When the Sappers won the FA Cup
Royal Engineers (2) v Old Etonians (0)
Kennington Oval, London
16 March 1875

It is reasonably safe to say that the annual competition for the FA. Cup attracts more public attention in the U.K. than any other sporting activity. The interest and enthusiasm of football fans is awakened by the results of the preliminary rounds and reaches a climax on the occasion of the Final at Wembley Stadium each year when one team eventually wins the Cup. In spite of the public interest taken in the competition and in soccer generally, how many of our football fans really know when and how the FA game started, and how much the style of play and the rules of the game have changed over the years?

Most regular serving and retired Sappers know that a Royal Engineers team won the Cup in the 1870's during the early days of the competition, but how many know the names of the players, whom they played, and any details of the Final which placed the name of the Corps on the record list of winners?

Without apology The Sapper proffers the following information, which consists mostly of prepared extracts from the article 'R.E. Football in the Early Seventies' written by the late Major-General Sir Richard M. Ruck, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G. (a member of the winning team), and published in the December Journal of 1928.

The years between 1860-1880 were remarkable for a notable increase in the popularity of games, athleticism was in the ascendant and muscular exertion regarded as a necessity.

Football, as played in the `sixties' at the public schools, had almost as many codes of rules as there were schools; and Rugby was specially distinguished by the prominent use of the hands as well as the feet. This variety made it practically impossible for many of the schools to play against each other and hindered the formation of old boys' clubs.

In 1863 some of the old boys (to name a few, Alcock of the Old Westminsters; Kinnaird, Old Etonian; and Betts, Old Harrovian) founded The Football Association (FA), to include all football clubs excepting those playing the Rugby or carrying game, and not long afterwards a code of rules was evolved which was somewhat similar to that of Westminster School.

The Royal Engineers joined the Association in 1869, and the celebrated competition for the Challenge Cup was instituted in the years 1871-2.

A notable difference between football of that period and the present day football was that in the `seventies' all players were amateurs. As regards the kind of game played at this period, the team formation was generally a goalkeeper, one back, two half-backs, two players on each wing and three centres. The latter were usually selected for their weight, strength and charging powers in addition to their talent as dribblers, the game being a bit strenuous, and many goals were got by the combined forwards hustling the rival goalkeeper through his own goal all ends up, so to speak.

Determined charging and hacking were accepted features of play and the Royal Engineers team held its own well in this phase of the game, more particularly as a considerable proportion were old rugby players. An amusing instance of what was called `fair hacking' is recorded in the account of a match in 1873 when the R.E. team were a little peeved with the unpunctuality of their opponents and the condition of the ground; it runs as follows:

"Our fellows being by this time fairly well disgusted, began to peg into them pretty sharp and "little George" [later MajorGeneral Sir George Barker] very soon sent a man to grass with a very sweet though fair hack, which was heard all over the ground; the individual subsequently finishing up in goal standing on one leg like a stork for the rest of the game."

Although the game was rough it was all taken in good part and the really serious injuries were no more frequent than at present. The grounds, as well as the play, were sometimes rough in the early 'seventies', and allusion is made in the old records to `hayfields' and the inconvenience of moving a large tree in the centre of the field of play. On one occasion the R.E. team was asked to assist in driving off the sheep and removing their 'leavings' before starting the game!

It is interesting to note that the task of the linesmen and referee was described as a sinecure. This was no doubt due to the good feeling among the players who, for instance, acknowledged 'Hands' against them without waiting for the referee's whistle.

The season of 1874-5 was memorable in consequence of the R.E. at length reaching the summit of their ambition by winning the Cup (having previously been beaten in the Final by the Wanderers 2-0 in 1874). Unfortunately Major FA Marindin, who was captain for so many years, and in the words of the old records "to whom was due in the main our success in former seasons", left Chatham before the season commenced. His compensation came later when he was appointed Chairman of The Football Association and served in that capacity for many years, when he was Sir F. A. Marindin, KCMG.

The record of the RE team in the 1874-5 season was a proud one:

In the early rounds of the competition the team defeated:

• Wanderers
• Gitanos
• Cambridge University
• Clapham Rovers
• Sheffield

and the struggle for the Cup was eventually a double contest against Oxford University in the semi-final and the Old Etonians in the Final, four games being played as two of them were drawn.

The names of the players, who played in the Final, together with their place in the field of play were as follows:

These matches were not reported at length in the old records, but the University was the most formidable competitor and the R.E. team only just managed to beat them in the semi-final. The first match of the Final against the Old Etonians was spoilt by a very high wind and it finished as a 1-1 draw after two hours' play. When the match was replayed the R.E. team did much better and won by 2 goals to nil and thus won the Cup. The scorers were the two centre forwards: Renny-Tailyour and Stafford.

It is related that when the news of the Cup victory reached Chatham, the Commandant, General Gallwey, who was on the parade ground at the time, regardless of the rather stringent rules and regulations of those days, tossed his cap high into the air in his enthusiasm. The subsequent behaviour of the men on parade can easily be imagined.

Sapper FA Cup Finalists 1872-78