1886-87
Villa started their road to The Oval (then the home of FA Cup finals) with a club record 13–0 victory over Wednesbury Old Athletic that still stands today. After Derby Midland were beaten (6–1) Villa needed four matches (three replays) to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers. A bye in the Fourth Round added to victories over Horncastle and Darwen meant that Villa were set for their first Semi-Final, against Scottish giants Rangers, to be played at Crewe.
In a bid to win the trophy, the Scottish FA allowed Rangers to borrow players from other clubs. Consequently, stars from Queen's Park and Hibernian were amongst the eleven that lined up to face Villa. However Villa won 3–1 to reach their first FA Cup final.
The Final pitted Villa against local rivals West Bromwich Albion. With Albion installed as favourites, thousands travelled from Birmingham and the Black Country to watch the game. Winger Dennis Hodgetts opened the scoring for Villa in bizarre circumstances. The Albion keeper didn't bother to prevent the ball going into the net, as he believed, wrongly, that Hodgetts was offside. The legendary Archie Hunter added Villa's second. He prodded the ball over the goal-line while lying on the floor following a deliberate collision with the West Brom goalkeeper. Such 'attacks' on goalies were legal and commonplace back then. After a goalless second half, Hunter received the trophy, and with it the distinction of being Villa's first FA Cup winning captain.
Villa's team in their first FA Cup Final was as follows- Jimmy Warner (goalkeeper); Frank Coulton, Joseph Simmonds (backs), John Burton, Frederick Dawson, Harry Yates (centre/wing-halves), Richmond Davis, Albert Brown, Archie Hunter (c), Howard Vaughton, Dennis Hodgetts (forwards).
To add gloss to their victory Villa took on, and defeated, Scottish Cup winners Hibs the following Saturday. They could now make a legitimate claim to being 'best club in the World'.
Read more about this topic: Aston Villa F.C. In The 1880s