The 1874 FA Cup Final was played between Oxford University A.F.C. and Royal Engineers A.F.C. on 14 March 1874 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the third final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known in the modern era as the FA Cup). Both teams had previously reached the final but been defeated by Wanderers F.C. The Engineers had reached the final with comparative ease, scoring sixteen goals and conceding only one in the four previous rounds. Oxford's opponents in the earlier rounds had included two-time former winners Wanderers. The final was decided by two goals from Oxford in the first twenty minutes. Their opponents had spent two weeks training for the match, an innovative concept at the time, but were repeatedly thwarted by Charles Nepean, the Oxford goalkeeper. The Engineers were said to have missed their best back, Lieut. Alfred Goodwyn, who had been posted overseas. The 1874 final was the only occasion upon which Oxford University won the FA Cup; the team made further appearances in the 1877 and 1880 finals, but lost on both occasions. (Full article...)

Ian Smith (1903–1972) was a rugby union wing who played 32 Tests for Scotland and two Tests for the British Isles. Born in Australia and brought up in New Zealand, he moved to England and was educated at Winchester College, before studying at Oxford University and later Edinburgh University. At Oxford he took up rugby (having only played football at school); he captained the university team to victory against Cambridge in the 1923 Varsity Match, scoring two tries. He was eventually selected for Scotland, for whom he was eligible because of his Scottish parents. He toured with the British Isles (now known as the British and Irish Lions) to South Africa in 1924, and played all four matches in Scotland's first ever Five Nations Grand Slam in 1925. He represented Scotland until 1933 when he captained them in their Triple Crown winning season. His 24 international tries, all scored in the Five Nations or Home Nations, was an international record until 1987 and a record for the Five/Six Nations until 2011. Smith still holds joint possession of the Scottish record. (Full article...)

St Peter's College became a college in 1961, having existed as "St Peter's Hall" since 1929. It is on New Inn Hall Street, on the site of two of the university's oldest academic halls, New Inn Hall and Rose Hall, founded in the 13th century. St Peter's was founded by Francis Chavasse, Bishop of Liverpool, who was concerned at the rising cost of education in British universities. His aim was to enable students who might be deterred by the costs of other colleges to obtain an Oxford education. Its buildings include an 18th-century rectory, which houses the college's entrance and library, and the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey, built in 1874, which is used as the college chapel. There are about 350 undergraduates and 130 graduates. Alumni include the former President of Ghana Edward Akufo-Addo, the Revd W. Awdry (creator of Thomas the Tank Engine), the chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the author Mike Carey. Mark Damazer, a former Controller of BBC Radio 4, has been the Master of St Peter's since 2010. (Full article...)