1934 FA Cup Final
.jpg) |
|||||||
| Event | 1933–34 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||
| Date | 28 April 1934 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
|
← 1933
1935 →
|
|||||||
The 1934 FA Cup Final was won by Manchester City in a 2–1 win over Portsmouth. The cup is most remembered for a young Frank Swift's heroics in goal and the predictions of City forward Fred Tilson. The match was also refereed by future FIFA president Stanley Rous, in his penultimate game as an official.
Contents |
[edit] Route to the final
Both Manchester City and Portsmouth entered the competition in the third round, the entry point for First Division clubs. The third round draw saw an unusual amount of contests between First Division clubs; twelve top-flight teams faced a fellow First Division club.[1] Manchester City were among this number, with a home tie against six-time cup winners Blackburn Rovers.[2] Manchester City won 3–1 in front of the largest crowd of the round. The Manchester Guardian described City's win as "notable... ...for the surprising ease with which it was gained".[3] The wing play of Eric Brook and Ernie Toseland was central to the victory.[4] Brook scored the first goal on a rebound after his shot from a free-kick was blocked. Blackburn then equalised, but Toseland scored either side of half-time to make the score 3–1.[3] City were drawn against Hull City. They drew away, 2–2, but the Blues resoundingly won the replay 4–1. Sheffield Wednesday were the opponents in the Fifth Round. Once again a score draw was fought out. However, Manchester City won the replay by two goals to none. The Sixth Round was a home tie with Stoke City, a match seen by 84,569 fans, which is still the record highest attendance at an English club ground. The Potters were beaten 1–0, setting up an intriguing semi-final against Aston Villa, who had knocked out the three-time champions Arsenal in the previous round. The game was played at Leeds Road in Huddersfield, and produced a big shock. A lot of people were expecting a close game,[who?] but the Blues romped home with a 6–1 thrashing.
Portsmouth started away to Manchester United, who at the time of the match were in the relegation zone of the Second Division.[5] Following a 1–1 draw, Portsmouth won the Fratton Park replay 4–1. Under the guidance of Jack Tinn, Portsmouth managed to only concede five goals in the whole competition, two of those in the First Round. After defeating Grimsby and Swansea 2–0 and 1–0 respectively, they faced Bolton Wanderers in the quarter-finals. Bolton had scored 12 goals in three FA Cup games thus far, however they could not get a goal against Portsmouth, who won emphatically, 3–0. Leicester were the opponents in the Birmingham semi-final, which was won 4–1.
[edit] Final
The 1934 final was played in a thunderstorm. The storm made the ground very sluggish and slow. A shot by Rutherford span away from Frank Swift and the ball curled very nicely in the corner of the net.
At half time, Frank was blaming himself for what had happened with the goal. He was the youngest player in the team and felt he had let the team down. However, Man City's bustling forward Tilson came up to him and said "You don't need to worry, I'll plonk (score) two in (the) next half".
With just seventeen minutes to go, Jimmy Allen, Portsmouth's tall defender, left the field injured. Man City now had a man advantage. Busby took a throw in and played the ball to Brook. Brook played the ball through to Tilson, who had plenty of time to place the ball home. Gilfallan, the Portsmouth goalkeeper was out of place and Tilson had equalised. There was more to come however, as, with three minutes to go, Tilson latched on to a cross from Herd, to rifle the ball home. True to his word, Tilson had notched two goals.
At the other end of the pitch, Frank knew that all his team had to do was hold on for another two minutes and they would win. A photographer behind the goal was making him more nervous by counting down the seconds on his watch. When the game ended, Frank fainted in relief. The young goalkeeper went on to captain England in the future, his goalkeeping error forgotten.
[edit] Match details
| 28 April 1934 15:00 BST |
Manchester City | 2–1 | Portsmouth | Wembley, London Attendance: 93,258 Referee: Stanley Rous, Hertfordshire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tilson  74' 88' |
(Report) | Rutherford 28' |
       Manchester City
|
 Portsmouth
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Match rules
- 90 minutes.
- 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
- Replay if scores still level.
[edit] Road to Wembley
[edit] Manchester CityRound 3: Blackburn Rovers 1–3 Manchester City Round 4: Hull City 2–2 Manchester City
Round 5: Sheffield Wednesday 2–2 Manchester City
Round 6: Manchester City 1–0 Stoke City Semi-Final: Manchester City 6–1 Aston Villa
|
[edit] PortsmouthRound 3: Manchester United 1–1 Portsmouth
Round 4: Portsmouth 2–0 Grimsby Town Round 5: Swansea Town 0–1 Portsmouth Round 6: Bolton Wanderers 0–3 Portsmouth Semi-Final: Portsmouth 4–1 Leicester City
|
[edit] References
- ^ "The Cup That Calls: A Most Open Event". The Observer: p. 28. 1934-01-07.
- ^ "Lancashire Clubs and the FA Cup 1920–1933". The Manchester Guardian: p. 6. 1934-01-13.
- ^ a b "Manchester City Beat Blackburn". The Manchester Guardian: p. 3. 1934-01-15.
- ^ JAH Catton (1934-01-14). "Association: Great Cup Struggles". The Observer: p. 24.
- ^ "English Division Two (old) 1933–1934 : Table on 06.01.1934". Statto Organisation. http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-two-old/1933-1934/table/1934-01-06. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
