1949 FA Cup final

The 1949 FA Cup final was the 68th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 30 April 1949 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City. Wolves had finished sixth in the First Division that season and had several England internationals among their ranks, while Leicester had narrowly avoided relegation from the Second Division and were making their first Wembley appearance.

1949 FA Cup Final
Event1948–49 FA Cup
Date30 April 1949
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeReg Mortimer (Huddersfield)
Attendance98,920

Wolves won the match 3–1, thus winning the FA Cup for the third time. Jesse Pye (2) and Sammy Smyth scored Wolves' goals, with Mal Griffiths replying for Leicester. Captain Billy Wright was presented with the cup by Princess Elizabeth.

Road to Wembley

Leicester City

3rd RoundLeicester City1–1Birmingham City
3rd Round (Replay)Birmingham City1–1Leicester City
3rd Round (2nd Replay)Leicester City2–1Birmingham City
4th RoundLeicester City2–0Preston North End
5th RoundLuton Town5–5Leicester City
5th Round (Replay)Leicester City5–3Luton Town
6th RoundBrentford0–2Leicester City
Semi-finalPortsmouth1–3Leicester City [1]
(at Highbury)

Wolverhampton Wanderers

3rd RoundWolverhampton Wanderers6–0Chesterfield
4th RoundSheffield United0–3Wolverhampton Wanderers
5th RoundWolverhampton Wanderers3–1Liverpool
6th RoundWolverhampton Wanderers1–0West Bromwich Albion
Semi-finalWolverhampton Wanderers1–1Manchester United
(at Hillsborough)
Semi-final (Replay)Manchester United0–1Wolverhampton Wanderers
(at Goodison Park)

Match summary

Wolves started determinedly and took a 13th-minute lead when Jesse Pye, who had been preferred to Dennis Wilshaw, stooped to head in an inch-perfect Hancocks cross. Leicester kept Wolves at bay until almost half-time, when Pye collected the ball in the penalty area with his back to goal, after the Foxes had struggled to clear a corner, and turned to slam it home for his second.

Leicester brought the game to life immediately after the interval courtesy of Mal Griffiths, who flicked the ball home after Williams parried Chisholm's initial effort. Within minutes, they believed they were level only for a narrow offside decision to rule out Chisholm's finish. Sammy Smyth quickly turned the game around when he picked up the ball in the centre circle and drove through the Leicester defence before hitting the ball low into the far corner to make it 3–1 and clinch the cup for Molineux men for the third time in their history. It was the first of five major trophies that they would win under the management of Stan Cullis.

Leicester were without two of their key players for the game, both of them ruled out by injury. Goalkeeper Ian McGraw was unable to play due to a broken finger, while Don Revie had suffered a nose injury.

Match details

Leicester City1–3Wolverhampton Wanderers
Griffiths 47' Report Pye 13', 42'
Smyth 64'
Attendance: 98,920
Referee: R. A. Mortimer (Huddersfield)
Leicester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
1England Gordon Bradley
2England Ted Jelly
3Scotland Sandy Scott
4England Walter Harrison
5England Norman Plummer (c)
6England Johnny King
7Wales Mal Griffiths
8England Jack Lee
9England Jimmy Harrison
10Scotland Ken Chisholm
11Scotland Charlie Adam
Manager:
Scotland Johnny Duncan
1England Bert Williams
2England Roy Pritchard
3United States Terry Springthorpe
4England Billy Crook
5England Bill Shorthouse
6England Billy Wright (c)
7England Johnny Hancocks
8Northern Ireland Sammy Smyth
9England Jesse Pye
10Scotland Jimmy Dunn
11England Jimmy Mullen
Manager:
England Stan Cullis

References

  1. "The Giant Killers". Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
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