1949 FA Cup Final

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1949 FA Cup Final was contested by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City at Wembley. 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.

Wolves 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 (then) HRH The Princess Elizabeth.

1 Match summary
2 Match details
3 Road to Wembley
- 3.1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- 3.2 Leicester City
4 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] Match details

1949-04-30 15:00 BST	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3 – 1	Leicester City	Wembley, London Attendance: 98,920 Referee: R. A. Mortimer
	Pye 13' 42' Smyth 47'		Griffiths 46'	Wembley, London Attendance: 98,920 Referee: R. A. Mortimer


WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS:
	1	Bert Williams
	2	Roy Pritchard
	3	Terry Springthorpe
	4	Billy Crook
	5	Bill Shorthouse
	6	Billy Wright (c)
	7	Johnny Hancocks
	8	Sammy Smyth
	9	Jesse Pye
	10	James Dunn
	11	Jimmy Mullen
Manager:
Stan Cullis


LEICESTER CITY:
	1	Gordon Bradley
	2	Horace Jelly
	3	Alex Scott
	4	Walter Harrison
	5	Norman Plummer (c)
	6	John King
	7	Mal Griffiths
	8	Jackie Lee
	9	James Harrison
	10	Ken Chisholm
	11	Charlie Adam
Manager:
Johnny Duncan