1915 FA Cup Final

The 1915 FA Cup Final took place on 24 April 1915 and was contested by Sheffield United and Chelsea. It was the last FA Cup final to be staged before competitive football was abandoned in Britain because of the First World War. The match was moved from its pre-war location of Crystal Palace in south London to Old Trafford in Manchester to avoid disruption to travel in and around London.

The match is one of the few FA Cup Finals that has acquired a name; the Khaki Cup Final, owing to the large number of uniformed soldiers in attendance. However, the attendance of about 50,000 was lower than previous years as a result of wartime travel restriction and the mobilisation of large numbers of young men into the armed forces.

Road to the Final

Chelsea had the easiest start in the FA Cup competition, their first round match was with Swindon Town, a Southern Football League team, but they made heavy work of it requiring a replay to defeat them and conceding 3 goals during the two matches. Their Cup performance improved considerably, and after defeating Arsenal (then a Second Division side ) in the second round, they defeated several First Division sides who finished above them in the league table, including Everton who later went on to win the league that season.

Sheffield defeated Blackpool, a second division side, in the first round and then made steady progress until round 4 where they met Oldham Athletic, who finished above them in the First Division that season, and they required a replay to finally defeat them. Sheffield met Bolton Wanderers in the semi-final and Utley, the Sheffield Captain, scored a rare goal. [cite book|last=Unknown|first=|title=Cup Final Programme|date=1915]

Aftermath

In the July after this match the football league put all players on amateur status and clubs were only allowed to pay expenses. Attendances at matches collapsed and as fuel for transport became scarce the national league was abandoned and football teams played in regional leagues with whatever players they could find. [cite book | author=Glanvill, Rick | title=Chelsea FC: The Official Biography - The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years| publisher=Headline Book Publishing Ltd| year=2006| id=ISBN 0-7553-1466-2 | pages=p. 182] Chelsea often played with players from other sides who passed through London whilst on active service, including Stanley Fazackerley. [cite book | author=Glanvill, Rick | title=Chelsea FC: The Official Biography - The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years| publisher=Headline Book Publishing Ltd| year=2006| id=ISBN 0-7553-1466-2 | pages=p. 182]

Sheffield held the FA Cup until it was contested again in 1920. They reached the final and won the cup again in 1925.

Chelsea did not reach the final again until 1967 and finally won it in 1970.

References

External links

* [http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1915.html Match report at www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk]
* [http://www.sportingchronicle.com/FACUP/1915.html FA Cup Final lineups]