Which football club won its first FA Cup in 1906?

by Simon Lewis

1906's FA Cup Final, saw Everton win for the first time, when they won against Newcastle United in a game played at Crystal Palace. Everton's goalscorer in a 1-0 win was Alex "Sandy" Young.
Newcastle was playing in its second final in two seasons, having lost the previous year's final (and with it the prestigious League and FA Cup double) to Aston Villa. The Geordies were also the hot favourite for the Cup. The first decade of the new century was indeed a golden period in the club's history. In total the Magpies won the league 3 times (1904-05, 1906-07 and 1908-09), were runners up in three Cup finals - 1905 and 1908 as well as 1906, before finally winning the FA Cup in 1910.

But enough about Newcastle, this was Everton's day. The journey to the final had seen a defeat for West Brom 3-1 in the first round before a tricky away tie at Chesterfield was negotiated with a 3-0 win. In the next round, a narrow 1-0 win spelled the end for Bradford City, before a classic of a quarter final saw Sheffield Wednesday depart from the competition in a 4-3 win for the Everton. And then, the mother of all semi finals, a 2-0 victory over neighbours Liverpool.

The final itself was a dour affair by all accounts - these things so often are. However, the Toffees' winner, coming with just 13 minutes of the match left was worthy of being the winner of an FA Cup Final. It was set up by Jack Sharp on the right wing as, after taking Jack Taylor's pass, he centred for Alex Young to apply the necessary finish past a despairing Lawrence in the Magpies' goal.

Alex "Sandy" Young was a Scotland International who played for the Toffeemen between 1901 and 1911. He scored a total of 109 League goals for Everton in a total of 275 League appearances. As well as registering the only goal in the 1906 FA Cup final at Crystal Palace, he is the Blues' fourth most prolific goalscorer - only William Ralph "Dixie" Dean, Bob Latchford and Graeme Sharp scored more. Following his FA Cup exploits of 1906, he was the top scorer in the football league in season 1906-07 - including a brace in Everton's pleasing 2-1 win at Anfield. Born in the Falkirk area in 1880, Young's demise is not known. There are a pair of conflicting stories, he was either hanged for sheep rustling in the Australian outback, or died in an Edinburgh asylum.

About the Author
Simon Lewis has been masquerading on the web as cosmicjellybaby for some time now. His primary interest, it has to be said, ever since he was a little boy, is Football (that's soccer and no other variation).

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