The foundation of Queen's Park in 1867 had begun to put football, which had persisted in various wholly unorganised recreational forms for centuries, on a more organised basis.

A number of other clubs had come into being, occasionally playing challenge matches against each other, but as yet no governing body for the game or organised competitions existed within Scotland.

As it was not yet apparent that the FA and its Cup would become primarily English (as opposed to British even worldwide), Queen's Park were invited to enter.

Without any precedents to draw on, the first FA Cup was organised on a haphazard basis, as illustrated by Queen's Park's progress.

Queen's, however, could not afford to extend their stay long enough for the tie to be replayed and were forced to withdraw from the competition.