Royal Mail puts football first as it prints FA Cup stamps

THE Royal Mail has announced the launch of a set of 10 stamps to mark the 150th anniversary of the Emirates FA Cup’s very first edition.

Royal Mail collaborated closely with The FA, choosing images that celebrate the heritage and tradition of the longest-running and most famous domestic football competition in the world. The main set of six stamps celebrate some of the themes which make the competition so prestigious, and a mixture of colour and black and white photographs relive some of the most famous moments in its 150-year history.

Stamps in the main set show:

Lifting the Cup - Arsenal players Charlie George and Frank McLintock parading the trophy in 1971.

Wembley Stadium - Crowds on the pitch at the 1923 Final – the first to be held at the original stadium in Wembley.

A Big Day Out - West Bromwich Albion supporters cheering their team in the 1968 Final.

Classic Finals - Keith Houchen equalising for Coventry against Tottenham Hotspur in the 1987 Final.

FA Cup Upsets - Lincoln City beat Burnley 1-0 in 2017 to become the first non-league side in 103 years to reach the Quarter Finals.

Royal Patronage - King George VI and Queen Elizabeth presenting the trophy to Sunderland captain Raich Carter in 1937.

A further four stamps, presented in a miniature sheet, feature a selection of the competition’s artefacts from the National Football Museum, photographed specially for the stamp issue.

For 150 years, few other sporting events have produced as much joy and heartbreak or as many moments of raw emotion.

It is a competition in which amateurs and semi-professionals can play in the finest stadia in the land, and the world’s best players run out in grounds holding only a few thousand people.

Just 12 teams took part in the inaugural 1871/72 edition, and while they might not have much else in common with the 729 modern-day sides taking part in 2021/22, they shared the same dream: glory.