The 1874–75 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the second season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Teams from Edinburgh, Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire entered the competition for the first time and with 12 new teams entering the competition, a total of 25 were included in the first round draw.[1] The competition began on 10 October 1874 and concluded with the final on 10 April 1875. The cup was won for the second time by Queen's Park who defeated Dunbartonshire club Renton 3–0 in the final.[2]
As with the inaugural competition, the second edition of the Scottish Cup took on the format of a traditional knockout tournament, however, an odd number of teams entering the competition necessitated the introduction of byes for the first time.[1]
For the earlier rounds, the names of competing teams were placed into lots according to their districts and drawn into pairs. The home team for each tie was determined by the toss of a coin unless it was mutually agreed or only one of the two clubs drawn against one another had a private ground. In the event of a draw, the team who lost the toss would have the choice of ground for the replay. A similar procedure was used for subsequent rounds however, any club which had received a bye in the previous round would first be drawn against one of the winners of the previous round. The names of winning teams were placed into one lot for later rounds. The choice of venue for the final matches was reserved to the Scottish Football Association.[3]
Calendar[]
The exact dates of some matches are unknown as newspaper coverage of football in the late 19th century was not as comprehensive as it would become.[1][4]
Round
First match date
Fixtures
Clubs
Original
Byes
Replays
First round
October 1874
12
1
1
25 → 13
Second round
November 1874
6
1
1
13 → 7
Quarter-finals
19 December 1874
3
1
0
7 → 4
Semi-finals
20 March 1875
2
0
3
4 → 2
Final
10 April 1875
1
0
0
2 → 1
Teams[]
All 25 teams entered the competition in the first round.
Glasgow team Standard were the first team in the competition's history to receive a bye and advanced straight to the second round.[1][4] The first round got underway on 10 October 1874 when Rangers and Oxford made their Scottish Cup debuts. Goals from McNeil and Gibb gave Rangers a 2–0 home win at Flesher's Haugh to see them through.[5] Dumbarton, Kilmarnock and Helensburgh – who were also making their debut in the competition – all recorded their first wins in the competition a week later. On the same day, Eastern secured their passage to the second with a 3–0 win over 23rd Renfrew RV and 3rd Lanark RV's tie with Barrhead went to a replay following a goalless draw at Cathkin Park.[1][4][6] The remaining matches were played on 24 October 1874, however the exact date of West End's 3–0 win over Star of Leven is unknown. Holders Queen's Park defeated Western, Dumbreck won 5–1 against Alexandra Athletic, Clydesdale drew with Vale of Leven and 3rd Lanark RV defeated Barrhead in a replay.[4] Blythswood and Hamilton scratched their ties with Renton and Rovers respectively and Vale of Leven resigned before their replay with Clydesdale.[4][7]
With 13 teams remaining in the competition, Rovers received a bye to the quarter-finals.[1][4] Queen's Park's 7–0 win over West End was the highest-scoring game in the 1874–75 competition and equalled the record for the biggest win they themselves had set in the previous season.[17] Renton and Clydesdale overcame Helensburgh and Dumbreck respectively while Kilmarnock lost 3–0 at home to Eastern.[4][10] Dumbarton and 3rd Lanark RV also advanced to the quarter-finals after overcoming Rangers and Standard in a replay following goalless draws in their original matches.[4]
B-The exact dates of the Clydesdale vs. Dumbreck and Renton vs. Helensburgh matches are unknown, however they were played sometime between 21 and 28 November 1874.[4][15]
Only two matches were played in the quarter-finals after Rovers scratched their tie with Queen's Park and Clydesdale received a bye to the semi-finals.[1][4] Both matches finished 1–0 to the home teams as Dumbarton defeated 3rd Lanark RV on 19 December 1874 and Renton saw off Eastern one week later.[4]
The two semi-finals produced a total of three replays between them. Renton managed to see off Dumbarton away from home a week after a 1–1 draw in the original fixture on 27 March 1875.[1][4] The other semi-final saw old rivals Queen's Park and Clydesdale face off in a replay of the previous season's final. A goalless draw at Kinning Park was followed by a 2–2 draw at Hampden Park before Queen's edged the second replay 1–0 away from home.[1][4]
After 26 matches played and 53 goals scored, the tournament culminated in the 1875 Scottish Cup Final on 10 April 1875.[2] The match, played at the original Hampden Park in Crosshill, was watched by 7,000 spectators and refereed by A. Campbell of Clydesdale.[1][4] As Hampden Park was the home of finalists Queen's Park, the match was one of a select few cup finals in Scotland that were not played on neutral territory.[1][36]
All three goals came in the final 15 minutes of the match courtesy of Scotland internationals Angus MacKinnon, Thomas Highet and Billy MacKinnon. Queen's Park won 3–0 to claim the trophy for the second consecutive season.[1][4]
^ abcdefghijklmPotter, David; Jones, Phil H. (2016). The History of the Scottish Cup: The Story of Every Season 1873–2016. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. pp. 14–15. ISBN978-1-78531-214-4.
