1901 FA Cup final

Sheffield United entered the competition in the first round proper and played five matches, including one replay, en route to the final. All four of their opponents were other teams in the First Division.[10]

In the first round, Sheffield were drawn away to Sunderland at Roker Park.[10] This was a difficult hurdle as Sunderland were one of the leading teams in the First Division, eventually finishing as runners-up behind champions Liverpool.[3] The match was played on Saturday, 9 February and Sheffield United won 2–1 with goals by Bert Lipsham and Fred Priest.[10] Sunderland's goal was scored by Colin McLatchie.[11]

Sheffield then faced Everton in a home tie at Bramall Lane on Saturday, 23 February and won 2–0. Both goals were scored by Walter Bennett.[10]

In the third (quarter-final) round, Sheffield United were drawn away to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday, 23 March. This was expected to be a tough match but United won 4–0 and The Times said their performance was "remarkable".[12] Priest scored an early goal and then, ten minutes before half-time, Sheffield scored their other three goals in as many minutes. The report says George Hedley, who scored the second goal, was "quite brilliant".[12] Bennett scored the third;[10] the fourth was an own goal by George Barker.[11]

The semi-finals were staged at neutral venues on Saturday, 6 April, and Monday, 8 April. Sheffield United's opponents were Aston Villa who, like themselves, were struggling in the First Division and eventually avoided relegation by five points.[3] The match was played on the Saturday at the City Ground in Nottingham. As in the first round, Sheffield's goalscorers were Priest and Lipsham.[10] The Villa goals were scored by Billy Garraty and Jack Devey.[13]

Sheffield's right back Harry Thickett withdrew from the match as his wife had just died, The Times reporting this made a considerable difference to Sheffield, who were expected to win the tie.[14] As it was, they took the lead after five minutes when good passing by Hedley and Lipsham put Priest through on goal. Garraty equalised several minutes later but, just before half time, a well-taken free kick by Ernest Needham created a chance for Lipsham, who hit a fast and low shot into the net.[14] In the second half, Devey equalised after five minutes with a headed goal. The Sheffield defence, without Thickett, was disorganised and Devey was given a clear chance to score. Villa were the better team after this but no more goals were scored and the match ended in a 2–2 draw after 90 minutes with no extra time allowed.[14]

A replay was necessary and was played at the Baseball Ground in Derby five days later on Thursday, 11 April. Sheffield won 3–0 with two goals by Priest and one by Bennett.[10] The Times reported that the teams were evenly matched for much of the first half until an error by one of the Villa players allowed Bennett to race clear and score the first goal with a hard shot which went in off a post. Villa tried hard for an equaliser but their forwards were not combining well and, when they did shoot at goal, they created little difficulty for Willie Foulke, the Sheffield goalkeeper. With about fifteen minutes remaining, good passing between Hedley and Bennett put Priest through on goal and he made it 2–0. A few minutes later, Priest scored the third goal after receiving a pass from Hedley. An estimated 25,000 people watched the match.[15]

Tottenham Hotspur entered the competition in the first round proper and played six matches, including two replays, en route to the final. Three of their opponents were in the First Division and one was in the Southern League.[6]

In the first round, Tottenham were drawn at home to First Division Preston North End who had defeated them 1–0 at Deepdale in the first round of the previous season's competition.[6] This season, however, Preston were struggling in the league and were relegated at the end of the season.[3] The match was played on Saturday, 9 February and was the first-ever FA Cup tie at White Hart Lane, which Tottenham had acquired in 1899.[8] It ended in a 1–1 draw, so a replay was needed. Tottenham's goal was scored by Sandy Brown.[6] Preston's goalscorer was Johnny McMahon.[16]

The replay took place at Deepdale on Wednesday, 13 February, Tottenham avenging their defeat there last season with a 4–2 win, largely due to a hat-trick by Brown. The other goal was scored by player-manager John Cameron.[6] Preston's goals were scored by Frank Becton and former Tottenham forward Tom Pratt.[16]

Tottenham were drawn at home in the second round to the FA Cup holders Bury, who had outplayed Tottenham's Southern League rivals Southampton in the 1900 final, winning 4–0.[17] Bury were doing well in the First Division and eventually finished fifth.[3] The match was played on Saturday, 23 February, and Tottenham won 2–1 with two more goals by Brown.[6] Bury's goal was scored by Jasper McLuckie.[17] The Times report says that Tottenham played well and merited their victory, especially as they had to recover from being a goal down, but "they were lucky in finding the Bury eleven quite out of form".[18]

Tottenham's Sandy Brown scored a goal in every round

In the third round, Tottenham faced Reading, who were also in the Southern League, at Elm Park. The match on Saturday, 23 March, ended 1–1. Tottenham's goal was scored by left winger Jack Kirwan.[6] Reading's goalscorer was Dick Evans.[19] In the replay at White Hart Lane on Thursday, 28 March, Tottenham won the game 3–0 with two goals by Brown and one by David Copeland. The crowd was 12,000.[20] This victory took Tottenham into their first FA Cup semi-final.[6]

Tottenham Hotspur's semi-final was played on Monday, 8 April against First Division West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park.[6] Albion were having a poor season in the league and, along with Tottenham's first round opponents Preston, they were relegated at the end of the season.[3] Tottenham had a convincing win by 4–0 with all four goals scored by Brown.[6]

The Times report commented upon the decisiveness of the Tottenham victory before a crowd of about 50,000. Pitch conditions were good but there was a strong wind with variable gusts.[21] Both sides mounted attacks in the first half but the match was goalless at half-time. Three minutes into the second half, Kirwan ran clear on the left wing and centred the ball for Brown to head in the first goal. Having taken the lead, the Tottenham players became more relaxed and began to play an accurate, short passing game which resulted in two more goals in the next fifteen minutes. Both were scored by Brown after clever manoeuvres by his colleagues. Albion tried to assert themselves and created chances of their own but they could not beat Tottenham goalkeeper George Clawley, who had an outstanding game. Eight minutes from the end, a Tottenham breakaway resulted in a fourth goal by Brown. Although Brown scored all four goals, The Times report declared that Kirwan was "the finest forward on the field".[21] At the time, it was Albion's biggest defeat in the FA Cup.[21]

The final was played at the Crystal Palace stadium on Saturday, 20 April. The weather was fine. In a brief report published the morning of the match, The Times predicted "one of the hardest matches ever played in the competition" and reported that the condition of the Crystal Palace pitch had been satisfactory the previous day with a "true springy turf".[22] It is the earliest FA Cup final from which any newsreel footage survives.[23] There was massive local interest in the match, given the presence of a London team in the final. Even so, as Mike Collett says, while Tottenham were a southern club, they were hardly a southern team – five Scots, two Welshmen, one Irishman and, although three players were English, "none of them came from south of the Trent".[23]

Tottenham's equalising goal after 23 minutes

A world record crowd of 110,820 watched the match.[23] Sandy Brown became the first player to score in every round of an FA Cup tournament. He scored both Tottenham goals in the final as well as one in the replay for a total of 15 in the whole competition.[23] Fred Priest opened the scoring after ten minutes and Brown equalised after 23 minutes. The score at half-time was 1–1 and, five minutes after the restart, Brown scored his second to give Tottenham a 2–1 lead.[23]

Less than a minute later, Sheffield equalised with a goal that Mike Collett has described as "one of the most controversial ever scored in a final".[23] It is unclear what exactly happened but, according to Collett, the most likely scenario is that Tottenham's goalkeeper George Clawley tried to catch a shot by Bert Lipsham and fumbled it. The ball dropped behind Clawley and he spun round to try and kick it away under pressure from Walter Bennett. The ball went out of play over the dead ball line and the linesman signalled a corner, as he thought Clawley had been the last player to make contact with the ball. The referee, however, overruled him and signalled a goal kick, as he thought Bennett had the last contact. Before Clawley could take the goal kick, the referee changed his mind and awarded a goal to Sheffield with Bennett named as the scorer.[23]

The match ended in a 2–2 draw and, as extra time was not allowed, a replay was necessary.[23] In its match report on Monday morning, The Times described the Sheffield equaliser as "the chief incident of the match".[24] The report says that the referee was "certain in his judgment" that the ball was over the line but counters that with a comment by Clawley that "it was impossible for him to have been behind his own line".[24]

Tottenham's third goal in the replay. Scorer Sandy Brown is hidden.

The replay took place a week later under windy conditions with showers at Burnden Park—home of Bolton Wanderers—with both teams unchanged.[25] The crowd of 20,740 was the lowest at any FA Cup final in the 20th century.[23] As in the first match, Fred Priest opened the scoring and this time Sheffield led 1–0 at half-time, but Tottenham dominated the second half and won 3–1 with goals by Cameron, Tom Smith and Brown.[25]

The Times began its report with an essay on the virtues of amateurism versus the "new methods" of professionalism. It regretted the decline and fall of amateurism but declared that "it is an epoch in the history of the game to have the cup once more in the south".[25] Turning at length to the match, the report says that it "did honour to both teams" and was the best football in a final for a long time.[25] The report praised "the genius" of Sheffield captain Needham, but Tottenham adopted different tactics in the second half and relied on pace and combination to attack the Sheffield goal. The teams remained level until fifteen minutes from the end when Cameron had another chance to score. His shot was partially blocked by Peter Boyle but Smith, following up, scored from the rebound. A few minutes later, Brown scored with a header from a corner to complete the scoring.[25]