The Football Association the world—in 1871. Fifteen participating clubs subscribed to purchase a trophy. The very first Cup Final was held at The Oval on 16 March 1872, fought between the Wanderers and the Royal Engineers (RE), watched by 2,000 spectators. This competition was initially contested by mostly amateur teams but by the end of the 19th century it was dominated by professional teams that were mostly members of the Football League that had been founded in 1888 and expanded during the 1890s. After many years of wrangling between the London Association and the Sheffield Football Association, the FA Cup brought the acceptance
Non-English football clubs in the FA Cup first entered the competition in 2013, reaching the 2nd qualifying round. Under FA rules, Guernsey must play any home replay at a neutral English venue – as of 2015, they had played six games in the competition – four away and two 'home' replays in England. Although sides from Isle of Man and Jersey have competed in the FA Vase, Guernsey FC remain the only club from the crown dependencies to have played in the FA Cup. The football associations of each crown dependency has County Football Association status within the Football Association. Five Northern Irish clubs have competed in