At a meeting held in the offices of The Sportsman in London on 20th July 1871, a proposal by FA Honorary Secretary Charles Alcock "that it is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete" met with favour and was finally approved three months later.
The first FA Cup competition in season 1871-72 had fifteen entries. (This season more than 600 took part.) Wanderers, a team formed by ex-public school and university players, won the first final 1-0 against Royal Engineers at Kennington Oval. A crowd of 2,000 attended the match and they each paid one shilling for the privilege. The first Cup Final goal was scored by Morton Betts, playing under the assumed name of 'A.H. Chequer'. He was an Old Harrovian who had once played for Harrow Chequers.
The original trophy, much smaller than the present one, was made by Messrs Martin, Hall & Co. and cost £20. In 1895, after Aston Villa had won the competition, the cup was stolen from the window of a firm of football outfitters in Birmingham where it had been placed on display. It was never recovered. The present trophy, played for since 1992, is the competition's fourth and an exact replica of the third. Manchester United have won the Cup the most times (ten), followed by Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur (eight). Forty-two different clubs have won it.
The Cup Final was played at Wembley in every year, excluding the war years, until 2000. The FA Cup has become established as one of the country's great sporting institutions. It is now over 130 years old and yet, season by season, it generates tremendous interest not only in the country of its birth but all over the world. The history and tradition of the competition, and the pageantry of the Cup Final, is familiar to millions.
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