On 16 December 1871, he played for Wanderers in their opening match in the first season of the FA Cup. The match against Clapham Rovers was played on Clapham Common with Wanderers victorious by a 3–1 margin, in which Thomas Pelham, the son of the Earl of Chichester scored the opening goal. Despite only drawing against Crystal Palace and Queen's Park in the next two rounds, Wanderers reached the final of the tournament, where they met a team from the Royal Engineers. The final was played at the Kennington Oval on 16 March 1872 for which Lubbock was selected as one of only two defenders, with Wanderers playing with eight forwards. Despite being an "all-out attacking affair" the match was decided by a single goal, scored by Morton Betts (who played under the pseudonym, "A. H. Chequer"). The Wanderers thereby claimed the inaugural FA Cup and went on to win it five times in the first seven years. Their victory in 1872 was attributed to "the superior play of their backs".