Historical eventMarch 161872

1872 FA Cup final

In the inaugural final of the FA Cup Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1–0 in London.

Everything on March 16Original source

In context

When
Saturday, March 16 1872154 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
19th century · 1870s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1872-03-16.

Place: The Oval, United Kingdom.

Type: FA Cup Final.

What came before

Part of: 1871–72 FA Cup.

Background The Football Association Challenge Cup (commonly known in the modern era as the FA Cup ) was the first formal competition created for the sport of association football , which had first been codified in England in 1863. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The Football Association (the FA) had been created in an attempt to formalise a standard set of rules for football , as no universally agreed rules for the sport existed; many clubs adopted what came to be known as association football,

Timeline

Followed by: 1873 FA Cup Final.

What happened

The 1872 FA Cup final was an association football match between Wanderers and Royal Engineers on 16 March 1872 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the final of the first staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup, which became the primary cup competition in English football and the oldest football competition in the world. Fifteen teams entered the competition in its first season and, due to the rules in place at the time, Wanderers reached the final having won only one match in the four preceding rounds.

March 16 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 18721872 FA Cup final
  2. 2014Crimea
  3. 2015Teddy Sinclair
  4. 2016March 2016 Maiduguri bombings
  5. 20162016 Peshawar bus bombing
  6. 20202020 stock market crash
  7. 20212021 Atlanta spa shootings
  8. 2022Mariupol theatre airstrike
  9. 20222022 Fukushima earthquake
  10. 2025Kočani nightclub fire
  11. 20262026 Maiduguri bombings

Also in 1872

  • March 1Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park (bison pictured), located mostly in the present-day U.S. state of Wyoming, was established by President Ulysses…
  • November 18Women's suffrage in the United StatesAmerican suffragist Susan B. Anthony (pictured) was arrested and later fined $100 for having voted in the presidential election two weeks…
  • December 4BrigantineThe American brigantine Mary Celeste was found apparently abandoned under circumstances that remain unknown.
  • September 1Battle of Orange WalkA small British force commanded by a surgeon fought off a surprise attack by the Maya on Orange Walk Town, British Honduras.
  • November 301872 Scotland v England football matchThe first international football match (pictured) took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
  • December 21HMS Challenger (1858)HMS Challenger departed Portsmouth on a scientific expedition that laid the foundations of oceanography.
  • February 20Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art , today the largest art museum in the United States with a collection of more than two million works, open…

Everything we record for 1872 →

Sources

Cite this page

“1872 FA Cup final”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/1872-fa-cup-final-1872-march-16, accessed October 25, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did 1872 FA Cup final happen?

March 16 1872 — 154 years ago, on a Saturday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.