Cup Final

Cup, Football Association. Silver trophy competed for annually by football clubs in England playing the Association game. Competition for the cup is on the knock-out principle, and is played in two sections: a qualifying competition and the competition proper, the latter consisting of six rounds, semifinals, and finals. The 46 clubs forming the third and fourth divisions of the Football League enter at the first round of the competition proper, and the 44 clubs of the first and second divisions at the third round. Other clubs are required to play in the qualifying competitions. Grounds used for playing of the final have included the Oval^* (1872, 1874-92), Crystal Palace^** (1895-1914), Wembley Stadium* (from 1923). Usually played on the first Saturday in May, often in the presence of royalty.

^* (the Oval - a cricket ground in South London.)

^** (Crystal Palace - a stadium in South London, so named after the glass building constructed for the Exhibition of 1851 and destroyed by fire in 1936.)

(The Waver ley Encyclopaedia)