1888 FA Cup Final

Event

West Bromwich Albion	Preston North End

2	1

Date

24 March 1888

Venue

Kennington Oval, London

Referee

Francis Marindin

Attendance

19,000

The 1888 FA Cup Final was contested by West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End at the Kennington Oval. Preston were strong favourites for the Cup, having set a record which still stands today by beating Hyde 26–0 in the first round, and were so confident of overcoming West Bromwich Albion in the final that they asked to be photographed with the trophy before the game. The FA president Major Francis Marindin turned them down and said: "Hadn't you better win it first?" They didn't get their photo after the game either. So lacking in confidence were their West Bromwich opponents that when offered bets on the outcome of the game by the Preston players, they all refused, no matter how great the odds.^[1] West Brom won 2–1, with their goals scored by George Woodhall and Jem Bayliss. Fred Dewhurst scored Preston's effort.

John Goodall recalled many years later how, at the final whistle, he stood motionless in the centre circle for many minutes unable to comprehend the result.^[2] The refereeing of the game by Major Francis Marindin was also questioned privately by many observers who felt that he had potentially shown bias towards Albion's all English eleven. At one point during the game he stopped play just as Preston were about to score to award a free kick to Albion despite no Albion player having made an appeal, as was required by the rules of the game at that time. Cambridge University captain Tinsley Lindley later commented to defeated Preston player Jack Ross "Well Jack, you cannot expect to win when playing against eleven men and the devil." ^[3] The Preston players however cited their own pre match routine for their defeat. Bob Holmes recalled "We got starved to death on the Thames bank {While watching the Oxford vs Cambridge boat race} and could not get warm again. The invincibles entered the Kennington Oval field that day in a pitiful state. We were daft." ^[4] At this time the boat race was considered a greater sporting event than the cup final.

By contrast, Albion captain, Billy Bassett stated "Jack Ross lost his cool that day. that was the key. I managed to keep my cool and the cooler I kept, the rasher Ross got." Bassett also recalled that it was Ross' rashness that cost his side the winning goal as he charged at Bassett and ended up somersaulting clean over him. As he picked himself up he watched as Bassett was able to set up the clinching goal. Bassett however was complimentary of his opponents when, years later he stated "I have seen all the best sides in Football but I have never seen a side that compared to Preston North End at their best. We beat them but I do not pretend for a moment that we deserved to beat them."^[5]

Match details

24 March 1888
15:00 BST

West Bromwich Albion	2–1	Preston North End
George Woodhall Jem Bayliss		Fred Dewhurst

Kennington Oval, London
Attendance: 19,000
Referee: Francis Marindin


West Bromwich Albion:
	1	Bob Roberts
	2	Albert Aldridge
	3	Harry Green
	4	Ezra Horton
	5	Charlie Perry
	6	George Timmins
	7	George Woodhall
	8	Billy Bassett
	9	Jem Bayliss (c)
	10	Joe Wilson
	11	Tom Pearson
Manager:


Preston North End:
	1	RH Mills-Roberts
	2	Bob Howarth
	3	Nick Ross
	4	Bob Holmes
	5	David Russell
	6	Johnny Graham
	7	Jack Gordon
	8	Jimmy Ross
	9	John Goodall
	10	Fred Dewhurst
	11	George Drummond
Manager:

MATCH RULES

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Replay if scores still level.

Legacy

A copy of the game's programme was auctioned in 2015.

In 2015 what was believed to be one of a small number of surviving copies of the programme from the Final, which originally sold for a penny, was put up for auction. The programme had at one time been owned by West Bromwich Albion director Harold Ely.^[6] At auction it achieved a sale price of £20,000.^[7]

References

↑ Beastly Fury: The strange birth of British Football: Richard Sanders: page 137
↑ Beastly Fury: The strange birth of British Football: Richard Sanders: page 137
↑ Beastly Fury: The strange birth of British Football: Richard Sanders: page 138
↑ Beastly Fury: The strange birth of British Football: Richard Sanders: page 138
↑ Beastly Fury: The strange birth of British Football: Richard Sanders: page 139
↑ "West Brom programme worth £20k". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 2 May 2015. p. 17.
↑ "1p Albion cup programme sells for £20k". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 22 May 2015. p. 13.

FA Cup

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Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

History Trophy List of finals FA Cup Third-fourth place matches Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Non-league clubs in the 5th Round

West Bromwich Albion F.C. matches

FA Cup Finals	1886 1887 1888 1892 1895 1912 1931 1935 1954 1968

League Cup Finals	1966 1967 1970

FA Charity Shields	1920 1931 1954 1968

Football League play-off Finals	1993 Second Division 2007 Championship

Other matches	1888 World Championship Battle of Bramall Lane (2002)

Preston North End F.C. matches

FA Cup Finals	1888 1889 1922 1937 1938 1954 1964

Football League War Cup Finals	1941

FA Community Shields	1938

Football League play-offs	1994 Third Division 2001 First Division 2005 Championship 2015 League One

Other matches	1887 World Championship

1887–88 in English football

« 1886–87 1888–89 »

FA competitions	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds Final)

Related to national team	Home Championship

Club seasons	Newton Heath LYR (Manchester United) St. Mary's Y.M.A. (Southampton) Stoke West Bromwich Albion

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