they were elected to the Football League and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sheffield United became independent of the cricket club and bought the ground but Bramall Lane still hosted both sports for many years until the cricket club were finally given their marching orders. The last County cricket match played at Bramall Lane was in August 1973 which at the time left Northampton's County Ground as the only one which staged both first-class cricket and League football. When that particular relationship ended it was to be the football club who had to move on, to the Sixfields Stadium.

 

 

Did You Know.....
..1-5 down, just 10 players, less than half an hour left - but they win 7-6! Full details of this Football League match and other great  fight-backs click on...


Did You Know?

 

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