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 What's of interest to me in this list is "First club to stage an FA Cup final". The FA cup is a separate competition to the league, although both are organised by the Football Association. The Cup is a knockout competition which open to all clubs in the top ten divisions of the league, although clubs in the third and fourth divisions skip the first six rounds and clubs in the top two divisions skip the first eight rounds. The Cup competition started in the 1871-1872 season, seven years before the League. Because it's a knockout competition, the has to be a winner at each stage. If a match ends in a draw then it is replayed a week or so later, often at a different location. Sometimes several replays are needed. The final has had to be replayed twelve times prior to the year 2000, when the rules were changed so that if the score in the final was a draw after extra time, the result would be decided immediately by a penalty shoot-out. The normal final has usually, but not always, been played in London. Replays have tended to be in other places. The 1894 final, between Notts County and Bolton Wanderers, was played here and was the first time a normal final had been played at a club's ground. I take issue with this banner a bit though because the 1886 replay was held at Derby County's ground. In total, including replays, FA Cup finals have been held in twelve locations. That's the final category of sites that I intend to visit on this trip. UTC Time: 10:46, Tuesday 11 August 2015 Local Time: 11:46, Tuesday 11 August 2015 Estimate of longitude: 2° 58' 3.50" W = -2.967640° Estimate of latitude: 53° 26' 14.14" N = 53.437260° Possible error on position estimate: 1000 metres | |