The History of the FA Cup

The Times

November 16, 2002

Pros and cons of university life in the Cup

By Walter Gammie

THE decision taken by Oxford University to pull out of the FA Cup in June 1880, despite having reached the final in the previous season when they lost 1-0 to Clapham Rovers at the Kennington Oval, was no surprise. Geoffrey Green, the former Times Football Correspondent, makes plain in The History of the FA Cup that there were reservations among amateur clubs about entering the Cup at its outset in 1872. The amateurs felt “it might give rise to excessive rivalry and tempt clubs to subvert the wellbeing of the game to their own selfish interests. The general standards of morality of those competing would be lower.” Oxford had won the Cup in 1874 and lost in four finals in eight years of entering the competition — so much so that Aston Villa, drawn away to Oxford in the third round in their first season in the Cup in 1879-80, decided it was not worth their while making the trip and withdrew. Colin Weir, the historian of Oxford and Cambridge University football, said: “The universities withdrew because of the increased professionalism. It might sound horribly snobbish to say in this day and age but the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Darwen brought a different ethos with which they were uncomfortable.”

[ Previous | Next ]