21 April 1906
Everton 1-0 Newcastle United
The Crystal Palace Stadium
FA Cup Final
Attendance: 58,523
Everton's third appearance in an FA Cup final proved to be lucky as the Blues defeated strong favourites Newcastle by a solitary goal at the Crystal Palace stadium.
Newcastle had been beaten at the same stage 12 months earlier denying them a League and Cup double and were expected to make amends against their Merseyside opponents.
Everton remained quietly confident, happy in their role as underdogs, that this would be the occasion when they finally got their hands on the most famous knockout trophy in the world. Having missed out in 1893 and 1897 they were looking forward to proving the experts wrong.
Seventy-five thousand people packed into the Crystal Palace stadium on a bright and breezy April afternoon, many of whom had made the long journey south from Liverpool and Tyneside. The teams themselves were so determined to put out their best eleven that both had been fined for fielding weakened teams the previous week.
The first half was a dull affair, with both sides failing to convert chances as the forwards seemed to be suffering from stage fright. The game was failing to live up to expectations as the two giants battled to gain midfield supremacy.
In the days running up to the match, Newcastle's much vaunted half-back line had promised to make mincemeat out of the Goodison forwards, but while clear-cut chances were few, Evertonians knew that with players such as Sandy Young and Jimmy Settle in their side they stood a chance.
It was Settle who saw a fierce header saved by Lawrence after 15 minutes but generally the penetration, which had been Everton's key to their success in previous rounds, seemed to have deserted them on the big day. Newcastele were also restricted to two half-chances, neither of which proved fruitful.
Eight minutes into the second half, by which time Everton were in total command, the deadlock appeared to have been broken when United keeper, Lawrence, failed to hold a Sharp cross. Settle passed the ball across to Young and he turned the ball home - only to be ruled offside.
Frustrated at the prospect of a successive cup final defeat Newcastle started to throw their weight around and the referee was forced to stop the game in order to warn the Magpies about their ungentlemanly conduct. Everton were again in the ascendancy and it was not long before the telling goal came.
With only 13 minutes left, Taylor, the sole survivor of the Blues' previous cup final appearance, found Sharp. Sharp evaded two lunging tackles by United defenders before sending in a low centre to Young. This time there was no linesman's flag as Young fired beyond Lawrence to bring the FA Cup back to Goodison for the first time.
