1885–86 FA Cup

The 1885–86 Football Association Challenge Cup was the 15th edition of the FA Cup, England's oldest football tournament. There were 130 entrants, sixteen more than in the previous season, although six teams did not play a match. Five Scottish clubs entered but one was eliminated in the first round in an all-Scottish tie and travel constraints caused the rest to withdraw.

1885–86 FA Cup

Tournament details
Country	England Scotland Wales
Teams	130
Defending champions	Blackburn Rovers
Final positions
Champions	Blackburn Rovers (3rd title)
Runner-up	West Bromwich Albion

Blackburn Rovers became the second team to win the competition in three successive seasons and, as of 2024, they remain the last to do so. The final between Blackburn and West Bromwich Albion is the earliest to have been contested by two extant clubs that are still members of either the Premier League or the English Football League.

First round

Notes. In all rounds, a walkover means the tie was not played and the first-named team progressed to the next round. If a match was declared void for any reason, a replay was necessary.

Home	Score	Away	Date
Darlington	bye
Walsall Swifts	bye
Darwen	2–2	Derby Junction	31 October 1885
Dulwich	1–2	South Reading	31 October 1885
Preston North End	walkover	Great Lever
Stoke	2–2	Crewe Alexandra	31 October 1885
Barnes	1–7	Lancing Old Boys	31 October 1885
Royal Engineers	1–5	Old Foresters	31 October 1885
Marlow	3–0	Luton Town	31 October 1885
Clapham Rovers	12–0	1st Surrey Rifles	31 October 1885
Queen's Park	5–1	Partick Thistle	31 October 1885
Upton Park	4–2	United London Scottish	24 October 1885
Old Etonians	walkover	Bournemouth Rovers
Swifts	7–1	Casuals	31 October 1885
Rochester	6–1	Reading	31 October 1885
Old Wykehamists	5–0	Uxbridge	31 October 1885
Old Harrovians	walkover	St James (Forest Gate)
Notts County	15–0	Rotherham Town	24 October 1885
Hendon	0–4	Clapton	24 October 1885
Nottingham Forest	6–2	Mellors Limited	31 October 1885
Brentwood	3–0	Maidenhead	31 October 1885
Hanover United	1–1	Romford	31 October 1885
Stafford Road	7–0	Matlock	31 October 1885
Blackburn Olympic	4–2 match void	Church	31 October 1885
Astley Bridge	3–2	Southport Central	31 October 1885
Staveley	1–1	Mexborough	31 October 1885
Small Heath Alliance	9–2	Burton Wanderers	31 October 1885
Sheffield Heeley	2–1	Eckington Works	19 October 1885
Bolton Wanderers	6–0	Eagley	17 October 1885
Accrington	5–4	Witton	17 October 1885
Wednesbury Old Athletic	5–1	Burton Swifts	31 October 1885
Lockwood Brothers	2–2	Notts Rangers	31 October 1885
Chatham	0–2	Old Carthusians	31 October 1885
Walsall Town	0–5	Aston Villa	17 October 1885
Clitheroe	0–2	Blackburn Rovers	24 October 1885
Halliwell	2–1	Fishwick Ramblers	31 October 1885
Macclesfield Town	4–1	Northwich Victoria	31 October 1885
Old Westminsters	3–1	Hotspur	31 October 1885
Redcar	3–0	Sunderland	24 October 1885
Wolverhampton Wanderers	7–0	Derby St Luke's	31 October 1885
Rossendale	6–2	Low Moor	24 October 1885
Birmingham Excelsior	1-2	Derby Midland	31 October 1885
Davenham	2–1	Goldenhill	31 October 1885
Hurst	2–1 match void	Bradshaw	31 October 1885
Long Eaton Rangers	2–0	The Wednesday	31 October 1885
Middlesbrough	walkover	Horncastle
West Bromwich Albion	4–1	Aston Unity	31 October 1885
Padiham	walkover	Heart of Midlothian
Hartford St John's	1–3	Newtown	24 October 1885
Leek	6–3	Wrexham Olympic	31 October 1885
Newark	0–3	Sheffield	31 October 1885
Nottingham Wanderers	2–2	Notts Olympic	31 October 1885
Derby County	3–0	Mitchell St George's	31 October 1885
Old Brightonians	2–1	Acton	31 October 1885
Darwen Old Wanderers	11–0	Burnley	17 October 1885
Rawtenstall	walkover	Rangers
Lincoln City	0–2	Grimsby Town	31 October 1885
Luton Wanderers	3–2	Chesham	31 October 1885
Oswaldtwistle Rovers	3–1	Lower Darwen	31 October 1885
Stafford Rangers	1–4	Druids	31 October 1885
Higher Walton	3–4	South Shore	17 October 1885
Bollington	0–5	Oswestry	24 October 1885
Burslem Port Vale	3–0	Chirk	24 October 1885
Lincoln Lindum	4–0	Grimsby & District	17 October 1885
Third Lanark	4–2	Blackburn Park Road	17 October 1885
Gainsborough Trinity	4–1	Grantham	24 October 1885

Replays

Home	Score	Away	Date
Darwen	4–0	Derby Junction	7 November 1885
Crewe Alexandra	1–0	Stoke	7 November 1885
Romford	3–0	Hanover United	7 November 1885
Church	2–2	Blackburn Olympic	4 November 1885
Staveley	walkover	Mexborough
Notts Rangers	4–0	Lockwood Brothers	7 November 1885
Bradshaw	1–1 match void	Hurst	4 November 1885
Notts Olympic	4–1	Notts Wanderers	7 November 1885

Second replays

Home	Score	Away	Date
Church	3–1	Blackburn Olympic	9 November 1885
Hurst	3–2	Bradshaw	9 November 1885

Second round

Home	Score	Away	Date
Preston North End	11–3	Astley Bridge	18 November 1885
Marlow	6–1	Old Etonians	21 November 1885
Clapham Rovers	bye
Swifts	5–1	Rochester	21 November 1885
Druids	2–2	Burslem Port Vale	21 November 1885
Old Wykehamists	10–0	Luton Wanderers	21 November 1885
Old Harrovians	2–1	Old Foresters	21 November 1885
Notts County	8–0	Sheffield	21 November 1885
Nottingham Forest	4–1	Notts Olympic	21 November 1885
Romford	bye
Brentwood	6–1	Lancing Old Boys	14 November 1885
Blackburn Rovers	1–0	Oswaldtwistle Rovers	21 November 1885
Old Carthusians	6–0	Upton Park	21 November 1885
Small Heath Alliance	3–1	Darwen	14 November 1885
Sheffield Heeley	1–6	Notts Rangers	21 November 1885
Grimsby Town	8–0	Darlington	21 November 1885
South Shore	walkover	Queen's Park
Church	walkover	Third Lanark
Oswestry Town	1–1	Crewe Alexandra	21 November 1885
South Reading	1–1	Clapton	21 November 1885
Old Westminsters	3–0	Old Brightonians	21 November 1885
Redcar	2–0	Lincoln Lindum	21 November 1885
Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–2	Stafford Road	21 November 1885
Rossendale	9–1	Padiham	21 November 1885
Derby Midland	1–3	Walsall Swifts	21 November 1885
Davenham	8–1	Macclesfield Town	21 November 1885
Hurst	3–1 match void	Halliwell	18 November 1885
Long Eaton Rangers	1–4	Staveley	21 November 1885
West Bromwich Albion	3–2	Wednesbury Old Athletic	21 November 1885
Leek	walkover	Newtown
Derby County	2–0	Aston Villa	14 November 1885
Darwen Old Wanderers	2–1	Accrington	21 November 1885
Rawtenstall	3–3 Rawtenstall disqualified	Bolton Wanderers	21 November 1885
Gainsborough Trinity	1–2	Middlesbrough	21 November 1885

Replays

Home	Score	Away	Date
Burslem Port Vale	5–1	Druids	28 November 1885
Crewe Alexandra	Oswestry disqualified	Oswestry
South Reading	Clapton disqualified	Clapton
Halliwell	walkover	Hurst

Third round

Home	Score	Away	Date
Marlow	both teams disqualified	Old Wykehamists
Swifts	Old Harrovians disqualified	Old Harrovians
Notts County	3–0	Notts Rangers	12 December 1885
Brentwood	bye
Blackburn Rovers	6–1	Darwen Old Wanderers	5 December 1885
Old Carthusians	bye
Staveley	2–1	Nottingham Forest	12 December 1885
Small Heath Alliance	4–2	Derby County	12 December 1885
Bolton Wanderers	2–3 Preston North End disqualified	Preston North End	12 December 1885
Church	5–1	Rossendale	12 December 1885
Halliwell	1–6	South Shore	19 December 1885
South Reading	Clapham Rovers disqualified	Clapham Rovers
Old Westminsters	5–1	Romford	12 December 1885
Redcar	bye
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Walsall Swifts	12 December 1885
Davenham	2–1	Crewe Alexandra	12 December 1885
Middlesbrough	2–1	Grimsby Town	19 December 1885
West Bromwich Albion	bye
Leek	2–3 match void	Burslem Port Vale	19 December 1885

Replay

Home	Score	Away	Date
Burslem Port Vale	walkover	Leek

Fourth round

Home	Score	Away	Date
Swifts	bye
Notts County	bye
Blackburn Rovers	bye
Old Carthusians	bye
Staveley	bye
Small Heath Alliance	bye
Bolton Wanderers	bye
South Shore	bye
Church	bye
South Reading	0–3	Brentwood	2 January 1886
Old Westminsters	bye
Redcar	bye
Davenham	bye
Middlesbrough	bye
West Bromwich Albion	3–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2 January 1886
Burslem Port Vale	bye

Fifth round

Home	Score	Away	Date
Blackburn Rovers	7–1	Staveley	23 January 1886
South Shore	2–1	Notts County	23 January 1886
Church	2–6	Swifts	16 January 1886
Old Westminsters	Bolton Wanderers disqualified	Bolton Wanderers
Redcar and Coatham	2–1	Middlesbrough	23 January 1886
Davenham	1–2	Small Heath Alliance	16 January 1886
West Bromwich Albion	1–0	Old Carthusians	23 January 1886
Burslem Port Vale	2–1 match void	Brentwood	16 January 1886

Replay

Home	Score	Away	Date
Brentwood	3–3	Burslem Port Vale	30 January 1886

Second replay

Home	Score	Away	Date
Brentwood	walkover	Burslem Port Vale

Sixth round

Home	Score	Away	Date
Brentwood	1–3	Blackburn Rovers	27 February 1886
Small Heath Alliance	2–0	Redcar	13 February 1886
South Shore	1–2	Swifts	13 February 1886
West Bromwich Albion	6–0	Old Westminsters	13 February 1886

Semi-finals

	Score		Date	Venue
Blackburn Rovers	2–1	Swifts	13 March 1886	County Cricket Ground, Derby
West Bromwich Albion	4–0	Small Heath Alliance	6 March 1886	Aston Lower Grounds, Birmingham

Final

Further information on this match: 1886 FA Cup Final

	Score		Date	Venue
Blackburn Rovers	0–0	West Bromwich Albion	3 April 1886	Kennington Oval, London

Replay

	Score		Date	Venue
Blackburn Rovers	2–0	West Bromwich Albion	10 April 1886	Racecourse Ground, Derby

References

• FA Cup Results Archive
• The Complete Record of the FA Cup by Mike Collett (2003). SportsBooks Ltd, Cheltenham.