28th January 1888 - FAC loss in the 6th round

[erimus74]

Looking through the history books, we reached the 6th round before joining the football league in 1899 & even back then right when everything is going really well we somehow mess it up

Our run:-

Qualifying round - Started at Linthorpe road with a 6-0 home win over Hallam
Round 1 - Beating Whitburn 4-0 at Linthorpe road
Round 2 - We beat South bank 4-1 again home cup tie
Round 3 - Drew with Sunderland 2-2 at home
We lost the away replay 4-2 but Boro were awarded the win due to Sunderland been disqualified because of veiled professionalism
Round 4 - We won ourselves a Bye
Round 5 - Again at Linthorpe road v Old Foresters, Boro winning 4-0
Old Foresters complained the state of the pitch contributed to the scorline, the ref reported that in places the ground was covered in sand & tan & therefore the conditions did not allow for a 'fair battle to be raged'
The association ruled that a replay was to be played on the 21st January at Linthorpe road & if the ground was still unfit then the tie should be switched to Sheffield. On hearing the tie was to be played at Middlesbrough Old Foresters declined & were scratched from the competition
Round 6 - Crewe at Linthorpe road, Boro in the 11th hour in typical Boro fashion, so early in our existence blew it

Home ties all the way through, including a bye & a defeat scratched out