The Youdan Football Cup, also known as the Youdan Cup, was an 1867 Sheffield rules football competition. Preceding the FA Cup by more than four years, it was among the first tournaments in any code of football. Background The competition took its name from a local theatre owner, Thomas Youdan, who sponsored the competition and provided the trophy. Rules On 28 January 1867, representatives of thirteen football clubs from the Sheffield area met at the Adelphi Hotel to form the "Youdan Prize Committee". The committee drew up the following regulations to govern the tournament: Matches would be played under Sheffield Rules. Matches would start at three o'clock, with two umpires and one referee. There would be 12 players on each side. Games would last ninety minutes. If the scores were tied, up to one hour of extra time would be played, with the first team to score during this period being declared the winner. If scores were still tied after extra time, the match would be replayed. After the first round, the committee added a new rule that "the referee shall have power to award a Free Kick to the opponents of any Club, which makes more than three fouls or kicks-out, when the ball is being thrown in, if he (the referee) considers those fouls or kicks-out to be intentional". Participating teams Format The competition was organized as a straight knockout tournament, with two exceptions: Because twelve teams entered the tournament, there were three teams remaining after two rounds: one team, drawn at random, received a bye to the final, while the other two teams played a semi-final to determine the other finalist. After the final had been played, it was decided to hold a second-place playoff between the losing finalist and the losing semi-finalist. The semi-final, final and second-place playoff were all held at Bramall Lane, which at the time was primarily a cricket ground. Results Under the Sheffield Rules of the time, the rouge was used as a tiebreaker if both teams scored an equal number of goals. Of the thirteen matches played in the tournament, seven were goalless, of which six were decided by rouges. Only one goal was scored after the first round. In the results below, rouges are shown in brackets beneath the main scoreline. First round Second round Replay Semi-finals Final Second place play-off Trophy The Youdan Prize Committee invited members of the