After the FA Cup, the oldest knock-out competition in British Football is The Arthur Dunn Cup. It carries the name of Old Etonian Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn (1860-1902), one of the finest footballers of his generation who won five England caps and was the last amateur captain of the national team. In addition to playing for Old Etonians, including in the 1882 and 1883 FA Cup Finals, Dunn also played thirty-two times for Corinthians, scoring twelve goals. In 1901 not long before he died suddenly at the age of just forty-two, Dunn had put forward the idea of an Old Boys cup competition, no doubt mindful that the dominance of the Public Schools in the FA Cup had been broken, and the Arthur Dunn Cup was born in 1903 as a lasting memorial. The first President of the competition was Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird (1847-1923), who had played alongside Dunn as the Captain of Old Etonians. Kinnaird played in a remarkable nine FA Cup Finals, and was on the winning side five times with Eton and the Wanderers. He was later President of the Football Association, and such was his contribution that in 1911 he was presented with the FA Cup itself.

Read the rest of David Bauckham's article at https://dbauckham.exposure.co/old-school-ties and show your gratitude by voting for David in this year's Football Supporters' Federation Annual Awards at ​https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/fsf-awards-2016.

... writes award winning photographer David Bauckham in his latest photoblog featuring AFA football. In this blog he visited the Philathletic Ground for one of amateur football's most famous fixtures: Old Harrovians vs Old Etonians. David also photographed the Arthur Dunn Cup Final in April and we are grateful to him for the many photographs of his which colour our site.

To view the full article visit his blogsite at ​https://dbauckham.exposure.co/the-philathletes. 

For twenty years following the formation of the Football Association in 1863, the game was largely dominated by the clubs formed by the gentlemen amateurs of the Home Counties, most of whom had been introduced to the game whilst pupils at the various public schools. Not surprisingly, it was these sides that also dominated the early years of the FA Cup from 1871. 
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Wanderers [originally founded as Forest FC in 1859] won the first two finals and a further three in the 1870s. Old Etonians meanwhile, played in six FA Cup finals, winning twice in 1878-79 and 1881-82, defeating Blackburn Rovers on the latter occasion. Rovers had been the first provincial side to reach the Final, but the creeping threat from the North had been coming: Sheffield had been quarter-finalists three times; whilst both Nottingham Forest (twice) and Darwen had been semi-finalists.

Read the rest of David Bauckham's article at https://dbauckham.exposure.co/arthurian-legend.