HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SCOTTISH FA CUP.

The 2023–24 Scottish Cup (now known as the Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the 139th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The 2023–24 edition marks the 150th anniversary of the tournament which was established in 1873-4. The winners qualify for the 2024-5 Europa League Play Off Round.

Final appearances by club (Clubs in italics are defunct)

Club	Wins	Last final won	Runners-up	Last final lost	Total final appearances
Celtic	41	2023	18	2002	60
Rangers	34	2022	18	2016	53
Queen's Park	10	1893	2	1900	12
Heart of Midlothian	8	2012	9	2022	17
Aberdeen	7	1990	9	2017	16
Hibernian	3	2016	12	2021	15
Kilmarnock	3	1997	5	1960	8
Vale of Leven	3	1879	4	1890	7
St Mirren	3	1987	3	1962	6
Clyde	3	1958	3	1949	6
Dundee United	2	2010	8	2014	10
Motherwell	2	1991	6	2018	8
Third Lanark	2	1905	4	1936	6
Falkirk	2	1957	3	2015	5
Dunfermline Athletic	2	1968	3	2007	5
Renton	2	1888	3	1895	5
St Johnstone	2	2021	—	—	2
Dumbarton	1	1883	5	1897	6
Dundee	1	1910	4	2003	5
Airdrieonians (1878)	1	1924	3	1995	4
East Fife	1	1938	2	1950	3
Greenock Morton	1	1922	1	1948	2
Partick Thistle	1	1921	1	1930	2
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	1	2015	1	2023	2
St Bernard's	1	1895	—	—	1
Hamilton Academical	—	—	2	1935	2
Ross County	—	—	1	2010	1
Queen of the South	—	—	1	2008	1
Gretna	—	—	1	2006	1
Albion Rovers	—	—	1	1920	1
Raith Rovers	—	—	1	1913	1
Cambuslang	—	—	1	1888	1
Thornliebank	—	—	1	1880	1
Clydesdale	—	—	1	1874	1

Celtic (surprisingly) are the defending champions after defeating Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the 2023 Cup Final. Although it is the second oldest competition in association football history, after the English FA Cup (1872), the Scottish Cup trophy is the oldest in association football and is also the oldest national trophy in the world. It was first presented to Queen's Park who won the final match of the inaugural tournament in March 1874. The current holders are Celtic, who won the tournament for the 41st time by defeating Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3–1 in the 2023 Final.

Following an increase in the number of entries, an additional preliminary round was added to the competition format. Replays were also removed entirely from the tournament, having been restricted to just the Preliminary Round in the previous season.

Round	Original date	Number of fixtures	Clubs	New Entries	Leagues entering at this round
Prelim Rd 1	12 August 2023	3	131 → 128	7	7 qualifiers
Prelim Rd 2	2 September 2023	26	128 → 102	48	48 licensed clubs
First Round	23 September 2023	30	102 → 72	34	18 Highland League teams 16 Lowland League teams
Seconnd Round	28 October 2023	20	72 → 52	10	10 League Two teams
Third Round	25 November 2023	20	52 → 32	20	10 Championship teams 10 League One teams
Fourth Round	20 January 2024	16	32 → 16	12	12 Premiership teams
Fifth Round	10 February 2024	8	16 → 8	None
Q-Finals	9 March 2024	4	8 → 4	None
S-Final	20 & 21 April 2024	2	4 → 2	None
FINAL	25 May 2024 3pm	CELTIC v RANGERS at Hampden Pk

ST GEORGE'S DAY-A WELSH CELEBRATION!

It is St George's Day (April 23rd) and it would be good to tell you about the success of an England club but unfortunately in 1927, on this day, the unthinkable! The English FA Cup was taken out of the country for the first time and so far, for the ONLY time, when Cardiff City beat The Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley. Cardiff fielded the youngest ever player to appear in an FA Cup Final; Cardiff's Ernie Curtis, who died in November 1992 at the age of 85, was the last surviving player from the final. He had been the youngest player in the match, aged 19 years and 317 days.

and their keeper, Tom Farquarson, was rumoured to be a member of the IRA, who always carried a gun with him....in the goal? 

Oh and by the way, whilst Herbert Chapman's Arsenal were star studded, the Cardiff squad went for a round of golf at Royal Birkdale. Round the course, a small black cat, called Trixie, followed the lads from hole to hole and so the players regarded it as a good luck omen....Team captain, Hughie Ferguson, persauded the cat owner to let the team take it to the game and the owner could not refuse because he was given a Cup Final ticket!

The Final was a dull affair but in the 74th minute Ferguson shot to the bottom right of the Arsenal goal , Arsenal's Welsh goalie dived, appeared to gather the ball, but it slithered out of this grasp and he knoCked the ball into the goal with his elbow! It was/is the first time the FA Cup has not been won by a club from England! Who knows what happened to Trixie?

Meanwhile, Cardiff were unable to add to their solitary FA Cup win in the 2008 FA Cup Final, but their opponents on the day, Portsmouth, also had something to celebrate on this day in 1949, when they won their first ever League Title, beating Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park, capping their Golden Jubilee in style.

RON BAYNHAM

Ron Baynham, died recently aged 94; he was England's longest surviving international footballer, a goalkeeper who excelled at his trade. He played for Luton Town in the 1959 FA Cup Final, one of the first finals I can say I watched on TV!

Ronald Leslie Baynham was born in Birmingham and his first love of sport was cricket. When experiencing the National Service, he discovered football, stationed in Germany with the 10th Royal Tank Regiment. He played sport whilst enlisted and was "clocked" by a Wolverhampton Wanderers scout but turned down the offer of a trial, so stayed with Bamford Amateurs and went on to join Worcester City in the Southern League. In November 1921 he moved on to Luton in the Second Division for a £1000, which helped Worcester City's bank account!

In 1955, Luton were in the "top" league and he played for England in victories over Denmark (5-1) in Copenhagen, Northern Ireland (3-0) and a 4-1 in over Spain at Wembley. There was competition for the keeper's spot and it was Reg Matthews from Third Division Coventry City who took his place before the emergence of  Ron Springett and then Gordon Banks!

The 1959 FA Cup Final against Nottingham Forest should have been a highlight but the Hatters did not perform and they lost 2-1. The Luton players were a "mature" bunch with Syd Owen, their experienced leader.  Baynham fractured his skull in September 1960 playing at home against Sheffield United and was fit again five months later but Luton had signed Jim Standen from Arsenal and they shared keeping for two years. In 1962 Standen moved to West Ham, Baynham played on and tretired in 1964. He played 434 games for Luton and he retired to take on a painter and decorator's job at Luton Airport.

Retiring to Silsoe, neat Luton he played local cricket and was voted Luton's best ever goalkeeper. His England caps were sold at auction to the Hatters' Heritage Charity and displayed at the club museum.

22-4-1959

On April 22nd 1959 Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vic Rouse became the first player from the Fourth Division to win a full international cap. He played for Wales against Northern Ireland in Belfast. Northern Ireland won 4-1 - it was the only cap he won! On the same date in 1964......

I was going to start this with do you remember Eric Morecambe's mimicking the announcer of the classified results - then I thought perhaps not many of you would even remember Eric Morecambe! Anyway Eric, of Morecambe & Wise comedy fame, made us all laugh when giving the result -

"East Fife   (downward inflection)   4 - Forfar   (upward lilt) 5"

Well it made us laugh at the time! But that result has never been read in reality but on 22nd April 1964 it came close with Forfar 5 East Fife 4. No, not quite the same.

and on the 22nd April 1998...
Brother substituted brother for the first time for England when Phil Neville replaced his brother Gary in the second half of England’s 3-0 victory over Portugal at Wembley.

 England

Manager: Glenn Hoddle

Goals: Shearer 5th minute: Sheringham 46th: Shearer 66th

TEAM:

David Seaman

Tony Adams

Sol Campbell

Graeme Le Saux

Gary Neville

David Batty

David Beckham

Paul Scholes

Alan Shearer

Teddy Sheringham

Neville Phil

Substitutions:

Paul Merson for David Beckham	46
Michael Owen for Teddy Sheringham	77
Phil Neville for Gary Neville	81

 

21/04/06 BLOG!

The Liverpool Football Echo, on April 21st 1906, reported that the English Cup Final had been held at The Crystal Palace, with an immense crowd of 75,609, packing the stadium to witness Everton beat Newcastle United, 1-0, when, at last, the cup went to the city of Liverpool.

The report was sent by "Spire Wire" and the growing popularity of football was finally recognised, with no radio "Sports' Report" available at the time, only newspaper reports.

It might have been a wait until Sunday morning or even Monday, when the "Athletic News" appeared to report the Saturday results. Liverpool was the first city to launch the "Football Echo" as early as 1901. The city's two clubs, Liverpool and Everton, had both won the League Championship (First and top division in those days) with 40,000 or more watching the two Merseyside clubs.

The inside pages of news of the paper were printed already and when the results came out, they were included in the outside pages, at the last minute. Scores were telegraphed to the Echo's office and the race began to get the paper onto the street corners as quickly as possible.

In 1906, Liverpool became the first city to produce both the FA Cup winner and First Division League title holder in the same season. Liverpool won the League title from Preston and Everton, having beaten Liverpool at Aston Villa  in the semi-final of the Cup, went onto win the FA Cup.

Everton's victory over Newcastle in the final served as a perfect example of how reports were wired back to the "office". The type set for the match was done in preparation and the report of the game written minute by minute to hasten the publication. Messengers wired the minute report to the "Echo's Office" and compositors would begin the typeset the one setence text on to the page so that once the final whistle was blown, printing could begin.

Details of the match would often get lost deep in the text, for example, the winning goal scored by Sandy Young, did not occur until near the end of the report at 4.55pm:
IT READ...."At last a goal, Sandy Young the hero. Fireworks and minature (sic) earthquakes in galore-shades of San Francisco (actually this disaster happened the week before).  Not the greatest way of a minute by minute sporting event but at the time it served the purpose of getting the news and all the results on to the streets as quickly as possible.

Two of Lancashire's most celebrated  sportsmen helped Everton win the FA Cup for the first time. They were Jack Sharp and Harry Makepeace (see below). They had both played full international games for England at football and cricket. (apparently there have only been 12 players to achieve this accolade). Also for amusement, spot the "Peaky Blinder"!

Sharp was a right winger and Makepeace a half back. Between them, playing cricket for Lancashire CCC, they had scored nearly 80 hundreds!
Makepeace had won an FA Cup winner's medal, a League Championhsip medal (1915), a cricket Championship medal (actually four!) and played for England at both football and cricket.
Sharp provided the cross that Young scored the winning goal, fifteen minutes from the end.

The Magpies lost the final at Crystal Palace for the second year running, having been beaten by Aston Villa 2-0 in 1905; 101,117 watched this earlier disappointment..

FOULKE, FRY AND KIRKHAM

April 19th 1902. The FA Cup Final played between Sheffield United and Southampton, featured two clubs who had lost in previous finals. In 1900, Southampton had been the first non-league club to reach the FA Cup Final, since the inception of the Football League in 1888. The Saints were easily beaten by Bury 4-0.

A year later, 1903, Sheffield United were embarrassed by Tottenham Hotspur who had become the first non-league club to be victorious, winning 3-1 after a replay, which had been necessary following an awful Refereeing decision when Spurs, 2-1 up, hacked a United shot out of play. The referee gave a goal kick, the linesman a corner. The ref changed his mind and gave United a goal! 

In 1902, it was United's turn to suffer from a controversy, when with 3 minutes to go to full time, United were 1-0 up over Southampton. The "Saints", C.B.Fry. the well known "gentleman" of football, and an England cricket test player, saw the ball land at the feet of his captain Harry Wood. There was a huge hint of offside, which the referee Tom Kirkham did not see and he waved play on.  Wood raced on, clear of the United defence and "drew" opposition goalkeeper, the famous William "Fatty" Foulke off his line. He slipped the ball under Foulke's massive frame and a replay was required.

After the game, an incensed and Foulke was seen naked, chasing the hapless ref, with a view to discussion the decision! Kirkham was no stranger to controversy as he had officiated a game of three halves between Sunderland and Derby!!!!! having turned up late.... with the first 45 minutes already played! United won the replay 2-1.

He also owned a beer house in Sheffield along with a shop in Matilda Street and was known to walk around his home town wearing his FA Cup winner's medal around his neck on a homemade chain.

Foulke appears in the Mitchell and Kenyon films, playing in a "match" on 6 September 1902. The chant "Who ate all the pies?" was first sung in 1894 by Sheffield United supporters, and directed at Foulke's 300 lb (about 136 kg).

Foulke died on 1 May 1916 aged 42 in Sheffield. He was buried in Burngreave cemetery, Sheffield, England. His death certificate gives "cirrhosis" as the major cause of death.

Youth career
	Blackwell Miners Welfare
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1894–1905	Sheffield United	299	(0)
1905–1907	Chelsea	34	(0)
1907–1908	Bradford City	22	(0)
Total		355	(0)
International career
1897	England	1	(0)

Below Bradford City 1906-7...note Foulke!

FUTEBOL

Soccer, futebol in Portuguese, is a true religion. It has a long history and soccer has become the most popular sport in the country. Soccer is watched, lived and shouted all year long. Some of  the best players in the world and the most famous clubs, follow the heart of the culture and history of Portuguese soccer.

Whether you are in a bar or restaurant in Braga, Porto, Lisbon or Faro, you will always find a TV on with a soccer match on.

If you are lucky enough to be in Portugal during the World Cup, the European Championship, the UEFA Nations League or the Portuguese Cup, then you will see the country in a different light. Lisbon below following the latest celebration.

Portuguese fans are always there to support their team. During an important match, the bars are transformed into real party places: beer flows freely, boards of cold cuts and croquetas abound on the tables and televisions are even installed on the terrace.

If the local or national team is the winner, the celebration will be joyfully noisy! Indeed, the Portuguese have a penchant for honking horns, setting off fireworks and shouting when it comes to soccer. The passion for soccer is passed on from generation to generation. Each family supports its local team (Porto, Benfica and Sporting are the most supported), but all Portuguese revere the national team.

From afar, Lisbon is the capital of Portuguese soccer and is a source of excitement for all fans. The magic of soccer operates in the city thanks to the two mythical clubs, main actors of the national soccer: "Sporting Clube de Portugal" (in green) and "Sport Lisboa e Benfica" (in red), both located in Lisbon. 

Sporting Clube de Portugal

The Derby Eterno or Lisbon Derby is the biggest soccer match in the country and divides the Portuguese viscerally. So, before talking to the Portuguese about soccer, make sure you know which team they support!

Sport Lisboa e Benfica

The birth of soccer in Portugal

The history of soccer in Portugal begins in the 19th century. The wealthy Portuguese sent their children to study in England. They came back with local habits including soccer.

The very first game in Portugal took place in 1875, in Madeira. It was organized by Harry Hinton, a student in England who had brought a football back from his studies, to his native country.

The Portuguese Football Federation was founded in 1914 (União Portuguesa de Futebol). Its purpose was to organize national competitions and to set up a national team.

It was not until the 1960s that Portugal was discovered on the international soccer scene and a real national fervor was established.

The 60's, the 3F time...

In 1961, Benfica Lisbon, composed only of national players from all over the Portuguese empire, won the Champion Clubs Cup by beating the international stars of Barcelona.

In 1962, it was Real Madrid's turn to fail (3-5) and to see the Benfica club crowned, which then became mythical, winning 2 successive Champion Clubs Cups.                                         Below, The Benfica team, European champion in 1961

 In 1963-64, the "other club" of Lisbon, Sporting, took over and won the Cup against Budapest.

The team of Sporting Lisbon, winner of the Cup of Cups in 1964

In 1966, the Portuguese national team had its first success at the World Cup, where it eliminated Brazil, the two-time defending champion, and was only eliminated in the semi-finals by the host country and future winner, England. The team's players included Eusébio, winner of the 1965 Golden Ball and top scorer of the tournament, considered one of the best footballers in history. 

The Portuguese national team at the 1966 World Cup: Eusebio centre front

The Estado Novo regime decided to use soccer as a means of establishing its popularity. The Salazarist government launched a propaganda campaign and placed soccer within the trinity of the three Fs: Fátima (a Catholic Pilgrim), Fado (a music genre from the 1820s) and Futebol (football!!), symbols of Portuguese values.

In the 21st century, Portuguese culture is still very much marked by these three Fs: Portugal is one of the most Catholic countries in Europe, soccer is by far the most popular sport and traditional Portuguese music remains very much part of the culture.