1952–53 FA Cup

1952–53 FA Cup
Tournament details
Country	England; Wales
Defending champions	Newcastle United
Final positions
Champions	Blackpool (1st title)
Runner-up	Bolton Wanderers
	← 1951–52 1953–54 →

The 1952–53 FA Cup was the 72nd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Blackpool won the competition for the first time, beating Bolton Wanderers 4–3 in the final at Wembley.

Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. Some matches, however, might be rescheduled for other days if there were clashes with games for other competitions or the weather was inclement. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.

Calendar

Round	Date
Preliminary round	Saturday 13 September 1952
First round qualifying	Saturday 27 September 1952
Second round qualifying	Saturday 11 October 1952
Third round qualifying	Saturday 25 October 1952
Fourth round qualifying	Saturday 8 November 1952
First round proper	Saturday 22 November 1952
Second round proper	Saturday 6 December 1952
Third round proper	Saturday 10 January 1953
Fourth round proper	Saturday 31 January 1953
Fifth round proper	Saturday 14 February 1953
Sixth round proper	Saturday 28 February 1953
Semi-finals	Saturday 21 March 1953
Final	Saturday 2 May 1953

Qualifying rounds

Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 30 places available in the first round.

The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Ashington, North Shields, Bishop Auckland, Horden Colliery Welfare, Scarborough, Netherfield, Ashton United, Rhyl, Bangor City, Kidderminster Harriers, Wellington Town, Beighton Miners Welfare, Gainsborough Trinity, Boston United, Hereford United, Selby Town, Peterborough United, Grays Athletic, Leytonstone, Great Yarmouth Town, Finchley, Tonbridge, Wimbledon, Hendon, Guildford City, Weymouth, Newport (IOW), Bath City, Yeovil Town and Llanelli.

Those advancing to the competition proper for the first time were Beighton Miners Welfare, Selby Town and Grays Athletic. Additionally, Hendon had not featured at this stage since 1934–35, Boston United had not done so since 1936-37 and Ashton United had not done so since 1887-88 when the club was still known as Hurst.

Finchley was the most successful club from the qualifying rounds this season, participating in seven rounds of the competition. They defeated Clapton, Woodford Town, Eton Manor, Chelmsford City, Kidderminster Harriers and Crystal Palace before going out in the third round to Shrewsbury Town.

First round proper

At this stage the 48 clubs from the Football League Third Division North and South joined the 30 non-league clubs who came through the qualifying rounds. The final two non-league sides in the draw, Walthamstow Avenue and Leyton, were given byes to this round as the champions and runners-up from the previous season's FA Amateur Cup.

Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 22 November 1952. Fourteen were drawn and went to replays, with two going on to second replays.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Chester	0–1	Hartlepools United	22 November 1952
2	Chesterfield	1–0	Workington	22 November 1952
3	Darlington	2–3	Grimsby Town	22 November 1952
4	Bath City	3–1	Southend United	22 November 1952
5	Tonbridge	2–2	Norwich City	22 November 1952
Replay	Norwich City	1–0	Tonbridge	27 November 1952
6	Weymouth	1–1	Colchester United	22 November 1952
Replay	Colchester United	4–0	Weymouth	27 November 1952
7	Yeovil Town	1–4	Brighton & Hove Albion	22 November 1952
8	Leyton	0–0	Hereford United	22 November 1952
Replay	Hereford United	3–2	Leyton	27 November 1952
9	Gainsborough Trinity	1–1	Netherfield (Kendal)	22 November 1952
Replay	Netherfield (Kendal)	0–3	Gainsborough Trinity	27 November 1952
10	Swindon Town	5–0	Newport (IOW)	22 November 1952
11	Scarborough	0–8	Mansfield Town	22 November 1952
12	Ipswich Town	2–2	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	22 November 1952
Replay	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	2–2	Ipswich Town	26 November 1952
Replay	Ipswich Town	3–2	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	1 December 1952
13	Tranmere Rovers	8–1	Ashington	22 November 1952
14	Wellington Town	1–1	Gillingham	22 November 1952
Replay	Gillingham	3–0	Wellington Town	26 November 1952
15	Kidderminster Harriers	0–1	Finchley	22 November 1952
16	Queens Park Rangers	2–2	Shrewsbury Town	22 November 1952
Replay	Shrewsbury Town	2–2	Queens Park Rangers	27 November 1952
Replay	Queens Park Rangers	1–4	Shrewsbury Town	1 December 1952
17	Leytonstone	0–2	Watford	22 November 1952
18	Coventry City	2–0	Bristol City	22 November 1952
19	Bradford City	4–0	Rhyl	22 November 1952
20	Crystal Palace	1–1	Reading	22 November 1952
Replay	Reading	1–3	Crystal Palace	26 November 1952
21	Bradford Park Avenue	2–1	Rochdale	22 November 1952
22	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	1–0	Carlisle United	22 November 1952
23	Grays Athletic	0–5	Llanelli	22 November 1952
24	Port Vale	2–1	Exeter City	22 November 1952
25	Halifax Town	1–1	Ashton United	22 November 1952
Replay	Ashton United	1–2	Halifax Town	25 November 1952
26	Newport County	2–1	Walsall	22 November 1952
27	Southport	3–1	Bangor City	22 November 1952
28	Selby Town	1–5	Bishop Auckland	22 November 1952
29	Walthamstow Avenue	2–2	Wimbledon	22 November 1952
Replay	Wimbledon	0–3	Walthamstow Avenue	26 November 1952
30	York City	1–2	Barrow	22 November 1952
31	Aldershot	0–0	Millwall	22 November 1952
Replay	Millwall	7–1	Aldershot	27 November 1952
32	Guildford City	2–2	Great Yarmouth Town	22 November 1952
Replay	Great Yarmouth Town	1–0	Guildford City	27 November 1952
33	Horden CW	1–2	Accrington Stanley	22 November 1952
34	Gateshead	2–0	Crewe Alexandra	22 November 1952
35	North Shields	3–6	Stockport County	22 November 1952
36	Boston United	1–2	Oldham Athletic	22 November 1952
37	Peterborough United	2–1	Torquay United	22 November 1952
38	Leyton Orient	1–1	Bristol Rovers	22 November 1952
Replay	Bristol Rovers	1–0	Leyton Orient	24 November 1952
39	Hendon	0–0	Northampton Town	22 November 1952
Replay	Northampton Town	2–0	Hendon	27 November 1952
40	Beighton Miners Welfare	0–3	Wrexham	22 November 1952

Second round proper

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 6 December 1952, with Finchley and Crystal Palace (famously) competing on the 10th instead. Five matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Barrow	2–2	Millwall	6 December 1952
Replay	Millwall	4–1	Barrow	10 December 1952
2	Finchley	3–1	Crystal Palace	10 December 1952
3	Grimsby Town	1–0	Bath City	6 December 1952
4	Swindon Town	2–0	Northampton Town	6 December 1952
5	Shrewsbury Town	0–0	Chesterfield	6 December 1952
Replay	Chesterfield	2–4	Shrewsbury Town	10 December 1952
6	Bishop Auckland	1–4	Coventry City	6 December 1952
7	Tranmere Rovers	2–1	Hartlepools United	6 December 1952
8	Stockport County	3–1	Gillingham	6 December 1952
9	Accrington Stanley	0–2	Mansfield Town	6 December 1952
10	Great Yarmouth Town	1–2	Wrexham	6 December 1952
11	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–0	Norwich City	6 December 1952
12	Bradford City	1–1	Ipswich Town	6 December 1952
Replay	Ipswich Town	5–1	Bradford City	10 December 1952
13	Bradford Park Avenue	1–2	Gateshead	6 December 1952
14	Port Vale	0–3	Oldham Athletic	6 December 1952
15	Halifax Town	4–2	Southport	6 December 1952
16	Newport County	2–1	Gainsborough Trinity	6 December 1952
17	Walthamstow Avenue	1–1	Watford	6 December 1952
Replay	Watford	1–2	Walthamstow Avenue	10 December 1952
18	Hereford United	0–0	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	6 December 1952
Replay	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	2–1	Hereford United	11 December 1952
19	Peterborough United	0–1	Bristol Rovers	6 December 1952
20	Colchester United	3–2	Llanelli	6 December 1952

Third round proper

The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage.

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 10 January 1953, although two matches were postponed until the mid-week fixtures. Six matches were drawn and went to replays. Finchley was the last club from the qualifying rounds remaining in the draw.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Preston North End	5–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	10 January 1953
2	Leicester City	2–4	Notts County	10 January 1953
3	Aston Villa	3–1	Middlesbrough	10 January 1953
4	Sheffield Wednesday	1–2	Blackpool	10 January 1953
5	Bolton Wanderers	3–1	Fulham	14 January 1953
6	Grimsby Town	1–3	Bury	10 January 1953
7	Sunderland	1–1	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	10 January 1953
Replay	Scunthorpe & Lindsey United	1–2	Sunderland	15 January 1953
8	Derby County	4–4	Chelsea	10 January 1953
Replay	Chelsea	1–0	Derby County	14 January 1953
9	Lincoln City	1–1	Southampton	10 January 1953
Replay	Southampton	2–1	Lincoln City	14 January 1953
10	Luton Town	6–1	Blackburn Rovers	10 January 1953
11	Everton	3–2	Ipswich Town	10 January 1953
12	Shrewsbury Town	2–0	Finchley	10 January 1953
13	Tranmere Rovers	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	10 January 1953
Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	9–1	Tranmere Rovers	12 January 1953
14	Newcastle United	3–0	Swansea Town	14 January 1953
15	Manchester City	7–0	Swindon Town	10 January 1953
16	Barnsley	4–3	Brighton & Hove Albion	10 January 1953
17	Brentford	2–1	Leeds United	10 January 1953
18	Portsmouth	1–1	Burnley	10 January 1953
Replay	Burnley	3–1	Portsmouth	13 January 1953
19	West Ham United	1–4	West Bromwich Albion	10 January 1953
20	Plymouth Argyle	4–1	Coventry City	10 January 1953
21	Millwall	0–1	Manchester United	10 January 1953
22	Hull City	3–1	Charlton Athletic	10 January 1953
23	Oldham Athletic	1–3	Birmingham City	10 January 1953
24	Huddersfield Town	2–0	Bristol Rovers	10 January 1953
25	Mansfield Town	0–1	Nottingham Forest	10 January 1953
26	Halifax Town	3–1	Cardiff City	10 January 1953
27	Newport County	1–4	Sheffield United	10 January 1953
28	Arsenal	4–0	Doncaster Rovers	10 January 1953
29	Walthamstow Avenue	2–1	Stockport County	10 January 1953
30	Stoke City	2–1	Wrexham	10 January 1953
31	Rotherham United	2–2	Colchester United	10 January 1953
Replay	Colchester United	0–2	Rotherham United	15 January 1953
32	Gateshead	1–0	Liverpool	10 January 1953

Fourth round proper

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 31 January 1953. Seven matches were drawn and went to replays, which were all played in the following midweek match. Two matches then went to a second replay, with the Chelsea–West Bromwich Albion tie going to a third replay before it was settled. Walthamstow Avenue was the last non-league side left in the competition.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Blackpool	1–0	Huddersfield Town	31 January 1953
2	Burnley	2–0	Sunderland	31 January 1953
3	Preston North End	2–2	Tottenham Hotspur	31 January 1953
Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Preston North End	4 February 1953
4	Aston Villa	0–0	Brentford	31 January 1953
Replay	Brentford	1–2	Aston Villa	4 February 1953
5	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Notts County	31 January 1953
Replay	Notts County	2–2	Bolton Wanderers	5 February 1953
Replay	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Notts County	9 February 1953
6	Everton	4–1	Nottingham Forest	31 January 1953
7	Shrewsbury Town	1–4	Southampton	31 January 1953
8	Sheffield United	1–1	Birmingham City	31 January 1953
Replay	Birmingham City	3–1	Sheffield United	4 February 1953
9	Newcastle United	1–3	Rotherham United	31 January 1953
10	Manchester City	1–1	Luton Town	31 January 1953
Replay	Luton Town	5–1	Manchester City	4 February 1953
11	Manchester United	1–1	Walthamstow Avenue	31 January 1953
Replay	Walthamstow Avenue	2–5	Manchester United	5 February 1953
12	Plymouth Argyle	1–0	Barnsley	31 January 1953
13	Hull City	1–2	Gateshead	31 January 1953
14	Chelsea	1–1	West Bromwich Albion	31 January 1953
Replay	West Bromwich Albion	0–0	Chelsea	4 February 1953
Replay	Chelsea	1–1	West Bromwich Albion	9 February 1953
Replay	West Bromwich Albion	0–4	Chelsea	11 February 1953
15	Halifax Town	1–0	Stoke City	31 January 1953
16	Arsenal	6–2	Bury	31 January 1953

Fifth round proper

The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 14 February 1953. The Blackpool–Southampton game went to a replay.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Blackpool	1–1	Southampton	14 February 1953
Replay	Southampton	1–2	Blackpool	18 February 1953
2	Burnley	0–2	Arsenal	14 February 1953
3	Luton Town	0–1	Bolton Wanderers	14 February 1953
4	Everton	2–1	Manchester United	14 February 1953
5	Plymouth Argyle	0–1	Gateshead	14 February 1953
6	Chelsea	0–4	Birmingham City	14 February 1953
7	Halifax Town	0–3	Tottenham Hotspur	14 February 1953
8	Rotherham United	1–3	Aston Villa	14 February 1953

Sixth round proper

The four quarter-final ties were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 28 February 1953. The Birmingham City–Tottenham Hotspur game went to two replays before it was settled.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Aston Villa	0–1	Everton	28 February 1953
2	Arsenal	1–2	Blackpool	28 February 1953
3	Gateshead	0–1	Bolton Wanderers	28 February 1953
4	Birmingham City	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	28 February 1953
Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	2–2	Birmingham City	4 March 1953
Replay	Birmingham City	0–1	Tottenham Hotspur	9 March 1953

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 21 March 1953. Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers won their ties to meet in the final at Wembley.

21 March 1953

15:00

Blackpool	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur

Villa Park, Birmingham

21 March 1953

15:00

Bolton Wanderers	4–3	Everton

Maine Road, Manchester

Final

The 1953 FA Cup Final, known as the "Matthews Final" due to Stanley Matthews' dribbling in the last 30 minutes of the game, was contested by Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers at Wembley. Blackpool won 4–3, with Stan Mortensen the third player to score an FA Cup Final hat-trick.

2 May 1953

Blackpool	4–3	Bolton Wanderers
Mortensen 35', 68', 89' Perry 90+2'	Report	Lofthouse 2' Moir 40' Bell 55'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: B. M. Griffiths (Newport)

Blackpool

Bolton Wanderers

References

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award