1883 FA Cup Final Result:Â Blackburn Olympic 2 Old Etonians 1
Venue: Kennington Oval – Saturday 31st March 1883
Blackburn Olympic Scorers: James Costley, Alfred Matthews, Old Etonians Scorer: Harry Goodhart
Blackburn Olympic Team: Thomas Hacking, James Ward, Albert Warburton; Thomas Gibson, William Astley, Jack Hunter, Thomas Dewhurst, Alfred Matthews, George Wilson, James Costley, John Yates
Old Etonians: John Rawlinson, Thomas French, Percy de Paravicini, Arthur Kinnaird, Charles Foley, John Chevallier, William Anderson, Reginald Macaulay, Harry Goodhart, Arthur Dunn, Herbert Bainbridge
Referee: Francis Arthur Marindin
Attendance: 8,000
1883 FA Cup Final Match Report
1883 FA Cup Final Match ReportBlackburn Olympic somewhat compensated for the disappointment experienced a year ago, when everyone had taken it for granted that Blackburn Rovers would bring the Cup up north. The 1883 FA Cup Final looked like a repetition of the previous year’s Final, with the Old Etonians a goal in front and the Olympians playing a similar game to Blackburn Rovers.
The working class team from the north of England showed very little cohesion, long shots, and reckless passing early in the match. But they pulled themselves together and fully deserved their first and only FA Cup victory in the end, having the better of the game overall and running the Old Etonians off their feet before the match was over after extra time.
Inside-left Arthur Dunn proved to be an early handful for the Lancastrians’ defense before John Yates relieved the pressure with a snapshot against the Etonian crossbar. Then, after another good run on the left for Old Etonians by Dunn, Harry Goodhart sent the ball over the top when he ought really to have scored.
For some time, the play was give-and-take, Blackburn Olympic indulging in long crossfield passes while their opponents stuck to their close dribbling game. Then Harry Goodhart made amends for his earlier miss, scoring with a terrific shot.
Up to halftime, Blackburn Olympic, hard though they tried, had been unsuccessful in their efforts to equalize, though the proverbial luck of the Old Etonians saved them on several occasions. First, Yates dropped the ball onto the Eton bar as he had done earlier, and Percy de Paravicini and Charles Foley then had to make last-ditch clearances from near the goal-line.
Second Half
After halftime, the game was evenly balanced. Blackburn Olympic’s excellent play culminated in Alfred Matthews’ well-directed shot beyond John Rawlinson’s reach after sixty-five minutes. Unfortunately, the team from Eton lost its best forward, Arthur Dunn, when he retired from the field due to an injury – a significant loss for the team.
As a result, Olympic began playing with more confidence, and Eton’s goalkeeper managed to stop James Costley’s fine shot just in time.
Blackburn Olympic certainly had the better of the play up to the end of the ninety minutes and Thomas Dewhurst, their outside-right, took advantage of the first chance offered in the extra-time period to hammer in a shot that went just wide.
After that, however, the Old Etonians were tiring fast, and Blackburn Olympic, with their superior stamina, had matters nearly all their way in the second period. John Yates put in a fine diagonal run and crossed hard from the right to James Costley, who rushed up to score the winning goal.
Interesting Facts About The 1883 FA Cup
- The Blackburn Olympic Football Club formed when Black Star and James Street merged in February 1878.
- Before the final, Jack Hunter, a former England player who joined the club as a player and as a coach in 1882, organized several days of special training at Blackpool. A club had never undertaken such a project, and it was considered extremely innovative.
- Immediately following Olympic’s high-profile victory, journalists and officials associated with southern amateur clubs called for an investigation into northern clubs’ finances and paying players.
- Eleven of the Blackburn Olympic’s FA Cup-winning players were born in England, marking the first time an all-English team had won the competition.
- A total of 84 teams competed in the 1882-83 Football Association Challenge Cup, 11 more than last season.
1883 FA Cup – Round By Round
First Round
Grimsby v Queen’s Park. Glasgow wo; Lockwood Bros v Macclesfield 4-3; Nottingham v Sheffield FC 6-1; Phoenix Bessemer vGrantham wo; Sheffield Wednesday v Spilsby 12-2; Nottingham Forest v Brigg Britannia wo; Heeley bye; St George’s v Calthorpe 5-1; Walsall TV Staveley4-1; Stafford Road v Small Heath Alliance 6-2; Aston Villa v Walsall Swifts 4-1; Wednesbury Old Ath v Spital 7-1; Aston Unity bye; Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool 11-1; Darwen Ramblers v South Shore 5-2; BLACKBURN OLYMPIC v Accrington S 6-3; Darwen v Blackburn Park Road 4-1; Church v Clitheroe 5-0; Lower Darwen v IrwelI Springs 5-2; Haslingden bye; Northwich Vic v Astley Bridge 3—2; Liverpool Ramblers v Southport 4-0; Eagley v Bolton Olympic 7-4; Bolton Wanderers v Bootle 6-1; Druids v Oswestry 2-0; Halliwell v Gt Lever 3-2; United Hospitals v London Olympic 3-0; Hanover Utd v Mosquitoes 1 -0; Clapham R v Kildare 3-0; Windsor v Acton 3-0; Brentwood v Barnes 4-2; Rochester v Hotspur 2-0; OLD ETONIANS v Old Foresters 3-1; Swifts v Union 4-1; Upton Pk bye; Etonian Ramblers v Romford 6—2; Old Carthusians v Pilgrims 6-0; Old Westminsters v Maidenhead 2-0; Royal Engineers v Woodford Bridge 3-1; Reading bye; Gt Marlow v Hornchurch 2-0; Hendon v West End 3-1; South Reading v Dreadnought 2-1; Reading Minster v Remnants wo; Chatham bye.
Second Round
BLACKBURN OLYMPIC v Lower Darwen 9-1; Darwen Ramblers v Haslingden 3-2; Church bye; Darwen v Blackburn R 1 -0; Druids v Northwich Vic 5-0; Bolton Wand v Liverpool Ramblers 3-0; Eagley v Halliwell 3-1; Old Carthusians v Etonian Ramblers 7-0; Old Westminsters bye; Royal Engineers v Reading 8-0; Clapham R v Hanover Utd 7-1; Windsor v United Hospitals 3-1; OLD ETONIANS v Brentwood 2-1; Rochester bye; Swifts v Upton Pk 3-2; Hendon v Chatham 2—1; South Reading bye; Gt Marlow v Reading Minster wo; Notts Co bye; Phoenix Bessemer v Grimsby 8-1; Sheff Wed v Lockwood Bros 6-0; Nott’m Forest v Heeley 7-2; Aston Villa v Wednesbury Old Ath 4-1; Aston Unity v St George’s 3-0; Walsall T v Stafford Road 4-1
Third Round
BLACKBURN OLYMPIC v Darwen Ramblers 8-0; Church v Darwen 2-0; Druids v Bolton Wand 1 -0; Eagley bye; Old Carthusians v Old Westminsters 3-2; Royal Engineers bye; Clapham R v Windsor 3-0; OLD ETONIANS v Rochester 7-0; Swifts bye; Hendon v South Reading 11-1; Gt Marlow bye; Notts Co v Phoenix Bessemer 3-2; Sheff Wed v Nott’m Forest 3-2; Aston Villa v Aston Unity 3-1; Walsall T bye
Fourth Round
BLACKBURN OLYMPIC v Church 2-0; Druids v Eagley 2-1; Old Carthusians v Royal Engineers 6-2; Clapham R bye; OLD ETONIANS v Swifts 2-0; Hendon v Gt Marlow 3-0; Notts Co v Sheff Wed 4-1; Aston Villa History v Walsall T 2-1
Fifth Round
BLACKBURN OLYMPIC v Druids 4-0; Old Carthusians v Clapham R 5-3; OLD ETONIANS v Hendon 4-2; Notts County v Aston Villa 4-3
1883 FA Cup Semi-Finals
BLACKBURN OLYMPIC v Old Carthusians 4-0; OLD ETONIANS v Notts Co 2-1
