1890 FA Cup Final Score: Blackburn Rovers 6 Sheffield Wednesday 1
Venue: Kennington Oval, London
Date: Saturday 29th March 1890
Blackburn Rovers Scorers: Nat Walton, John Southworth, Jo Lofthouse, William Townley 3. Sheffield Wednesday Scorer: Albert Mumford
Blackburn Rovers Team: Johnny Horne, James Southworth, John Forbes, John Barton, Geordie Dewar, Jimmy Forrest, Jo Lofthouse, Harry Campbell, John Southworth, Nat Walton, William Townley
Sheffield Wednesday Team: Jim Smith, Teddy Brayshaw, Haydn Money, Jack Dungworth, Billy Betts, George Waller, Billy Ingram, Harry Woodhouse, Michael Bennett, Albert Mumford, Tom Cawley
Referee: Major Francis Marindin
Attendance: 20,000
1890 FA Cup Final Match Report
The 1890 FA Cup Final produced a first-ever ‘Battle of the Roses’. Yorkshire was represented by Sheffield Wednesday, making their first appearance at the Kennington Oval, and Lancashire by Blackburn Rovers, winners of three successive FA Cup Finals there in the middle eighties.
Blackburn Rovers included only three survivors from their Football Association Challenge Cup winning sides – Jimmy Forrest, Jo Lofthouse, and Nat Walton. The Rovers now had nine international players now in their ranks. They were considered to be even more powerful than before in the world’s oldest knockout competition.
Sheffield Wednesday’s players were all English, in fact, all local products from Yorkshire. They boarded a train to London hoping to emulate the purely local West Bromwich Albion when they defeated Preston North End when no one gave them a chance of winning.
For poor Sheffield Wednesday, however, the 1899 FA Cup Final was nothing less than traumatic. Instead of being inspired by the occasion, they found it too much and were extremely nervous from the start of the final. Blackburn Rovers Rovers romped away with the FA Cup and notched six goals. No team in the FA Cup Finals history had surpassed six goals. Since then, Bury (1903) and Manchester City (2019) have matched them.
The Blackburn Rover’s forwards were in great form, outside-left William Townley scoring three times to set another record that has never been beaten in a FA Cup Final. Despite him scoring the first hat-trick in the history of the FA Cup final, Towney has been defined as a pioneer of the game in Germany, having led Karlsruher FV and SpVgg Fürth to three German championships as a coach.
Nat Walton, John Southworth, and Jo Lofthouse got the other Blackburn Rovers goals and Albert Mumford was on target for Sheffield Wednesday. For the fourth time, the Lancashire club had won the trophy.
Major Francis Marindin officiated his final FA Cup. He refereed seven consecutive finals and eight in total.
1890 FA Cup Qualifying Rounds
First Round
Preston North End v Newton Heath 6-1; Lincoln City v Chester 2-0; Bolton Wanderers v Belfast Distillery 10-1; Sheffield United v Burnley 2-1; SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY v Swifts 6-1; Accrington S v West Bromwich Albion 3-1; Notts County v Birmingham St George’s 4-4, 6-2; South Shore v Aston Villa 2-4; Bootle v Sunderland Albion 1-0; Derby Midland v Nottingham Forest 3-0; BLACKBURN ROVERS v Sunderland 4-2; Newcastle West End v Grimsby Town 1 -2; Wolverhampton Wanderers v Old Carthusians 2-0; Small Heath v Clapton 3-1; Stoke v Old Westminsters 3-0; Everton v Derby County 11 -2
Second Round
PNE v Lincoln C 4-0; Bolton Wanderers v Sheffield United 13-0; SHEFF WED v Accrington S 2-1; Notts County v Aston Villa 4-1; Bootle v Derby Midland 2-1; BLACKBURN R v Grimsby T 3-0; Wolverhampton Wanderers v Small Heath 2-1; Stoke v Everton 4-2
Third Round
PNE v Bolton Wanderers 2-3; SHEFF WED v Notts County 2-1; Bootle v BLACKBURN R 0-7; Wolverhampton Wanderers v Stoke 3-2
1890 FA Cup Semi Finals
Bolton Wanderers v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1-2; BLACKBURN ROVERS v Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0
