1898–99 FA Cup


The 1898-1899 FA Cup was the 28th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. The cup was won by Sheffield United, who defeated Derby County 4-1 in the final of the competition, played at Crystal Palace in London.
Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held at neutral venues until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.

Calendar

The format of the FA Cup for the season had a preliminary round, five qualifying rounds, three proper rounds, and the semi finals and final.
RoundDate
Preliminary RoundSaturday 24 September 1898
First Round QualifyingSaturday 1 October 1898
Second Round QualifyingSaturday 15 October 1898
Third Round QualifyingSaturday 29 October 1898
Fourth Round QualifyingSaturday 19 November 1898
Fifth Round QualifyingSaturday 10 December 1899
First Round ProperSaturday 28 January 1899
Second Round ProperSaturday 11 February 1899
Third Round ProperSaturday 25 February 1899
Semi-FinalsSaturday 18 March 1899
FinalSaturday 15 April 1899

First round proper

The First Round Proper contained sixteen ties between 32 teams. The 18 First Division sides were given a bye to this round, as were Newton Heath, Woolwich Arsenal and Manchester City from the Second Division, and non-league Southampton. Most of the other Second Division sides were entered into the Third Qualifying Round, with the exceptions of Barnsley, who started in the Second Qualifying Round, and Burton Swifts, Blackpool and Loughborough who were placed in the First Qualifying Round. Of those sides, only Grimsby Town, Small Heath and Glossop North End qualified to the FA Cup Proper. Seven non-league sides also qualified.
The matches were played on Saturday, 28 January 1899. Four matches were drawn, with the replays taking place in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Bristol City2-4Sunderland28 January 1899
2Burnley2-2Sheffield United28 January 1899
ReplaySheffield United2-1Burnley2 February 1899
3Liverpool2-0Blackburn Rovers28 January 1899
4Preston North End7-0Grimsby Town28 January 1899
5Notts County2-0Kettering28 January 1899
6Nottingham Forest2-1Aston Villa28 January 1899
7The Wednesday2-2Stoke28 January 1899
ReplayStoke2-0The Wednesday2 February 1899
8Wolverhampton Wanderers0-0Bolton Wanderers28 January 1899
ReplayBolton Wanderers0-1Wolverhampton Wanderers1 February 1899
9West Bromwich Albion8-0South Shore28 January 1899
10Everton3-1Jarrow28 January 1899
11Small Heath3-2Manchester City28 January 1899
12Heanor Town0-3Bury28 January 1899
13Woolwich Arsenal0-6Derby County28 January 1899
14New Brompton0-1Southampton28 January 1899
15Tottenham Hotspur1-1Newton Heath28 January 1899
ReplayNewton Heath3-5Tottenham Hotspur1 February 1899
16Glossop0-1Newcastle United28 January 1899

Second Round Proper

The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 11 February 1899, although only three games were played on this date. The other five games were played the following Saturday. There were three replays, played in the following midweek fixture.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Liverpool3-1Newcastle United11 February 1899
2Preston North End2-2Sheffield United11 February 1899
ReplaySheffield United2-1Preston North End16 February 1899
3Stoke2-2Small Heath11 February 1899
ReplaySmall Heath1-2Stoke15 February 1899
4Notts County0-1Southampton11 February 1899
5West Bromwich Albion2-1Bury11 February 1899
6Derby County2-1Wolverhampton Wanderers11 February 1899
7Everton0-1Nottingham Forest11 February 1899
8Tottenham Hotspur2-1Sunderland11 February 1899

Third round proper

The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 25 February 1899. There were no replays.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate
1Southampton1-2Derby County25 February 1899
2Stoke4-1Tottenham Hotspur25 February 1899
3Nottingham Forest0-1Sheffield United25 February 1899
4West Bromwich Albion0-2Liverpool25 February 1899

Semi-Finals

The semi-final matches were both played on Saturday, 18 March 1899. The Sheffield United-Liverpool match went to a replay, played the following Thursday. The match was again replayed a week later, when Sheffield managed a 1-0 win. They went on to meet Derby County in the final at Crystal Palace.
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;Replay
;Second Replay

Final

The final took place on Saturday, 15 April 1899 at Crystal Palace. Just under 74,000 supporters attended the match, a record attendance at the time. John Boag opened the scoring for Derby County after 12 minutes. Derby's lead was maintained until midway through the second half, until Sheffield struck back with three goals in ten minutes from Walter Bennett, Billy Beer and John Almond. Fred Priest scored the fourth and final goal in the eighty-ninth minute, to cap a good victory for the Yorkshire side.

Match details