1915 FA Cup final

The 1915 FA Cup final took place on 24 April 1915 and was contested by Sheffield United and Chelsea. It was the last FA Cup final to be staged after the implementation of the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 which suspended competitive football in Britain for the duration of the First World War. The match was moved from its pre-war location of Crystal Palace in south London to Old Trafford in Manchester to avoid disruption to travel in and around London.

The match is one of the few FA Cup finals that has acquired a nickname; the "Khaki Cup Final", owing to the large number of uniformed soldiers in attendance. However, the attendance of about 50,000 was lower than previous years as a result of wartime travel restriction and the mobilisation of large numbers of young men into the armed forces.

Chelsea had the easiest start in the FA Cup competition, their first round match was with Swindon Town, a Southern Football League team, but they made heavy work of it requiring a replay to defeat them and conceding three goals during the two matches. Their Cup performance improved considerably, and after defeating Arsenal (then a Second Division side) in the second round, they defeated several First Division sides who finished above them in the league table, including Everton, who later went on to win the league that season.

Sheffield United defeated Blackpool, a Second Division side, in the first round and then made steady progress until the fourth round, where they met Oldham Athletic, who finished above them in the First Division that season, and they required a replay to finally defeat them. Sheffield United met Bolton Wanderers in the semi-final and George Utley, the Blades' captain, scored a rare goal.

The favourites to win the match were Sheffield United. They had combined a successful FA Cup run with a strong league campaign where they finished 6th, but only three points behind the League winners. Their defence was one of the best in the league, but they had not managed to score many goals.

Chelsea were statistically the weaker side; whilst they had scored more goals than Sheffield United in the league, their defence was poor and they had conceded many more and lay in the relegation zone. They had however beaten several strong clubs away from home during the FA Cup competition and the programme noted that the underdogs had won on six occasions in the previous ten years.

Chelsea also had injury problems: Bob Thomson, their leading goal scorer that season, had been injured in a league game at Bolton Wanderers ten days earlier and was doubtful. Vivian Woodward, an amateur and England international who played for Chelsea in peacetime but was at the time serving in the British Army, had been given leave to play in the final. However, Woodward sportingly insisted that as Thomson had helped the club reach the final, he ought to play in it. There was bad news when Thomson suffered an eye injury, but he played.

The official match programme was produced by Manchester United. A special version was printed on silk for presentation to the players and officials.