The 2024 FA Cup final between Manchester United and City is already much anticipated, as these local rivals get ready to resume their rivalry at Wembley this weekend for the 193rd time.

The match between the Premier League winners City and United on Saturday (live on ESPN+ at 10 AM ET) will mark the first time ever that the same two English teams have faced off in consecutive FA Cup finals. This hasn’t occurred since the 1800s, when Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park, a Scottish team, squared off in successive championships.

Ilkay Gundogan’s incredible performance, which saw him score both of City’s goals at Wembley, helped Manchester City defeat United 2-1 in the previous season’s final. The two Manchester rivals will now square off at Wembley once more, with United seeking retribution and City hoping to pull off an incredible double-double (winning the FA Cup and the league title in the same season).

Both teams will go down in history as the only teams to have participated in successive FA Cup finals, along with Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park. In front of 4,000 spectators at London’s Kennington Oval cricket ground on March 29, 1884, Blackburn emerged victorious in both meetings, winning 2-1. Even though they lost, Queens Park made history by being the first Scottish team to play in the English football final; they had even defeated Blackburn Olympic, the reigning champions.

In the FA Cup final, which was played for the fourteenth time, Rovers triumphed 2-0 at the Oval the following year to repeat their success. Manchester City and Manchester United will face off in the FA Cup final at Wembley for the first time in 139 years.

What? An English FA Cup team featuring a Scottish team?

Indeed, Queens Park is Scotland’s oldest professional club; it should not be mistaken with the English team Queens Park Rangers. Queens Park was established in 1867 and is still in operation today. They compete in the Scottish Championship and were just about spared relegation the previous year. Between 1874 and 1893, Queens Park won the Scottish Cup ten times, demonstrating their remarkable success in the late 19th century. They’d won the Scottish Cup before they made it to the FA Cup final in the 1883–84 season, thus on March 29 they played Blackburn Rovers in an uncommon double event.

Queens Park became the only Scottish team among the 100 entrants to the 1883–84 FA Cup after first turning down the invitation from the (English) Football Association multiple times.

The Passing Game’s founders

Before Pep Guardiola, tiki-taka, and juego de posición, Queens Park pioneered the modern passing game a century ago. Before the 1870s, there had been no tactical change; this is credited to the Scottish club. Queens Park, dubbed “combination football” at the time, took a methodical approach to passing, focusing on preserving possession and moving up the field with coordinated, short passes between teammates as opposed to dribbling upfield or kicking the ball far and running after it.

The combination method gained popularity in Scottish football and was greatly admired by English teams, who started to “import” Scottish players, referred to as “professors,” in order to change their football culture and adjust their tactics.

The Cup Run in Queens Park Had An Unexpectedly High Scoring

Queens Park easily won the competition after accepting the FA’s invitation, particularly in the early stages when they scored more than ten goals in consecutive games. They overachieved by defeating Manchester Rugby Club 15-0 in the second round after easily defeating Crewe Alexandra 10-0 in the first. They advanced to the fifth round after beating Oswestry Town (7-1) and Aston Villa (6-1). There, they narrowly overcame Old Westminster 1-0 at the Oval, due to a goal by Davie Allan in the 60th minute.

Because of their domination, Queens Park won the Scottish Cup without even having to play a match in between their FA Cup commitments.On Saturday, May 25, live coverage of the FA Cup final between Manchester United and City—the 12-time winners—will be hosted by Gary Lineker at Wembley.

The FA Cup final will be played by the same two clubs in successive years for the first time since 1885. A year ago, Bruno Fernandes, the captain of United, scored a penalty kick, but Ilkay Gundogan, the captain of City, scored twice to secure the victory.
What time does iPlayer and TV broadcast the FA Cup final?

Kickoff is scheduled for 3 PM BST, although BBC One and BBC iPlayer will begin airing the action from 1:50 PM.

Gary Lineker will be joined by Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards, with Guy Mowbray and Alan Shearer providing commentary.
Get ready for the Wembley final and see the Premier League’s biggest teams and non-league icons perform in the most recent FA Cup 23/24 Road to Wembley campaign, which airs on BBC One at 1:15 PM and is currently available on iPlayer.