The 1940 Football League War Cup Final was contested by West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers.

Route to the final

En route to the final West Ham played Chelsea, Leicester City, Huddersfield Town and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

before a semi-final with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

which they won 4-3.

Match

It was played on 8 June 1940 and kicked off at 6.30pm despite fears that London would be bombed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. The wartime crowd included wounded members of the BEF recently evacuated from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Sam Small Samuel John Small (15 May 1912 – 19 December 1993) was an English footballer who played as a centre-forward in the Football League for Birmingham, West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion. Born in Gosta Green, Birmingham, Small started ...

in the 34th minute when he followed up a parried shot from

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...

. http://www.anyoldirons.me.uk/pdf/1900%20-%201960/09_06_40.pdf

Match details

Post Match

The trophy was presented to the winning team by A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty. As the match was played during wartime, no reception was held for the winning team. Some players went to the Boleyn public house on Green Street for ''a few pints'' whilst others returned immediately to their service units.

References

{{Blackburn Rovers F.C. matches Football League War Cup War Cup Final 1940 War Cup Final 1940 Football League War Cup Final

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...