Sheffield United: 1901 FA Cup Final original postcard of Blades v Tottenham Hotspur game for sale at auction

The Blades drew the final 2-2 on April 20, 1901, in front of a world record attendance of just over 110,000 supporters at the Crystal Palace stadium in South London.

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They lost 3-1 in a replay a week later, with a reduced crowd of around 20,000 at Burnden Park in Bolton.

The final was the first time the clubs had faced each other.

The black and white postcard shows a Sheffield United player attempting an overhead kick near the halfway line of the pitch.

United donned their iconic white and red stripes and Spurs wore a plain white strip for the clash.

The postcard, listed by Midlands Sports Auctions, is part of a three-day auction and is currently selling at £30, with bidding

ending at 1pm on April 14.

The postcard has an auctioneer’s estimated value of £35 to £40.

The seller describes the photo as: “Used and slight marks across corners from when it’s been housed in album, still good for age.”

The Blades reached every FA final between 1899 and 1902 and won the historical trophy twice in those four years.

This is the only game Sheffield United has lost to Tottenham in the FA Cup having faced each other three times since, the latest being March last year when Sheffield United won 1-0.

The two clubs have played 96 times in their history with the Blades winning 30, drawing 27 and losing 39 times.

The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is the oldest football competition in the sports history, introduced in 1871 and first won by Wanders, a team of former public schoolboys from London.

Sheffield United won four FA cups in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925.

The 1901 Tottenham side was the only time since the formation of The Football League in 1888 that a club from outside the League won the cup.

Originally FA Cup draws after 90 minutes would result in a replay. Replays were removed for the semi-final and final matches in the year 2000.

Quarter-final replays were removed in the 2016-17 season and fifth-round replays were axed in 2019/20.

The FA intend to carry on this trend with much criticised plans to scrap third and fourth- round replays.

Midlands Sports Auctions have also listed Sheffield Wednesday autographs from their victorious FA cup winning 1935 campaign.

The postcard listing can be viewed here.