1889–90 FA Cup

1889–90 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England; Wales; Ireland
Defending champions	Preston North End
Final positions
Champions	Blackburn Rovers (4th title)
Runner-up	The Wednesday
	← 1888–89 1890–91 →

The 1889–90 FA Cup was the 19th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Blackburn Rovers won the competition for the fourth time, beating The Wednesday 6–1 in the final at Kennington Oval. The match total of seven goals remains the record (equalled in the 1953 final) for the highest number of goals scored in an FA Cup final. Blackburn's own score of six goals remains the record (equalled by Bury in 1903 and by Manchester City in 2019) for the most by one team in an FA Cup final.

Qualifying rounds

This season's competition saw all Football League clubs granted exemption through to the first round proper. The 10 non-League clubs progressing from the qualifying rounds were Chester, South Shore, Sheffield United, Derby Midland, Lincoln City, Distillery, Newcastle West End, Small Heath, Swifts and Clapton. South Shore and Small Heath had come through the qualifying rounds of the previous season's competition but, of the others, only Sheffield United was featuring at this stage for the first time. Newcastle West End was appearing in the first round for the last time before folding and being absorbed into Newcastle United in 1892.

Distillery's heavy loss to Bolton Wanderers at Pike's Lane also marked the final appearance by an Irish team in the FA Cup.

In order to bring the number of teams up to 32, a further 10 non-League clubs were given byes to the first round. These were Newton Heath, Old Westminsters, Sunderland, The Wednesday, Sunderland Albion, Bootle, Old Carthusians, Nottingham Forest, Grimsby Town and Birmingham St George's.

For information on all matches played from the first round qualifying to the fourth round qualifying, see 1889–90 FA Cup qualifying rounds.

First round proper

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
Preston North End	6–1	Newton Heath	18 January 1890
Stoke	3–0	Old Westminsters	18 January 1890
Blackburn Rovers	4–2	Sunderland	18 January 1890
The Wednesday	6–1	Swifts	18 January 1890
Bootle	1–3 Sunderland Albion disqualified	Sunderland Albion	18 January 1890
Bolton Wanderers	10–2	Distillery	18 January 1890
Accrington	3–1 Match void	West Bromwich Albion	18 January 1890
South Shore	2–4	Aston Villa	18 January 1890
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–0	Old Carthusians	18 January 1890
Derby Midland	3–0	Nottingham Forest	18 January 1890
Lincoln City	2–0	Chester	18 January 1890
Everton	11–2	Derby County	18 January 1890
Newcastle West End	1–2	Grimsby Town	18 January 1890
Birmingham St George's	4–4	Notts County	18 January 1890
Small Heath	3–1	Clapton	18 January 1890
Sheffield United	2–1	Burnley	18 January 1890

Replays

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
Accrington	3–0	West Bromwich Albion	25 January 1890
Notts County	6–2	Birmingham St George's	25 January 1890

Second round proper

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
Preston North End	4–0	Lincoln City	1 February 1890
Stoke	4–2	Everton	1 February 1890
Notts County	4–1	Aston Villa	1 February 1890
Blackburn Rovers	3–0	Grimsby Town	1 February 1890
The Wednesday	2–1	Accrington	1 February 1890
Bootle	2–1	Derby Midland	1 February 1890
Bolton Wanderers	13–0	Sheffield United	1 February 1890
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Small Heath	1 February 1890

Third round proper

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
Preston North End	2–3	Bolton Wanderers	15 February 1890
The Wednesday	5–0 Match void	Notts County	15 February 1890
Bootle	0–7	Blackburn Rovers	15 February 1890
Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–0 Match void	Stoke	15 February 1890

Replays

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
The Wednesday	2–3 Match void	Notts County	22 February 1890
The Wednesday	2–1	Notts County	3 March 1890
Wolverhampton Wanderers	8–0	Stoke	22 February 1890

Semi-finals

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
Blackburn Rovers	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	8 March 1890
The Wednesday	2–1	Bolton Wanderers	8 March 1890

Final

Home club	Score	Away club	Date
Blackburn Rovers	6–1	The Wednesday	29 March 1890

References

FA Cup Results Archive

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 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 1939–40 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 1999–2000 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 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 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 1999–2000 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 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

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