As Wrexham prepare to fly the flag for Wales in The FA Cup Second Round, we look back at the history of clubs from across the Bristol Channel in the famous competition.
The FA Cup has never been exclusively for English clubs.
That is it is never referred to as 'The English FA Cup' or 'The English Cup'.
A sprinkling of Welsh, Scottish and Irish clubs took part in the 19th century and some Welsh clubs still do.
Indeed, a Welsh team played in The Final only six years ago.
Wrexham v Maidstone United
FA Cup Second Round Proper
5.30pm, Saturday 6 December
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Live on BBC Wales
The first Welsh entrants into The FA Cup were Druids FC in 1876.
It was only the sixth season of the competition. The club itself was just two years old and started playing at Plas Madoc Park in Ruabon.
They were scheduled to play Shropshire Wanderers but had to scratch.
In the following year they finally saw some First Round action, edging Shropshire Wanderers 1-0 at home.
They had a walkover in the Second Round after Queen’s Park (Glasgow) scratched and then went down 8-0 at Royal Engineers in Round Three.
The club folded in 1918.
Cardiff City line up ahead of the 2008 Final at Wembley
Cardiff City famously took The FA Cup out of England after winning the 1927 Final at Wembley.
It was the Bluebirds’ second Final in three years, Sheffield United beating them with Fred Tunstall’s goal in ’25.
In their glory year Fred Keenor’s men knocked out Aston Villa (2-1), Darlington (2-0), Bolton Wanderers (3-0), Chelsea (3-2 after a 0-0 draw) and Reading (3-0 at Molineux).
Cardiff City captain, Fred Keenor (R), shakes hands with the Arsenal captain before the 1927 FA Cup final
The only goal of The Final was scored on 74 minutes by Hughie Ferguson, his low shot fumbled over the line by Arsenal’s Welsh international goalie Dan Lewis.
Cardiff had to wait 81 years to take part in another FA Cup Final – although the city did host the showpiece fixture for six years while Wembley was being rebuilt between
Portsmouth beat them 1-0 in 2008, Nwankwo Kanu scoring, and the attendance of 89,874 is still the best for any match at the new Wembley.
Swansea City played in two FA Cup Semi-Finals when they were known as ‘Swansea Town’.
They lost 3-0 to Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane in 1926 – the ‘20s were a great decade for Welsh clubs – and 2-1 to Preston North End at Villa Park in 1964.
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final between 2001 and 2006
Wrexham reached the Quarter-Finals in 1974, 1978 and 1997 and the original Newport County made it to the Fifth Round in 1949, going out to Portsmouth at Fratton Park 3-2 after extra time.
Other Welsh clubs who have made their mark in the Competition Proper include Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Llanelli, Lovell’s Athletic and Merthyr Tydfil.
A team called ‘Wrexham Olympic’ played in the Second Round three times in the 1880s.
