1949 FA Cup Final

1949 FA Cup Final
Event 1948–49 FA Cup
Date 30 April 1949
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Referee R. A. Mortimer
Attendance 98,920

The 1949 FA Cup Final was contested by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium. Wolves finished 6th in the First Division during that season, and boasted several England internationals among their ranks, while Leicester City had struggled to avoid relegation in the Second Division and were making their first Wembley appearance.

Wolverhampton won the match 3–1, with goals by Jesse Pye (2) and Sammy Smyth. Mal Griffiths scored the Foxes' reply. Captain Billy Wright was presented with the cup by HRH The Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II).

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
(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 calmed Wolves' nerves when 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 a third time.

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

30 April 1949
15:00 BST
Leicester City 1–3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Griffiths  47' Report Pye  13', 42'
Smyth  64'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 98,920
Referee: R. A. Mortimer (Huddersfield)
Leicester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
1 England Gordon Bradley
2 England Ted Jelly
3 Scotland Sandy Scott
4 England Walter Harrison
5 England Norman Plummer (c)
6 England Johnny King
7 Wales Mal Griffiths
8 England Jack Lee
9 England Jimmy Harrison
10Scotland Ken Chisholm
11Scotland Charlie Adam
Manager:
Scotland Johnny Duncan
1 England Bert Williams
2 England Roy Pritchard
3 England Terry Springthorpe
4 England Billy Crook
5 England Bill Shorthouse
6 England Billy Wright (c)
7 England Johnny Hancocks
8 Northern Ireland Sammy Smyth
9 England Jesse Pye
10Scotland Jimmy Dunn
11England Jimmy Mullen
Manager:
England Stan Cullis

External links

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