1889 F A CUP FINAL

1889 F A CUP FINAL

1889 F A CUP FINAL

PRESTON NORTH END 3

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0

SCORERS- DEWHURST {15}, ROSS {25}, THOMSON {70}

30th MARCH-KENNINGTON OVAL-LONDON

ATTENDANCE-22,000

It had become obvious to the professional clubs in the Midlands and North that cup football alone could not sustain them as going concerns while lucrative friendlies no longer seemed to grip the public’s imagination.

Aston Villa’s William McGregor therefore rallied twelve clubs to the flag of a new idea that was called the Football League. In September of 1888 this new competition kicked off and in years to come its influence would reach such heights that a club's league position would influence at which point they entered the cup.

The F A had also been considering a new format for the cup and in 1888 introduced a qualifying competition with some of the competitions leading lights exempt until round one.

Being a member of the football League wasn’t a good enough reason to avoid having to qualify though as the F A did not consider these to be the twelve best sides in the Country and in truth the F A were right. The league did contain four previous cup finalists, including holders West Brom and runners up Preston but other clubs of major stature such as Old Carthusians were not invited on two counts, being Southern and amateur.

Other league member’s credentials were very ropey. Everton had never won an F A cup tie and didn’t even enter in 1889, Bolton were dumped out at Linfield in the qualifiers while Stoke lost at Warwick County. The other nine league clubs did make the first round, the last thirty-two. The league clubs acquitted themselves well in the cup proper though with only Notts County being humbled by non-league opponents. That said, their victors; Sheffield Wednesday had only been rejected as a league club because there was no room to include them after they made a late enquiry.

The cup holders, West Brom kicked off their defence of the cup with a trip to local rivals Small Heath and had to fight hard to earn a 3-2 win. Their second round contest was a far easier affair against fellow league side Burnley that they won 5-1. In the quarter finals they faced the only Southern representative left in the competition, Chatham. Joe Wilson maintained a record of scoring in every round with a hat-trick in a very easy 10-1 win.

Hopes of another all Birmingham final were high as Aston Villa and Birmingham St Georges were also in the last eight. Villa had earned their place with a 5-3 win over Derby but would have to face a Blackburn side that had already despatched Accrington 5-0 in the first round. Few fans of either side were prepared to see Villa, who would finish runners up in the league, bow out 8-1 as Jack Southworth scored four and Haresnape chipped in with a hat-trick. Birmingham St George's had the toughest test with a trip to Preston. The invincible Lancashire side had already clinched the title and remained unbeaten all season. St George's put up a good fight but went down 2-0. Wolves had an enjoyable cup run despite a tight 4-3 win over Old Carthusians in round one. They easily overcame Walsall Town Swifts 6-1 in round two thanks to a Knight hat-trick and now faced giant killers Sheffield Wednesday for a semi final spot. David Wykes scored twice in a comfortable 3-0 win to ensure that the semi finalists were all from the newly formed League.

Preston were offered the chance of revenge for last years cup final defeat when they faced West Brom at Bramell Lane in Sheffield. Yet again Preston found the cup holders to be tough opponents but sneaked through with the only goal from Russell to take them to the final without conceding a goal. They would have to wait to find out their opponents though. Wolves and Blackburn battling out a 1-1 draw at Crewe with David Wykes scoring for Wolves and Haresnape for Blackburn. A week later William Townley scored Rovers goal but it wasn’t enough as Harry Allen, Tom Hunter and Harry Wood sent Wolves through to their first cup final 3-1.

THE FINAL

The Oval welcomed the first cup final between members of the Football league as runaway champions Preston faced third placed Wolves. Preston’s dominance of the League, in which they completed their campaign unbeaten in all 22 games as well as reaching the final without conceding a goal made them overwhelming favourites for the second year in a row. They had by now become known as the invincibles and brought ten of last years beaten team with them, including the most feared striker in the Country, Johnny Goodall. Wolves were at the final for the first time and though none of their eleven had previous experience they took heart from West Brom's shock victory over the same opponents last year.

One novel feature of this years match was the introduction of an official match day programme for sale outside the ground at a penny each. A copy of this rare document is priceless today though there was very little for the fans to read as they waited for kick off.

Having been stung last year, Preston were in no mood to make any mistakes this time around and set about Wolves from the off. If Wolves had a game plan they got very few opportunities to put it into play in front of the record 22,000 crowd as they simply could not get hold of the ball. Preston passed them to death and took their reward after a quarter of an hour when captain Fred Dewhurst finished off a neat move by firing past Jack Baynton. The Wolves keeper was again left hopelessly exposed ten minutes later when Jimmy Ross doubled the champion’s advantage. The remainder of the game was an exhibition of football from Preston, enjoyed by all bar the die hards from Wolverhampton. Their objective was completed twenty minutes from time when Sam Thomson, the only member of the team playing in his first final, capped his big day with the third goal.

It was the easiest of victories and cemented Preston’s place as the greatest football club the World had ever seen. Their double winning feat has been equalled several times since but no side has ever dominated a season quite so completely as the 1889 invincibles.

THE TEAMS

PRESTON NORTH END

DR ROBERT MILLS-ROBERTS

ROBERT HOWARTH

ROBERT HOLMES

GEORDIE DRUMMOND

D RUSSELL

J GRAHAM

JACK GORDON

JOHNNY GOODALL

FRED DEWHURST {CAPTAIN}

SAM THOMSON