Taken in April 1884, this is the first cup-winning Rovers team. In front of them are the trophies won in the previous twelve months; The FA Cup (left), The East Lancashire Charity Cup (centre) and The Lancashire Cup. They would go on to retain two of the trophies, although Accrington would knock them out of the next Charity Cup a month later. © Cottontown

Despite the bookies belief, it was the English side that took the lead early on when Sowerbutts scored from a tap in from a Brown pass. It had come against the run of play and Rovers were from then on under pressure. A Queens Park goal was disallowed for offside although the Scots were not happy as under the rules they played in Scotland it should have stood. In England however, it was offside. They were not best pleased when Rovers scored a second through Jimmy Forrest which looked clearly offside. They were too gentlemanly to complain which wasn’t the best course of action as the referee, Francis Marandin, said after the game that he had allowed the goal to stand because he was waiting for the Queens Park players to complain! Despite this, it didn’t stop him disallowing two further Rovers ‘goals’ for offside. Queens Park had another goal disallowed that wouldn’t have been offside in England then finally pulled a goal back, even though Rovers complained about that one! It seemed to them (and many there) that Queens Park had been robbed when the game did indeed finish 2-1 to Rovers. They had to watch though as a fellow countryman of theirs, Hugh McIntyre, collected the trophy for Rovers in front of the crowd of over twelve thousand. Man of the match was Rovers’ brilliant playmaker, Jimmy Forrest.

That cup final launched a glorious new era for Rovers. It was also to be the last win before the advent of professionalism as the FA bowed to the inevitable and permitted the paying of players. The first openly professional player to represent England was the Rovers playmaker Jimmy Forrest against Scotland in 1885, not that Scotland were happy about it, claiming both sides should be completely amateur. They could complain all they liked as professional football was here to stay.

Another thing here to stay was Rovers as national champions. Before that they regained the Lancashire Cup. Although it must be said, their 1885 win was probably the luckiest they ever had. They lost 5-1 in the semi finals to Bolton Wanderers. The Bolton team however was disqualified for paying players…only a few months before this was legalised by the FA. Rovers went on to the win the final at Deepdale in Preston, beating Blackburn Olympic 2-1 for the second successive year.

As interested as they were in being the local champions, it was the FA Cup that meant glamour and worth to them. Rovers began the campaign with what remains today as their biggest ever win in a major competition. Fecitt scored four and Barton got a hat trick as they humiliated Rossendale 11-0. They wouldn’t ever win a game in a major competition by that wide a margin again but they came close two months later in the fourth round of the same competition when they beat Romford 8-0. Sandwiched in between those games they had beaten local rivals Blackburn 3-2 and Witton 5-1. After this, a 2-0 quarter final victory over West Bromwich Albion set up a semi final with the Old Carthusians. Rovers beat them 5-1 in a game played at Nottingham and this was the end of any serious ex-public schoolboy or university team challenge for the FA Cup. Their opponents in the final would be Queens Park and it would once again take place at the Kennington Oval.