1878–79 FA Cup

37 (participants) The 1878–79 Football Association Challenge Cup was the eighth staging of the FA Cup, England's oldest football tournament. Forty-three teams entered, although five of the forty-three never played a match.

The Quarter final matches between the Old Etonians Association Football Club and Darwen FC are depicted in Julian Fellowes's drama series, The English Game: :Arthur Kinnaird is captain and star player for the Old Etonians. Their opponents in the 1879 FA Cup Quarter finals are Darwen, a working class factory team. James Walsh, the owner of Darwen FC and the associated mill decides to secretly pay two Scottish players, Fergus "Fergie" Suter and James "Jimmy" Love to join his team in a bid to secure the FA Cup (which at the time is exclusively for amateurs). The Old Etonians, who also happen to be FA Board members, decide that since extra time was not previously agreed to then the Quarter final will be replayed instead. The mill has financial issues and townsfolk pitch in to help pay for the trip. The replay is handily won by Old Etonians who focus more on shutting down Suter and Love rather than playing their own game.