| Event | 1885–86 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Blackburn Rovers won after areplay | |||||||
| Final | |||||||
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| Date | 3 April 1886 (1886-04-03) | ||||||
| Venue | Kennington Oval,London | ||||||
| Referee | Francis Marindin | ||||||
| Attendance | 17,000 | ||||||
| Replay | |||||||
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| Date | 10 April 1886 (1886-04-10) | ||||||
| Venue | Racecourse Ground,Derby | ||||||
| Referee | Francis Marindin | ||||||
| Attendance | 12,000 | ||||||
←1885 1887 → | |||||||
The1886 FA Cup final was afootball match betweenBlackburn Rovers andWest Bromwich Albion on Saturday, 3 April 1886 atKennington Oval in south London. The result was a goalless draw. Albion wanted to playextra time but Blackburn declined and so a replay was necessary. This took place a week later at theRacecourse Ground inDerby, the first venue outside London to stage an FA Cup final match. Blackburn won 2–0 to win the tournament for the third successive time. FollowingWanderers (1876–1878), Blackburn were the second team to win three successive finals and, as of 2023, remain the last to do so. Their goals were scored byJimmy Brown and Joe Sowerbutts. Both matches were refereed by MajorFrancis Marindin.
The replay was the final match of the1885–86 FA Cup, the 15th edition of the world's oldest football knockout competition, and England's primarycup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as theFA Cup. Blackburn were making their fourth (of eight) appearances in the final; Albion their first (of ten). It was the first final to involve two extant clubs who are still members of either thePremier League or theEnglish Football League.

Following their debut in 1879–80, this was the seventh timeBlackburn Rovers played in theFA Cup. Having beenrunners-up in 1881–82, they had won the competition in both 1883–84 and 1884–85. Blackburn began the 1885–86 tournament with an away tie[note 1] at nearbyClitheroe. They won this 2–0 and then had three successive home ties before being awarded abye through the fifth round (the last sixteen) to the quarter-finals. They were drawn away toBrentwood at theEssex County Cricket Ground where Blackburn won 3–1 to reach the semi-finals. This match, played on 13 March at theDerbyshire County Cricket Ground, was againstSwifts. Blackburn won 2–1 with goals scored byNat Walton and Thomas Strahan.[1]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Clitheroe (a) | 2–0 |
| 2nd | Oswaldtwistle Rovers (h) | 1–0 |
| 3rd | Darwen Old Wanderers (h) | 6–1 |
| 4th | Staveley (h) | 7–1 |
| 5th | bye | |
| 6th | Brentwood (a) | 3–1 |
| Semi-final | Swifts (n) | 2–1 |

West Bromwich Albion made their FA Cup debut in 1883–84 and this was their third season in the competition. They weredrawn at home in every round prior to the semi-final. In the first two rounds, they defeatedAston Unity 4–1 andWednesbury Old Athletic 3–2. They received abye to the fourth round, where they beatWolverhampton Wanderers 3–1.Old Carthusians were defeated by a single goal in the fifth round. Ahat-trick fromJem Bayliss—the first by an Albion player in the FA Cup[2]—contributed to a 6–0 quarter-final victory overOld Westminsters, putting Albion into the FA Cup semi-final for the first time (they had reached the quarter-final in 1884–85). The semi-final took place atAston Lower Grounds and was against one of Albion's local rivals,Small Heath Alliance. Albion won 4–0—Arthur Loach andGeorge Woodhall each scoring twice—to become the firstMidlands club to reach theFA Cup Final.[3] After the game, Small Heath supporters invaded the pitch and then pelted missiles at vehicles bound forWest Bromwich, causing several injuries.[4]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aston Unity (h) | 4–1 |
| 2nd | Wednesbury Old Athletic (h) | 3–2 |
| 3rd | bye | |
| 4th | Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) | 3–1 |
| 5th | Old Carthusians (h) | 1–0 |
| 6th | Old Westminsters (h) | 6–0 |
| Semi-final | Small Heath Alliance (n) | 4–0 |
The 1886 final was the first to involve two extant clubs who are still members of either thePremier League or theEnglish Football League. The match took place on the same day as theUniversity Boat Race and, in itsSporting Intelligence section the following Monday, theDaily News reported that the kick-off was delayed until four o'clock so that people attending the Boat Race would be able to see the final too. The newspaper said the crowd was "probably the largest to attend an FA Cup final".[5]
The syndicated match report, published in each of theDaily News,The Morning Post andThe Standard, said there was "an immense number of spectators, numbering about 17,000".[5][6][7]
According to theDaily News, Blackburn refused to playextra time because they realised that Albion "had the better of them". The FA said the replay would be the following Saturday, 10 April, at either Derby or Kennington.[5][8]The Standard, however, correctly specified Derby as the replay venue.[7]
The replay inDerby on 10 April was the first FA Cup final match to be played outside London. There were fears that the match would have to be postponed when Derby was hit by a blizzard that morning, but it blew over and the snow had thawed before the kick-off was due. Albion supporters carried cards saying "Play Up Throstles".[9]Nat Walton played for Blackburn instead of Joseph Heys. Albion were unchanged.
| Blackburn Rovers | 0–0 | West Bromwich Albion |
|---|---|---|
| [5][6][7] |
![]() ![]() Blackburn Rovers | ![]() ![]() ![]() West Bromwich Albion |
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Match rules
Notes
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| Blackburn Rovers | 2–0 | West Bromwich Albion |
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| Brown Sowerbutts | [18] |
![]() ![]() Blackburn Rovers | ![]() ![]() ![]() West Bromwich Albion |
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Match rules
Notes
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