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
1938–39 FA Cup duration of the Second World War, the next FA Cup final was not until seven years later in 1946, thereby enabling Portsmouth fans to claim that their team has held the Cup for the longest time. 1938–39 FA Cup The 1938–39 FA Cup was the 64th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Portsmouth won the competition for the first time, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 in the final at Wembley. As this was the last full FA Cup competition before the Second World War, Portsmouth held the trophy