| Event | 1901–02 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Sheffield United won after areplay | |||||||
| Final | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 19 April 1902 (1902-04-19) | ||||||
| Venue | Crystal Palace,London | ||||||
| Referee | Tom Kirkham (Burslem, Staffordshire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 74,479 | ||||||
| Weather | Dry, moderate wind | ||||||
| Replay | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 26 April 1902 (1902-04-26) | ||||||
| Venue | Crystal Palace,London | ||||||
| Referee | Tom Kirkham (Burslem, Staffordshire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 33,068 | ||||||
| Weather | Windy and bitterly cold | ||||||
←1901 1903 → | |||||||
The1902 FA Cup final was anassociation football match betweenSheffield United andSouthampton on Saturday, 19 April 1902 at theCrystal Palace stadium in south London. It was the final match of the1901–02 FA Cup, the 31st edition of the world's oldest football knockout competition, and England's primarycup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as theFA Cup.
Sheffield United were appearing in their third final and Southampton in their second – Sheffield United won the cup in1899 and were runners-up in1901; Southampton were runners-up in1900. Both teams joined the competition in thefirst round proper and progressed through four rounds to the final. As a member of theFootball League First Division, Sheffield United were exempt from the competition's qualifying phase. Southampton, as a member of theSouthern League would normally have been required to pre-qualify but, as champions of the Southern League in1900–01, they were givenbyes through the qualifying phase to the first round.
The final was watched by a crowd of 74,479 and ended in a 1–1 draw. The goalscorers wereAlf Common for Sheffield United and, in controversial circumstances,Harry Wood for Southampton. A replay was held a week later on 26 April, also at the Crystal Palace stadium, but before a much-reduced crowd of 33,068. Sheffield United won 2–1 with goals byGeorge Hedley andBilly Barnes against one byAlbert Brown for Southampton. Sheffield United won the cup again in1915 and1925. Southampton, whose appearance in the 1902 final was the last by a team from outsideThe Football League, won the cup in1976.
TheFA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annualknockoutassociation football competition in men's domesticEnglish football. The competition was first proposed on 20 July 1871 byC. W. Alcock at a meeting ofThe Football Association committee. The tournament was first played in the1871–72 season and is the world'soldest association football competition.[1] The 1902 match betweenSheffield United andSouthampton atCrystal Palace was the 31st final and the second of the 20th century. Sheffield United were appearing in the final for the third time, having defeatedDerby County 4–1 in1899 and lost 1–3 toTottenham Hotspur in the1901 replay. Southampton were making their second appearance after losing 0–4 toBury in1900.[2]
Sheffield United were members of theFootball League First Division and, in the1901–02 league championship, amassed 33 points to finish in 10th position, only three points clear of the relegation placings.[3] Southampton were the reigningSouthern League champions, but they slipped to third place in the1901–02 championship, five points behind new championsPortsmouth. Southern League teams normally had to qualify for the first round proper of the FA Cup but, as champions, Southampton were exempted from pre-qualification and were givenbyes to the first round.[4]
Sheffield United's team between 1889 and 1932 was selected by a committee but with the club secretary in charge of the team on match days. In 1902, this wasJohn Nicholson.[5] Southampton's club secretaryErnest Arnfield took charge of their team on match days.[6]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| First | Northampton Town (a) | 2–0 |
| Second | Bolton Wanderers (h) | 2–1 |
| Third | Newcastle United (a) | 1–1 |
| Third (replay) | Newcastle United (h) | 2–1 |
| Semi-final | Derby County (n) | 1–1 |
| Semi-final (replay) | Derby County (n) | 1–1 |
| Semi-final (second replay) | Derby County (n) | 1–0 |
| Key: (h) = home venue; (a) = away venue; (n) =neutral venue.Source:[7] | ||
Sheffield United entered the competition in thefirst round proper and played seven matches, including three replays, en route to the final. They played against three teams from the First Division and one from the Southern League.[7]
In the first round, they were drawn away on Saturday, 25 January to the Southern League'sNorthampton Town, and won 2–0.[8] The goals were scored byWalter Bennett andAlf Common.[7]
Sheffield were drawn at home in the second round against First DivisionBolton Wanderers. The match was played atBramall Lane on Saturday, 8 February and Sheffield won 2–1.[9] The Sheffield goalscorers were Bennett andFred Priest.[7]James McKee scored for Bolton.[10]
Sheffield faced First Division opposition again in the third round (the quarter-final stage) having been drawn away toNewcastle United. This tie went to a replay after a 1–1 draw atSt James' Park on Saturday, 22 February. In its report of the third round matches,The Times mentioned that Newcastle had beaten the league-leadersSunderland and so were confident of success against Sheffield. However, as the report says, Sheffield United had a "reputation as keen fighters in cup ties".[11] Sheffield led 1–0 at half-time andThe Times says "Newcastle only managed to draw the match after a great struggle".[11] Sheffield's goal was scored by Priest.[7] The Newcastle equaliser was scored byWillie Stewart.[12]
Five days later, Sheffield won 2–1 in the replay at Bramall Lane.[13] Their goalscorers wereErnest Needham and Common.[7]R. S. McColl scored for Newcastle.[12]
The semi-finals were staged atneutral venues on Saturday, 15 March, and Sheffield United were drawn to playDerby County atThe Hawthorns inWest Bromwich. The result was a 1–1 draw before a crowd of 33,603.[14]The Times report says that Derby were the better team and "deserved to win".[15] After Derby took an early lead throughBen Warren,[16] Sheffield's second-half equaliser was scored against the run of play byGeorge Hedley[7] after a mistake by the Derby goalkeeper,Jack Fryer, andThe Times says this cost Derby a victory.[15]
The replay was arranged for Thursday, 20 March atMolineux inWolverhampton and this also ended 1–1, watched by 13,284. In a brief report,The Times mentioned that the weather was "squally" and conditions were therefore difficult.[17][18] The match went to extra time and the goalscorers were Priest for Sheffield andDick Wombwell for Derby.[19]
A second replay was necessary and was played a week later on Thursday, 27 March, at theCity Ground inNottingham. The crowd figure was about 15,000. This time the deadlock was broken. Priest scored the only goal of the game after Derby had missed a penalty and Sheffield United won 1–0 to reach their third final in four seasons.[20][21][22]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| First | Tottenham Hotspur (a) | 1–1 |
| First (replay) | Tottenham Hotspur (h) | 2–2 |
| First (second replay) | Tottenham Hotspur (n) | 2–1 |
| Second | Liverpool (h) | 4–1 |
| Third | Bury (a) | 3–2 |
| Semi-final | Nottingham Forest (n) | 3–1 |
| Key: (h) = home venue; (a) = away venue; (n) =neutral venue.Source:[23] | ||
Like Sheffield United, Southampton entered the competition in the first round proper and played six matches, including two replays, en route to the final. They played against three teams from the First Division and one from the Southern League.[23]
In the first round, Southampton were drawn away to their Southern League rivals,Tottenham Hotspur, who were the FA Cup-holders.[23] The match was played atWhite Hart Lane on Saturday, 25 January before a crowd of 20,000 and ended in a 1–1 draw. The goals were scored byDavid Copeland for Tottenham andTommy Bowman for Southampton.[24][25]
The replay atThe Dell was played on Wednesday, 29 January. The crowd was 10,000 and the match ended in another draw, this time 2–2. Extra time was played but without any change in the score and a second replay was necessary. The Tottenham goals were both scored byTed Hughes and Southampton's scorers wereEdgar Chadwick andJoe Turner.[24]
The second replay was played on aneutral venue atElm Park, the home ofReading FC, on Monday, 3 February, in front of a crowd of only 6,000. The pitch was icy and covered in snow, so much so that the touchlines had to be painted blue, and the match kicked off with snow still falling.[24] As in their first two meetings, the teams were very evenly matched and the tie was eventually decided by a mistake. The score at half-time was 0–0 but then Tottenham took the lead with a goal byJack Kirwan. Southampton equalised very quickly with a goal byArchie Turner and then, when it looked as if the match would end in another draw, Tottenham'sSandy Tait made a poor backpass to his goalkeeperFred Griffiths. It was intercepted byAlbert Brown who rounded Griffiths to score the winning goal.[24]
In the second round on Saturday, 8 February, Southampton were drawn at home against the reigning Football League championsLiverpool, who had dropped into a mid-table position in the First Division.[3] According to the Southampton trainer Bill Dawson, the match was "the finest exhibition of football put up by (Southampton)".[26] Southampton won 4–1 with goals from Archie Turner (2), Joe Turner andBert Lee. Liverpool's goal was scored byGeorge Fleming.[27][28]
Southampton then faced First DivisionBury atGigg Lane in the third round on Saturday, 22 February. Bury had outplayed Southampton in the1900 FA Cup Final, winning 4–0, so Southampton wanted to redress the balance somewhat. In a match that Collett, Chalk and Holley have described as a "real thriller",[29][30] Southampton took a measure of revenge by winning 3–2. As described in Chalk and Holley's account, the match was all square at 2–2 with goals byHarry Wood and Joe Turner matching those byGeorge Ross andCharlie Sagar for the home side.[29] Injuries to the two Southampton goalscorers had reduced them to nine players and the team were defending "desperately" to hang on for a replay. After a spell of seven successivecorners for Bury, Albert Brown broke up the pitch with most of the Bury players in the Southampton half. After sprinting the full length of the pitch, Brown unleashed a shot that hit the crossbar and rebounded over his head. Edgar Chadwick was following up and trapped the ball, feinted to go past the goalkeeper and, as the match report says, "coolly slotted the ball in the other corner" to secure victory.[30]
In the semi-final on Saturday, 15 March, Southampton returned to White Hart Lane, this time a neutral venue, to play First DivisionNottingham Forest and won 3–1 after extra time. The score was 1–1 at the end of normal time after goals by Chadwick for Southampton andJohn Calvey for Forest.[31] In extra time, Albert Brown scored twice, once from thepenalty spot and then, in the final minute, with what the match report called "a wonderful goal with a screw shot from an oblique angle".[30]
Southampton were now in the final for the second time in three years and it was the third season in succession that a Southern League team had reached the final. Meanwhile, with Sheffield United needing two replays to settle their semi-final against Derby County, Southampton sought an advantage by sending Harry Wood to theCity Ground inNottingham so that he could "spy" on them in their second replay.[30]
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In the build up to the final, Sheffield United's captainErnie "Nudger" Needham, vowed to make amends for their defeat by Tottenham in the1901 final, declaring that his team "had let the north down".[32] Needham, anEngland international, had writtenAssociation Football, published in 1901. It was an instruction book on football tactics whichThe Outlook described as "a valuable book by a practical expert".[33]
For extra preparation, Southampton's players went to nearbyChilworth and stayed at the Clump Inn which had useful training facilities.[34][35] They had doubts about the fitness of both goalkeeperJack Robinson, who had caught a chill at the training camp, and defenderC. B. Fry, who had been injured, but both were declared fit to play.[35] In the early years of the FA Cup, only amateur players could take part but professionalism now dominated to the extent that Fry, also anEngland international cricketer, was the first amateur to play in the final since 1893.[35]
The first match was played atCrystal Palace on Saturday, 19 April before a crowd of 74,479.[36] The weather was cloudy but dry with a moderate wind. Many fans tried to get a better view of the match by climbing the surrounding trees which, according to David Bull and Bob Brunskell, "shook as though whipped by a gale, denoting the enthusiasm of adventurous individuals who were in their branches".[35] There was clash of kit as both teams normally played in red and white stripes. It was agreed that Southampton would wear their normal kit and Sheffield United wore white shirts with dark shorts.[37]
No goals were scored in the first half. Sheffield United took the lead early in the second half with a goal byAlf Common.[35] They appeared to be on their way to victory when, with two minutes to play, Southampton's captainHarry Wood equalised. Wood had been in anoffside position tying up his bootlaces when the ball reached him. After consultation between the referee and his linesmen, the officials decided that the ball had struck a United defender, thus playing Wood onside.[37] No extra time was played and the result was a 1–1 draw, necessitating a replay.[36]
At the end of the game United's goalkeeper,William "Fatty" Foulke, protested to the officials that the equalising goal should not have been allowed. Foulke, who was reputed to weigh more than 20stone (280pounds; or 127kg), left his dressing room unclothed and angrily pursued the referee,Tom Kirkham, who took refuge in a broom cupboard. Foulke had to be stopped by a group of FA officials from wrenching the cupboard door off its hinges to reach the hapless referee.[38]
The Times criticised the teams for persistent foul play and named Southampton as the worst offenders, calling them the "chief delinquents". The match was ruined by frequent stoppages for free kicks. The reporter said of the controversial equaliser that it was "a doubtful goal".[36] The reporter praised the Sheffield defence, especially the three half-backs and Needham in particular.[36] Sheffield were handicapped by injuries to their right-side forwards,Walter Bennett andAlf Common, but the half-backs raised their games and took on the extra work needed while, as directed by Needham, most of Sheffield's attacks were from left-side.[36]
The replay took place a week later on 26 April, again at Crystal Palace. On a bitterly cold and windy day, the crowd was 33,068, less than half the number who had watched the first match. As Southampton had worn red and white stripes in the first match, this time they swapped to white shirts with Sheffield in their normal stripes. Southampton fielded an unchanged team; Sheffield had to replaceWalter Bennett, who had an ankle injury, withBilly Barnes. Barnes played at inside right andAlf Common moved to Bennett's right wing position.[39][40][30]
Two minutes into the game, Southampton goalkeeper Robinson stumbled when trying to intercept a cross byBert Lipsham, allowingGeorge Hedley to score the opening goal for Sheffield.[39][30] Playing against the wind, Southampton pressed for an equaliser and Foulke was kept busy throughout the rest of the first half but Southampton wasted their chances. According toThe Times, "Boyle and Needham were very good" for Sheffield, while Common was always a danger when running down the right wing. Sheffield maintained their lead until half-time.[39]
Southampton hoped to do better in the second half with the wind behind them but, as before, they wasted chances and were unable to overcome the Sheffield half-backs. Eventually, however, Albert Brown equalised after 70 minutes with a shot from a pass by Chadwick.[39]The Times says that Southampton then had the upper hand for several minutes and "should have scored" again.[39] Foulke had to make saves from Chadwick, Wood and Lee.[37] It looked as though the match was going into extra time, when, with ten minutes remaining, Robinson failed to cut out a cross from Common and Barnes was left with an unguarded net to score the winner for Sheffield.[39] Southampton had a chance to equalise in the final minute, but Fry kicked the ball high over the crossbar.[37]
| Sheffield United | 1–1 | Southampton |
|---|---|---|
Common 55' | [36] | Wood 88' |
      Sheffield United |    Southampton |
Match rules
Notes
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| Sheffield United | 2–1 | Southampton |
|---|---|---|
| Hedley 2' Barnes 79' | [39] | Brown 70' |
Sheffield United | Southampton |
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Match rules
Notes
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The trophy was presented to Ernie Needham by Lady Beatrice Villiers, who was accompanied by her fatherLord Jersey.[39]The Times said of the replay that it had been a good, hard game and without the "foul work" that had ruined the original match. In the reporter's opinion, the replay was "one of the best finals seen for some years".[39]
Sheffield United have made three further FA Cup final appearances. They won in both1915 againstChelsea and1925 againstCardiff City, but lost toArsenal in1936.[48] Southampton have played in two more finals. They won the cup in1976 when they defeatedManchester United, but lost to Arsenal in2003.[48]
Southampton were the third Southern League team in succession to reach the FA Cup final, following themselves in 1900 and Tottenham in 1901. They remain the last team from outside the Football League to reach the final.[49] Southern League teams began joining the Football League in the 1900s – Tottenham's application was accepted in 1908 and Southampton, along with several other clubs, joined in 1920.[50]
