1892 FA Cup Final Score: West Bromwich Albion 3 Aston Villa 0
Venue: Kennington Oval
Date: Saturday 19th March 1892
Scorers: West Bromwich Albion – Geddes, Nicholls, Reynolds
West Bromwich Albion Team: Joe Reader; Mark Nicholson, Thomas M’Culloch, Jack Reynolds, Charlie Perry, Willie Groves, Billy Bassett, Roddy McLeod, Sammy Nicholls, Tom Pearson, Alfred Geddes
Aston Villa Team: Jimmy Warner; Walter Evans, Gershom Cox, Harry Devey, James Cowan, John Baird, Charlie Athersmith, John Devey, Billy Dickson, Lewis Campbell, Dennis Hodgetts
Referee: Charles Clegg
Attendance: 32,810
1892 FA Cup Final Match Report
The 1892 FA Cup Final was the last to be played at Kennington Oval, and the first goal-nets were used. Five years earlier, the two Midland rivals, Albion and Villa, staged the first Final with a provincial ‘local derby’ atmosphere, and they were together again.
West Bromwich Albion’s form throughout the season had been inconsistent. So when Aston Villa, the semi-final conquerors of the great Sunderland team of ‘all the talents’, began the match in such good attacking form, it looked odds-on that Villa would win the FA Cup for the second time.
But there was a surprise in store for them. A sudden break and Billy Bassett sprinted down the right wing to center perfectly for Geddes to shoot home. West Bromwich Albion, improbably, was in the lead.
Subtly, the Albion half-backs, Groves, Perry, and Reynolds, had been taking a grip on affairs in midfield. Before half-time, another brilliant run by Bassett and another perfect center gave Nicholls the chance to send Albion in with a comfortable 2-0 lead at the interval.
The match was virtually over. However, Villa’s forwards continued to be frustrated in the second half, and Reynolds completed the rout near the end with a third Albion goal from a long shot.
1892 FA Cup Round By Round
First Round
Old Westminsters v WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2-3; Blackburn Rovers v Derby County 4-1; Sheff Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers 4-1; Small Heath v Royal Arsenal 5-1; Sunderland Albion v Birmingham St George’s 4-0; Nottingham Forest v Newcastle East End 2-1; Luton Town v Middlesbrough 0-3; Preston North End v Middlesbro Ir 6-0; Crewe Alexander v Wolves 2-2, 1 -4; Blackpool v Sheffield Utd 0-3; ASTON VILLA v Heanor T 4-1; Bootle v Darwen 0-3; Belfast v Accrington Stanley 1-4; Sunderland v Notts County 4-0; Everton v Burnley 1 -3; Stoke v Casuals 3-0
Second Round
WEST BROMWICH ALBION v Blackburn R 3-1; Sheff Wed v Small Heath 2-0; Sunderland Alb v Nott’m Forest 0-1; Middlesbro v PNE 1 -2; Wolves v Sheff Utd 3-1; ASTON VILLA v Darwen 2-0; Accrington S v Sunderland 1-3; Burnley v Stoke 1-3
Third Round
WEST BROMWICH ALBION v Sheff Wed 2-1; Nott’m Forest v PNE 2-1; Wolves v ASTON VILLA 1-3; Sunderland v Stoke 2-2, 4-0
1892 FA Cup Semi-Final
WEST BROMWICH ALBION v Nottingham Forest 1-1, 1-1, 6-2; ASTON VILLA v Sunderland 4-1
