1884 FA Cup final

The 1884 FA Cup final was a football match between Blackburn Rovers and Queen's Park contested on 29 March 1884 at the Kennington Oval. It was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the 13th Cup final. It was the first time that a Scottish team reached the final of the tournament, with Queen's Park knocking out the previous holders of the trophy en route.

Both teams received protests from the defeated teams following the semi-final matches, but each were turned down by the Football Association. By the time the match was played, Queen's Park had already been awarded the Scottish Cup after Vale of Leven declined to participate in the final. Prior to the match there were temporary stands built at the Oval as the Pavilion was reserved for members of the Surrey County Cricket Club. There was a record breaking attendance at the match, with between 10,000 and 12,000 fans attending making it the most attended match in London; special trains were laid on by the railways to transport spectators from Lancashire.

The final coincided with a Scotland v Wales international match which took place in Glasgow on the same day, with the many Scottish internationals in the Queen's Park team opting play for their club team rather than their country. In the event, Scotland won the international comfortably by a scoreline of 4 goals to 1.

Despite Queen's Park entering the match as favourites, it was Blackburn Rovers who won the game by two goals to one with goals from Jimmy Douglas and Jimmy Forrest; Robert M Christie scored for Queen's Park. The Scottish team had a goal disallowed during play, and the referee later said that they had scored once more but as the players did not attempt to claim it, he had not bothered to award it. The two teams met once more in the final of the following FA Cup final in 1885.

Queen's Park were invited to compete in the 1883–84 FA Cup, despite being from Scotland. They had previously been invited on several occasions from the 1871–72 competition onwards, but ultimately withdrew on each occasion. Their most successful runs had been in both 1871–72 and 1872–73 when they reached the semi-final each time before withdrawing. On each occasion since, they had withdrawn from the cup without playing any matches. Queen's 1883–84 FA Cup campaign began on 6 October 1883 with a 10–0 victory over Crewe Alexandra in the first round in front of a crowd of 2,000 spectators. The second round saw their first home game, and a 15–0 victory against Manchester F.C. on 1 December. It was the first time that an English cup match had been played in Scotland, and drew 6,000 fans. However the match was a one-sided affair, with Queen's Park dominating throughout to the extent that their goalkeeper was never required to handle the ball.

They defeated the Welsh team from Oswestry in the third round, 7–1. They were drawn at home against Aston Villa in the fourth round, but the match was called into doubt when it was scheduled to take place on the same date and location as Queen's Park's match against Hibernian F.C. in the Scottish Cup. But Queen's and their Scottish opponents agreed to postpone the match for two weeks. There was a great deal of interest by the spectators from Birmingham, and three special trains were laid on to transport them to Glasgow for the game with more than 1200 of them travelling north of the border. Around 10,000 fans filled the ground where they watched Queen's Park defeat Aston Villa 6–1. The fifth round was their lowest scoring game of the campaign, where they won away to Old Westminsters 1–0 at the Kennington Oval in London. In the semi-final they defeated Blackburn Olympic 4–1 to set up a final against the other Blackburn-based team; the match was played at a neutral venue in Nottingham. Olympic subsequently complained to The Football Association as the crowd invaded the pitch to cause disruption for their team; the complaint was not upheld.

Blackburn Rovers also started their campaign in the first round, where they won their first game at home against Southport Central 7–1. The second round saw them drawn away to South Shore at Blackpool resulting in a further victory by a margin of 7–0. They defeated Padiham 3–0 in the third round, once again at their home ground of Leamington Street, and in the fourth round against Staveley 5–1 in a match which was dominated by Rovers and in front of a crowd of 3000 spectators.

Rovers won once again in an away game against Upton Park at West Ham Park by a scoreline of 3–0 in the fifth round. The match was more competitive than the scoreline might suggest, as Blackburn were a goal down at half time but won the game after a goal by John Inglis and two by Joe Lofthouse in the second half. At Birmingham in a neutral venue, they defeated Notts County in the semi-final 1–0. As with Olympic against Queen's Park, Notts also complained of events that took place during their semi-final. They argued that Rovers had illegally fielded Inglis, a player from Glasgow who had played for Glasgow Rangers and was only drafted it to the Blackburn team to improve their cup performance. A letter was produced by Rovers to show that he had been expelled from Rangers because he continued to play for the English team instead. Notts wanted the match to be replayed without Inglis, but the FA did not uphold the complaint.