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1924 FA Cup final

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1924 FA Cup final
Illustrated programme
Event1923–24 FA Cup
Newcastle United Aston Villa
2 0
Date26 April 1924
VenueEmpire Stadium, London
RefereeW. E. Russell (Swindon)
Attendance91,695
WeatherRain
← 1923
1925 →

The 1924 FA Cup final was the deciding match of the 1923–24 FA Cup, contested by Newcastle United and Aston Villa at the Empire Stadium, Wembley. Newcastle won 2–0, with the goals scored by Neil Harris and Stan Seymour.

Route to the Final

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Main article: 1923–24 FA Cup

Newcastle United

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Round Opposition Score Venue
1st Portsmouth 4–2 Fratton Park (a)
2nd Derby County 2–2 Baseball Ground (a)
2nd
(replay) 		Derby County 2–2 aet St James' Park (h)
2nd
(2nd replay) 		Derby County 2–2 aet Burnden Park (n)
2nd
(3rd replay) 		Derby County 5–3 St James' Park (h)
3rd Watford 1–0 Vicarage Road (a)
Quarter-final Liverpool 1–0 St James' Park (h)
Semi-final Manchester City 2–0 St Andrew's (n)

Newcastle's FA Cup run began with a 4–2 win away to Portsmouth of the Third Division South. They then required four matches to beat Second Division Derby County, with Neil Harris scoring a hat-trick in an eventual 5–3 win after the first three matches between the teams had all been drawn 2–2. After beating another Third Division South team, Watford, and the reigning First Division champions Liverpool, Newcastle faced Manchester City in the semi-finals at St Andrew's. City's team included the 49-year-old forward Billy Meredith. Newcastle won 2–0 with two further goals from Harris to reach the final.[1]

Aston Villa

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Round Opposition Score Venue
1st Ashington 5–1 Portland Park (a)
2nd Swansea Town 2–0 Vetch Field (a)
3rd Leeds United 3–0 Villa Park (h)
Quarter-final West Bromwich Albion 2–0 The Hawthorns (a)
Semi-final Burnley 3–0 Bramall Lane (n)

Aston Villa's route to the final was rather more straightforward than that of their Wembley opponents, as they scored 15 goals and conceded just one in five consecutive wins. After beating lower league teams Ashington, Swansea Town and Leeds United in the early rounds, they then defeated two previous Cup winners from the lower half of the First Division, West Bromwich Albion and Burnley.[1] Their goals in the semi-final came from Dicky York, who scored twice, and Billy Kirton.[2] Len Capewell scored six goals in their cup run, including at least one in each of the first four rounds.[1]

Pre-match

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At the time of the 1923–24 season, Aston Villa had already won the FA Cup six times, most recently against Huddersfield Town in 1920. By contrast, Newcastle had only one previous success in the competition, in 1910, although they had been runners-up four times between 1905 and 1911. Their first Cup final, in 1905, had ended in a 2–0 defeat to Aston Villa, with Harry Hampton scoring both goals.[1]

On 12 April, the Empire Stadium hosted its first international match, when England played Scotland in the last match of the Home Championship.[3] The result, a 1–1 draw, left England in last place in the competition. Newcastle's Charlie Spencer made his England debut, and faced his club team-mates Billy Cowan and Neil Harris, who were both making their first appearances for Scotland. Aston Villa's Tommy Smart, Frank Moss and Billy Walker were also in England's team, and George Blackburn was an unused squad member.[4] Moss captained England, although Walker was his captain at club level, and Walker had the honour of scoring England's first goal at the new stadium.[5]

During the 1923–24 First Division season, both Newcastle and Aston Villa occupied a position in the top half of the table, as they had each season since the end of the First World War. Newcastle beat Aston Villa 4–1 at St James' Park on New Year's Day, but when the teams met again at Villa Park on Easter Monday, just five days before the Cup final, Aston Villa won convincingly, 6–1, with Walker scoring a hat-trick.[6] It was Villa's biggest League win of the season and the first time Newcastle had conceded six in a League match since 1909.[7] Newcastle fielded a virtual reserve team for this match, with only Willie Gibson keeping his place for the Cup final, but their Scottish goalkeeper Sandy Mutch suffered a serious knee injury that ruled him out of the final and prematurely ended his career.[8] Mutch had played for Huddersfield Town in two previous finals, including the 1920 match against Aston Villa.[9]

The match was hugely anticipated, with The Manchester Guardian reporting that the finalists "represent all that is best and most clever in English football".[10] Aston Villa were the favourites, and were described as having "a more skilful line of half-backs, and superior defence".[11] Villa's team retained five players who had appeared in the club's previous final in 1920: Smart, Moss, Walker, the inside-right Billy Kirton, who had scored the only goal in extra-time in that final, and the outside-left Arthur Dorrell. Six of Villa's team were England internationals, with Kirton, Tommy Mort and Dicky York also having won international caps.[12] In contrast, the three players who had made their debuts in the recent England-Scotland fixture were the only internationals in Newcastle's line-up. Newcastle's team contained five Scottish players, while Vic Milne, a qualified doctor, was the only Scotsman in Villa's side.[9]

On Saint George's Day, three days before the final, King George V opened the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley Park, the area adjoining the Empire Stadium, and delivered a speech that was broadcast by radio.[13][14] That evening, around 300 Newcastle supporters set sail for London on board the tramp steamer, SS Bernicia.[15]

Match

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In response to the major crowd congestion that had occurred during the first Wembley final the following year, an all-ticket policy was introduced, with loudspeakers used to assist with crowd control, and at 91,695 the attendance was significantly below the stadium's capacity.[11] No significant congestion or disorder was reported either in crowds queueing for the British Empire Exhibition or in those entering the stadium.[16] There had been an expectation that the King would attend, but he was represented instead by the Duke and Duchess of York, with Prince Arthur of Connaught, the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and his daughter Ishbel, the Home Secretary Arthur Henderson and the Secretary of State for the Colonies J. H. Thomas also present.[16]

The weather in the days before the final had remained unsettled and heavy rain fell in the hours before the match started.[16]. As a consequence, the pitch was "greasy and treacherous".[17]

Although Aston Villa had more possession, they could not capitalise and their forwards were described as having "no adventure in their shots".[11] With the match still goalless as it moved into the closing stages, a flurry of activity took place in the last eight minutes. First Newcastle took the lead through Harris after a combination move begun by Spencer and also involving McDonald and Cowan. Immediately after the restart, Kirton headed just wide, but then Newcastle's outside-left Seymour scored a decisive second goal with a "glorious shot".[11]

The Duke of York presented the Cup to Newcastle's captain, Hudspeth, and the crowd dispersed quickly and without incident after the match.[16]

Newcastle's team included Billy Hampson, who was aged 39 but for many years was incorrectly named as the oldest known player to have appeared in the final, at 41.[15]

Match details

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Newcastle United2–0Aston Villa
Harris 83'
Seymour 85'		 (Report)
Attendance: 91,695
Referee: W. E. Russell (Swindon)

Post-match

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Newcastle United's captain Frank Hudspeth with the FA Cup trophy following the match

The Newcastle team celebrated with a champagne reception at the Hotel Russell on the evening of the final and visited Eastbourne the following day.[18] They returned to Newcastle by train on the Monday after the final, where they were received by the Lord Mayor Stephen Easten and a huge "cheering throng" of supporters before progressing to the Empire Theatre.[19] The Aston Villa team stayed at the Euston Hotel, visited Brighton on the Sunday after the match and returned to Birmingham on the Monday.[20]

On the Wednesday after the final, Aston Villa won their last League match of the season 3–1 at home to Huddersfield Town, three days before Huddersfield pipped Cardiff City to win the title on goal average. Villa finished sixth in the table, the same position as in the previous season, and Newcastle, who had already completed their League programme, finished ninth.[1]

Both teams remained among the strongest in the country in the years after the final. Newcastle won the League championship in 1926–27 and next won the Cup in 1932, when they beat Arsenal in the final. While continuing to challenge into the 1930s, Aston Villa did not win another major honour until they won the FA Cup in 1957, which remains their last success in the competition. They continued to hold or share the record for most FA Cup wins until 1991, when their total of seven was overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur.[21]

Stan Seymour went on to become Newcastle's manager and in 1951 became the first man to win the Cup as both a player and manager of the same club.[22]

Memorabilia from the match have attracted high prices at auction, with programmes selling for thousands of pounds.[23][24] In 2024, the collection of Newcastle's goalkeeper Bill Bradley, including his winner's medal, sold for more than £10,000.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Collett, Mike (1993). The Guinness Record of the FA Cup. Enfield: Guinness. ISBN 0851125387.
  2. ^ Isherwood, Glen (2003). Wembley: The FA Cup Finals. Cradley Heath: Britespot Publishing. pp. 38–9. ISBN 1904103170.
  3. ^ "England 1 - 1 Scotland". englandstats.com. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
  4. ^ "England 1 Scotland 1". englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
  5. ^ Watt, Tom; Palmer, Kevin (1998). Wembley: The Greatest Stage. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684840510.
  6. ^ "League Results and Tables". The Times. No. 43632. London. 22 April 1924. p. 5.
  7. ^ Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 1859832148.
  8. ^ "Alexander "Sandy" Mutch". toon1892.com. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  9. ^ a b "To-day's Cup Final at Wembley". The Manchester Guardian. 26 April 1924. p. 15.
  10. ^ "Cup Final day". The Manchester Guardian. 26 April 1924. p. 11.
  11. ^ a b c d Thraves, Andrew (1994). The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final. London: Wiedenfield and Nicolson. ISBN 029783407X.
  12. ^ "England Players' Clubs - Aston Villa". englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  13. ^ 20th Century Day by Day. Dorling Kindersley. 2000. p. 318. ISBN 0751321621.
  14. ^ "BBC Archive 1924: Wembley's British Empire Exhibition". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  15. ^ a b Whitehead, Richard (2022). The Cup. Chichester: Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781801500630.
  16. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference obs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ 50 Years of FA Cup Finals 1882-1932. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books Publishing. 1991 [1st pub. 1932]. p. 46. ISBN 0947808159.
  18. ^ "Back to Newcastle to-day". The Manchester Guardian. 28 April 1924. p. 8.
  19. ^ "Newcastle team's great welcome". The Manchester Guardian. 29 April 1924. p. 9.
  20. ^ "Wembley week by week". The Observer. 27 April 1924. p. 13.
  21. ^ Football Yearbook 2024-2025. London: Headline. 2024. ISBN 9781035419500.
  22. ^ Butler, Bryon (1996). The Official Illustrated History of the FA Cup. London: Headline. ISBN 0747217815.
  23. ^ "Bonhams: 1924 F.A. Cup Final programme". bonhams.com. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  24. ^ "Lot 224 - FA Cup Final programme". andersonandgarland.com. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  25. ^ "Century-old FA Cup winner's medal sells for £10k". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
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External images
image icon SS Bernicia leaving Newcastle for London for the 1924 FA Cup Final
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