1925 FA Cup Final


The 1925 FA Cup Final was an association football match contested by Sheffield United and Cardiff City on 25 April 1925 at Wembley Stadium. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, organised by The Football Association. Sheffield United won the game with a single goal.
Both teams entered the competition in the first round and progressed through five stages to reach the final. United conceded only two goals en route to the final, both in a 3–2 victory over local rivals The Wednesday in the second round. Cardiff also conceded twice prior to the final, once in the fourth round and once in the semi-final. They did however struggle to overcome Third Division North side Darlington in the first round, needing two replays to progress. This was the first time a team from outside England had reached an FA Cup final since Scottish side Queens Park played in the 1885 final. It was also the first time a Welsh team had reached the final of the competition.
Nearly 92,000 spectators attended the final. The only goal of the game was scored by United's Fred Tunstall after 30 minutes when he dispossessed Harry Wake on the edge of the Cardiff penalty area before shooting past goalkeeper Tom Farquharson. Cardiff were unable to respond and the match finished 1–0, giving United their fourth FA Cup triumph. The match remains the last time Sheffield United have won the competition. Cardiff returned to Wembley two years later in the 1927 final to win the competition for the first time.

Route to the final

Sheffield United

Four goals by Harry Johnson helped First Division side Sheffield United defeat amateur side Corinthian 5–0 in the first round of the cup in front of a home crowd of 38,167 at Bramall Lane. This set up a second round tie against local rivals The Wednesday who took a two-goal lead in the opening ten minutes. Goals from Tommy Sampy and George Green drew United level before half-time. Another goal by Sampy early in the second half gave United a 3–2 win.
United were given another home tie in the third round where a single goal by Fred Tunstall was enough to give them a win over Everton in what was, at the time, a record attendance at Bramall Lane of 51,745. This figure was surpassed in the fourth round as 57,197 watched goals by Tunstall and Johnson give United a 2–0 home win against West Bromwich Albion.
For United's next match they travelled to a neutral venue, Stamford Bridge in London, to face Second Division side Southampton. It was United's seventh appearance in the semi-final of the competition and nearly 70,000 fans attended the tie. An own goal late in the first half gave United the lead. After the break Southampton had a chance to draw level when Harry Pantling fouled Bill Rawlings in the penalty area. The resulting penalty was taken by Tom Parker but his shot was saved by Charles Sutcliffe. This was soon followed by a goal from Tunstall securing a 2–0 win and a place in the final.

Cardiff City

entered the FA Cup as one of the joint favourites to win the competition, alongside Aston Villa and reigning First Division champions Huddersfield Town. In the first round of the cup they were drawn against Third Division North leaders Darlington. The first tie at Cardiff's ground, Ninian Park, ended in a goalless draw with the poor state of the pitch being blamed for a lack of excitement in the game. A replay at Darlington's Feethams ground drew a record crowd of more than 18,000 people for the club but the match also ended goalless. A third match was arranged at a neutral venue, Anfield in Liverpool, where Cardiff finally overcame their lower ranked opponents. Second-half goals from Len Davies and Willie Davies secured a 2–0 win and set up a home tie against Fulham. Cardiff's second round match was played in a heavy downpour that caused play to be suspended for ten minutes. A Len Davies goal late in the first half was enough to give Cardiff a 1–0 win.
Cardiff travelled to Meadow Lane for their third round tie against Notts County which they won 2–0 thanks to goals from Joe Nicholson, who replaced the injured Len Davies, and Jimmy Gill. Gill's goal drew considerable praise, Cardiff's match reporter described the play: "The goal by Gill was the finest exhibition of artistry ever seen... he eluded opponent after opponent, all after him like terriers and, when he placed the ball in the net, he gave Albert Iremonger no chance."
Cardiff hosted Leicester City in the fourth round where after a goalless first half Harry Beadles gave Cardiff the lead, only for Johnny Duncan to level the score. In the final minute, Willie Davies scored directly from a corner to send Cardiff through with a 2–1 win. This was the first season in English football that a new law allowed players to score direct from a corner kick. Davies was mobbed by supporters following the goal, but there remained confusion among members of the crowd and Davies and teammate Jimmy Blair were forced to return to the field from the dressing room to confirm to the crowd that Cardiff had won the tie.
The semi-final saw Cardiff return to Meadow Lane as a neutral venue for their match with five-time winners Blackburn Rovers. A close match had been predicted as both sides were similarly placed in the First Division table at the time, but early goals from Nicholson, Gill and Willie Davies gave Cardiff a 3–0 lead at half-time. John McKay replied for Blackburn with a headed goal after the break but the game finished 3–1 to Cardiff. By winning the match, Cardiff became the first Welsh team to reach an FA Cup final.

Match

Pre-match

Ahead of the game, much of the focus of the national media centred on the idea of the FA Cup being won by a team from outside England for the first time. The last team based outside England to reach the final prior to this match was Scottish side Queen's Park who were defeated 2–0 by Blackburn Rovers in the 1885 final. A motion had been put forward in the early 1920s to bar Welsh clubs from competing in the FA Cup. Although this idea was rejected, the number of Welsh clubs allowed to compete was limited to 14 with The Football Association having the final say on selection. Cardiff City had joined the Football League in 1920 and quickly established themselves as one of the leading clubs in the competition. Before the 1925 final, Cardiff's best finish in the FA Cup had been as semi-finalists in the 1920–21 season. Sheffield United were appearing in their fourth final, having won the competition three times previously in 1899, 1902 and 1915.
In its pre-match coverage, The Times reported that Cardiff's strength would lie in the team's defensive capabilities and noted that the team relied on the "soundness of the defence". Fred Keenor in particular was described as having "dominated every tie" leading up to the final, while fellow defenders Billy Hardy, Jimmy Blair and Jimmy Nelson and goalkeeper Tom Farquharson were also picked out as key to the team's success. Cardiff's forwards were deemed to be the weaker of the two sides. Largely due to his physical prowess, Joe Nicholson, who had converted to playing as a forward during the campaign, was expected to start ahead of top scorer Len Davies who had recovered from injury. Nicholson had been in doubt ahead of the tie after injuring himself in the aftermath of Cardiff's semi-final victory over Blackburn. While attempting to escape from a throng of excited fans outside the ground, he had climbed onto the canvas roof of a taxi only to fall through and suffer a cut to his knee.
In contrast, Sheffield's forward players were deemed to be the team's strength by The Times, especially the inside-forward pairing of club captain Billy Gillespie and Fred Tunstall. The side's defence, however, were seen to be considably weaker with The Times predicting that the match could "turn into an ordeal" for goalkeeper Charles Sutcliffe, whose brother John had played in goal for the losing side in the 1894 FA Cup Final. Sheffield's Tommy Boyle and Harry Johnson were appearing in their first FA Cup final. Their fathers, Peter Boyle and Harry Johnson Sr, had both won the FA Cup with Sheffield in 1902. Sampy, who had scored two goals in the competition, was dropped in favour of Tommy Boyle to provide more physicality in the forward line.
The 1925 final was the 50th hosting of the event. Despite Wembley Stadium having a capacity of 92,000, only 1,750 tickets were allocated to each side, although the FA did increase the number to 4,000 when Cardiff lodged an appeal. It is estimated around 40,000 Cardiff fans were able to secure tickets for the match through general sale. Before the game, the teams were presented to the Duke and Duchess of York by the president of The Football Association, Charles Clegg. The bands of the Irish Guards and the Royal Air Force played the national anthem prior to the match and "Land of Hope and Glory" and other songs during the half-time interval. The referee for the match was G. N. Watson from the Nottinghamshire County Football Association.

Summary

The match started brightly with the first 20 minutes witnessing the best football of the match according to The Times. Cardiff's Billy Hardy later noted how nervous he and his teammates were at the start of the match, describing the team as "shaking like kittens". Sheffield's forward pairing of Gillespie and Tunstall proved testing to the Cardiff defence early on and the majority of the early period was spent in the opposition half. Cardiff's best chance of the first half fell to Nicholson, who received the ball near the edge of the opposition penalty area. Despite having space to run into, Nicholson chose to shoot early but his effort went well over the bar. Nicholson caused issues for the Sheffield defence on the edge of their area that drew a foul from Ernest Milton on Willie Davies, but the resulting effort was wasted. Cardiff had few further opportunities in the first half; the Devon and Exeter Gazette described how Cardiff "placed the ball too square, so that speed was lost".
Thirty minutes into the match, Gillespie's pass was intercepted by Harry Wake on the edge of Cardiff's penalty area. Rather than clear the ball, Wake hesitated in possession and was tackled by Tunstall who advanced on Cardiff goalkeeper Farquharson before scoring the opening goal of the match from. The People noted that, based on the first half, the match "would have gone down to history as one of the best finals ever played."
Cardiff started the opening minutes of the second half considerably brighter but failed to capitalise on their brief ascendancy. Their best move of these early stages was ended when Harry Beadles was flagged offside. The best chance of the second half fell to Sheffield United whose forward line had advanced on the Cardiff goal "practically unhampered". As the ball was sent across the Cardiff penalty area, three Sheffield players took misplaced swipes at the ball and failed to convert for a second goal. Cardiff's attempts to control the game were limited due to an apparent injury to Hardy that left him struggling to keep pace. Johnson sent a strong shot towards the Cardiff goal 15 minutes into the second half which Nelson blocked.
In the final minutes of the match, Cardiff desperately pressed for an equalising goal. One push forward by the side led to a penalty area scramble that saw three shots blocked by Sheffield defenders before Gill's final effort was "feeble and wide". Cardiff's forays forward also provided opportunities for Sheffield on the counter-attack; a free kick awarded for a foul on Johnson was wasted while Boyle forced a save from Farquharson late on before the referee blew the final whistle.

Details

Post-match

At the end of the match, Sheffield fans flooded onto the field and the goalscorer Tunstall was carried on the shoulders of spectators in celebration. The Sheffield United team were presented with the trophy and their winner's medals by the Duke and Duchess of York. The team captain, Gillespie, described himself as "the happiest man in Britain" upon receiving the trophy. After the teams had left the field, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, W. H. Pethybridge, visited the Sheffield dressing room to offer them his congratulations. On their return to Sheffield, the team were met by a crowd of thousands and were driven to the town hall where they displayed the trophy from the balcony of the building., Sheffield United have reached only one further final since 1925, in 1936.
Despite their defeat, some of Cardiff's players were carried from the field on the shoulders of the team's supporters. Cardiff defender Jimmy Nelson took home the match ball and later auctioned it in aid of Rookwood Hospital in Cardiff. A recording of the final was flown to Cardiff immediately after the game and was shown on the evening of the final. The Cardiff team remained in London for two days after the final, returning to Cardiff on 27 April. The side were welcomed home by large crowds despite their defeat and attended a dinner with the Mayor of Cardiff the same evening.
Harry Wake, who had lost possession for the only goal of the game, received considerable criticism for his performance after the match. The People remarked that this one fatal error wiped out many excellences on his part. However, his teammate Keenor absolved Wake of any blame in a post-match interview, stating "any blame should be shouldered by the rest of the defence of which I was one. A warning shout should have been given of Tunstall's first approach. Wake could not have been aware of it". Keenor remained bullish after the final, confidently predicting that "one day soon our followers can be sure that Cardiff City will bring that cup to Wales." His prediction was realised two years later when he captained Cardiff to victory in the 1927 FA Cup Final to become the only team from outside England to win the competition. Wake was also part of the side that reached the 1927 final, but missed the game after suffering kidney damage in a league match two weeks earlier.