The 1879 FA Cup final was contested by Old Etonians and Clapham Rovers at the Kennington Oval in London. Old Etonians won by 1–0, the only goal scored by Charles Clerke.

Although Clapham dominated the early stages of the final, with Norman Bailey having two attempts on target, Herbert Whitfeld continued to run at the Clapham defenders with little assistance from his colleagues. After a goalless first-half, the only goal of the game came after 59 minutes, when Charles Clerke scored from close range following a run from Harry Goodhart.^[1] The old Etonians thus claimed the cup for the first time in what was considered to be "the poorest FA Cup Final to date".^[2]