[5] Its first impact on the football world was when the club beat Bolton Wanderers 2–1 in the first round of the competition in 1883–84; a result which was considered a surprise by the club itself,[6] with the Liverpool Mercury remarking that "a greater surprise than was witnessed at Bolton on Saturday is not likely to take place throughout the competition for the Lancashire Cup”.
[7] The only two downsides were that one of the Wanderers, Marsden, broke his leg after an accidental collision with a team-mate, and that the referee, a Mr Ormerod from Accrington, was attacked by the aghast home crowd.
[8] The Wanderers made it through to the quarter-finals of the local competition, and were not disgraced in a 2–1 defeat at the mighty Blackburn Rovers, although the club's style was described as "rough".
In the first round the club was drawn away to Higher Walton, with Mr Ormerod again acting as referee;[10] The match ended in a draw, but the Wanderers won the replay 4–1, with two goals disallowed.
[13] In an ominous sign for the future, on the same day, Burnley's new professionals played a friendly against Wolverhampton Wanderers and won 4–1.
[16] In the third round, however, Blackburn Rovers, who had been illegally employing professionals for a couple of years, were able to field a full-strength side, and beat the Old Wanderers 6–1.
[21] Burnley got a measure of revenge in the FA Cup, beating the Old Wanderers 4–0, with 3,000 attending at Turf Moor;[22] however the FA ordered a replay at Pot House because of doubts over the eligibility of some of the Burnley players,[23] and the cash-strapped Old Wanderers agreed to forfeit the tie in return for a monetary payment.
Harkins suffered an injury which turned into an abscess, from which he died on 1 January 1888, the jury returning a verdict of accidental death.
[25] In November 1887, after losing at Port Vale, the Old Wanderers midfielder James Richardson leaned on the train door, which opened and threw him onto the tracks; fortunately he was not seriously injured.