The FA Cup, or Football Association Challenge Cup to give it its correct title, is the oldest football competition in the world. It was started in 1871, when it was proposed that “a Challenge Cup ought to be established in connection with the Association”.

Merely eight teams were entered for the first round which was played on the 11 November 1871. The final was played at the Oval on 16 March, 1872 and was won by The Wanderers who defeated The Royal Engineers by the only goal of the match.

Not only is the FA Cup the oldest association football competition in the world but it is also one of the largest. It is open to teams who play in most levels of the English football league system and during the 2009 – 2010 season, 762 teams entered the competition.

Because it is the one competition that mixes teams of all degrees of playing ability, it does allow for the occasional ?upset? when a ?minnow? from a lower league defeats one of the more fancied upper echelon sides.

Whilst at least one such giant killing act will occur in any given season, no non-league club has ever won the tournament since Tottenham Hotspur won the trophy in 1901 while playing in the old Southern League.

For some reason, certain clubs seem to gain a reputation as giant killers and Yeovil Town holds the current record for most wins against teams playing in the league. There are a number of sporting records associated with the FA Cup, some of them standing for a substantial period of time .

One name connected with many early records is that of Lord Kinnaird. He played in the second final in 1873 and then played in a further eight, thus setting up a record which still stands to this day of playing in nine finals. He played on the winning team no fewer than five times, a further record which is still unbroken.

However he is also accredited with a less happy record, that of scoring the first ?own goal” in cup history in 1877. He was playing in goal and involuntarily stepped back over his own goal line.

In 1886 Blackburn Rovers were the second club to win three successive finals, and is the only club still in existence who can assert this feat as the first club to do so. The Wanderers went out of existence in 1883.

The record for the largest win in FA Cup history is held by Preston North End who in 1887 defeated Hyde 26-0. One of the longest standing sporting records was finally surpassed in 2009 by Everton?s Louis Saha whose 25 second goal beat that of the 30 second goal scored by Bob Chatt of Aston villa in 1895 . A record which had stood for 115 years!

After a period of seven years when the Cup final was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, while the new Wembley Stadium was being rebuilt, The Cup Final has returned to its traditional home at Wembley where it has been played since 1923 when the famous ?White Horse? took place between Bolton and West Ham. This match also holds the record for fan attendance when an estimated 200,000 fans packed in.