1936 FA Cup Final on:
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Arsenal had most recently appeared in the final in 1932, being defeated by
describing it as an "experiment". The first commentators were Ivan Sharpe and Norman Creek, who broadcast from 2:30 pm onwards before the game to take in the pre–match entertainment.
Arsenal played in red and white shirts in an FA Cup final for the first time, on previous occasions in 1930 and 32 they wore fully red shirts. Additionally, before the 1967/68 season, Arsenal only wore team badges on their shirts on special occasions, such as FA Cup Finals. The 1936 cup final was the fourth occasion such a badge was worn. Sheffield United also wore crested red and white shirts, their vertical stripe design.
The 1936 FA Cup Final was a football match between
experimented with Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
on 25 April 1936 at Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the 61st Cup final, and the fourteenth at the national stadium.
Each team received a bye to the third round of the tournament, and then progressed through five rounds before reaching the final. Arsenal were in a successful phase, with this final following recent First Division titles, while Sheffield United were attempting to emulate the success of their rivals Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
in the tournament the year before. A closely fought first half was followed by a dominant second half by Arsenal, who won by a single goal, scored by Ted Drake
Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...
in the 74th minute. A media ban by the stadium's bosses caused reporters to fly above the stadium in autogyro
An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...
s to see the match and the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
s for the first time during its live broadcast of the final.
Route to the final
Arsenal
Being from theFirst
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
s respectively, both Arsenal and Sheffield United were seeded into the third round of the FA Cup. In the third round itself, Arsenal were drawn away against Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
team Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
. Arsenal missed a penalty, and the third Division team went a goal up in the first half; Arsenal were playing so poorly that it seemed they would struggle even for a draw. The turnaround in the match occurred when Cliff Bastin
Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Exeter City and Arsenal. He also played for the England national team. Bastin is Arsenal's third-highest goalscorer of all time.
C ...
took over from Bobby Davidson at the inside left position. Arsenal equalised in the 65th minute, and scored further four times over the course of the following fourteen minutes to win the game by five goals to one, with a single goal from Bowden and two each from Drake
Drake may refer to:
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* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
and Bastin.
They followed this in the fourth round with a 2–0 victory over Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
at Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
. The match was played seven days after the death of King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
, with both teams wearing black armbands. The crowd of 60,000 stood to sing Abide with Me and God Save the King
"God Save the King" is the national anthem, national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in ...
before the kickoff. In the fifth round they were drawn against Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, in a rematch of the 1932 final. Newcastle had already knocked out the current cup holders, Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
, in an earlier round. On the day, the gates to St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
St James' Park ...
needed to be closed before the match started to keep additional spectators out, some 64,484 fans already being inside the ground. The match resulted in a 3–3 draw, Arsenal having gone a goal ahead each time, but Newcastle coming back and equalising. The reason being according to the report in ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' was because "Whenever the lead was gained, the side concentrated entirely on defence." In the replay at home, Arsenal won the game 3–0. They had gone a goal up in the first half from a penalty scored by Bastin after the Newcastle centre half David Davidson handled the ball in the box. Newcastle were unlucky not to draw level, and only Eddie Hapgood
Edris Albert "Eddie" Hapgood (24 September 1908 – 20 April 1973) was an English footballer, who captained both Arsenal and England during the 1930s.
Playing career
Hapgood was born in Bristol and started his footballing career in the mid-192 ...
clearing a shot off the line prevented the scoreline being equal once more. The second goal came during an advance by Arsenal, where the Newcastle goalkeeper, Norman Tapken, cleared the ball directly to Arsenal midfielder Pat Beasley
Albert "Pat" Beasley (16 July 1913 – 27 February 1986) was an England international footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League. He also became a manager.
Football career
Born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, Beasley ...
, who shot the ball into the back of an empty net. The final goal was another penalty, caused when Bastin was brought down in the box, who then promptly took and scored the shot himself.
In their quarter final, they defeated Second Division Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
4–1, having outplayed them right from the start, the first goal coming in the fourth minute from Beasley in an attacking move. Bowden scored the second goal, and the third came from a penalty scored by Bastin. The fourth and final Arsenal goal was Beasley's second, with Barnsley's consolation goal coming a couple of minutes from the end of the match. In the semi final, played at Huddersfield Town's ground, beating Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
1–0 in a match that was described by reporters as completely one sided, with the goal coming from Bastin five minutes before half time.
Sheffield United
Meanwhile, Sheffield United's third round match atBurnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
ended in a 0–0 draw, before winning 2–1 in the replay at home on a snow-covered pitch in a game that was marred by heavy fog at the start. Harold Barton scored for United, before Ted Hancock
Edmund Hancock was an English professional association footballer who played as a winger.
Following spells at Denaby United and Gainsborough Trinity, he signed for Liverpool in January 1931, before making his debut in March 1932 against Hudde ...
equalized for Burnley. Bobby Barclay
Robert Barclay (27 October 1906 – 13 July 1969) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. Born in Scotswood, Newcastle upon Tyne Barclay is best remembered for his time at Sheffield United for whom he played in the 1936 FA Cup ...
scored United's second goal before the break. An additional goal by Jock Dodds
Ephraim Dodds (7 September 1915 – 23 February 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer. He played in the 1936 FA Cup Final, and, at the time of his death was the oldest surviving player to have played in a final at Wembley Stadium.
Club ...
for United was disallowed in the second half due to the player being ruled offside.
The fourth round saw them drawn away again, this time at Preston North End again drawing 0–0 in the initial match, the return match at home on 30 January this time resulting in a 2–0 victory after playing the entire second half with only ten men in front of a crowd of 34,259 supporters. In comparison, a record crowd of 68,287 at Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...
saw Sheffield United defeat Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
3–1, the first time in the tournament they won without going to a replay. They repeated that scoreline against Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in the quarter final on a marshy pitch in driving snow. United were up by half time thanks to a goal by Barclay. In the second half, Spurs came back strongly, but two goals from Dodds won the game for United, with Tottenham scoring a consolation goal late on.
Sheffield United were drawn against 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 ...
in the semi final, which guaranteed that a Second Division team would make it through to the final. The match was held at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium on 21 March, where United won 2–1. The two teams faced each other again a week later in a league match, where Fulham won 1–0 thanks to a penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
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* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
, ending an unbeaten run of 22 games for United.
Pre-match
Arsenal had most recently appeared in the final in 1932, being defeated by Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, while their most recent FA Cup victory came two seasons earlier in 1930 against Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
. Meanwhile, Sheffield United had won the title in their previous appearance, beating Cardiff City in the 1925 final. Arsenal had been the more successful team in recent years, having won three First Division titles in succession in the past few seasons; while Sheffield United were keen to win the trophy after the success of rival team Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
in the 1935 Final.
Both teams had provided players to the England national football team
The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...
earlier in the month for a match against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, with Arsenal providing George Male
Charles George Male (8 May 1910 – 19 February 1998) was an English footballer.
Playing career
Born in West Ham, Essex, Male trialled with West Ham United before playing with non-league Clapton. He joined Arsenal as an amateur in November 1 ...
, Jack Crayston
William John Crayston (9 October 1910 – 26 December 1992) was an English football player and manager.
Playing career
Born in Grange-over-Sands, Lancashire, Crayston played for local school sides and Ulverston Town before moving to Third Div ...
and Cliff Bastin
Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Exeter City and Arsenal. He also played for the England national team. Bastin is Arsenal's third-highest goalscorer of all time.
C ...
, while Sheffield United gave Bobby Barclay
Robert Barclay (27 October 1906 – 13 July 1969) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. Born in Scotswood, Newcastle upon Tyne Barclay is best remembered for his time at Sheffield United for whom he played in the 1936 FA Cup ...
. Alex James, despite being Arsenal's captain and having previously played for the Scottish international team, was not chosen for that match, which resulted in a 1–1 draw, enabling Scotland to win the 1936 British Home Championship.
Wembley bosses were in dispute with newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...
companies over the broadcast rights for the 1936 final. Gaumont British Film Company initially had offered £900 to film inside the ground, but this was refused by the authorities who wanted a sum of £1,500. They later backed down and said that they would accept the initial offer, but the film company was now only willing to pay £500. A solution could not be reached, and the media were banned from inside of the stadium. To get around the ban and be able to report on the match, a number of autogyro
An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...
s were hired to fly the reporters over the stadium giving them a birds–eye view of the match, with the only filming inside Wembley conducted by the official stadium cameraman. Autogyros had been used to film the final in 1935, and also by the Metropolitan police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
for crowd control.
It was the first year that commentators were used in the broadcast of an FA Cup final, with the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Match
More than 93,000 spectators attended the match, with fans from Sheffield travelling from the north on specially laid-on trains. Changes to the teams were made before the match, with Ted Drake
Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...
available for Arsenal following an injury. Sheffield United replaced Don Bird with Bertie Williams on the outside left, and Charlie Wilkinson was brought back into the team to replace Albert Cox who had played in the semi final against Fulham while Wilkinson was injured.
While the weather was fine, the wind whipped up to such an extent at pitch level that the ball was taken out of its proper flight on occasion. In the third minute Sheffield United were nearly a goal up after Arsenal goalkeeper Wilson dropped the ball to the ground and fumbled at it trying to pick it up. United players Barclay and Dodds
The Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) are a network of schools, both primary and secondary, that serve the dependant, dependents of United States military and civilian United States Department of Defense (DoD) personnel in three ar ...
both charged in to take advantage, but an Arsenal defender cleared the ball away before they could turn the opportunity into a goal. During the first fifteen minutes, United were the superior team with the work of their forwards only failing against the work of Arsenal's full backs and goalkeeper with Wilson continuing to looking not entirely safe. Arsenal's defenders eventually settled with Crayston and Copping stepping up for their team.
During the match, the attacks of Arsenal were mostly held at bay by Sheffield United's backs, with Bowden Bowden may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland
* Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide
* Bowden railway station
Canada
* Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta
England
* Bowde ...
and Bastin both performing poorly, although it was Bastin who set up the move that resulted in the only goal of the game. Arsenal's attacking tactics had favored these two players, with not much play going through to Drake. The standout player was Joe Hulme
Joseph Harold Anthony Hulme (26 August 1904 – 27 September 1991) was an English footballer and cricketer.
Football career
Born in Stafford, Hulme usually played as a right-winger. Hulme played for Stafford YMCA before starting his car ...
who managed to cut inside repeatedly, threatening United with an extra yard or two of speed over his marker. James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
also performed well, getting in more attacks on goal than usual. Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
, in goal for the Blades, had a particularly steady game and their forwards Barclay and Pickering played particularly well with their attacks only prevented by the work of Male
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization.
A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...
who was described by ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' as having the "game of his life". United's attacks were mostly restricted by the Arsenal defence to long range shooting. The first half of the match finished at a 0–0 draw, with the attacks spread equally between the two teams.
The second half started off with Crayston briefly taking on the role of a forward, driving in a shot that Smith did well to save. Arsenal's forwards followed this with a flowing move from James, Hulme and Bastin, with the final move resulting in Bastin heading just wide of the post. Although play in the first half was relatively equal, in the second half Arsenal were the superior side, simply outclassing the Second Division Sheffield United. In the 74th minute a movement was started by James, who passed the ball to Bastin. Bastin dribbled the ball past Hooper before crossing the ball into the centre for Drake, who drove the ball into the roof of the net with his left foot. Moments after the goal United were on the attack, Barton broke down the right wing, crossing the ball in for Dodds who, finding his marker out of position, headed the ball against the bar. Dodds later said in an interview, "I was just about to direct the ball down into the net when a wee fellow called Wilf Copping went up behind me and, in striving to get to the ball, punched me in the back. This had the unfortunate effect of knocking my head backwards so the ball thudded against the crossbar instead of nestling itself in the back of the net. But for that, who knows, things might have turned out different." Arsenal won the game with a single goal, the match having been mostly full of positive play and relatively free of fouls, although Drake was penalised on five occasions for using his elbows too much.
Match details
Match rules *90 minutes. *30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. *Replay if scores still level.Post match
Arsenal returned to Brighton following the game to rest, where they had conducted their pre-match training. Each of the victorious player's wives were presented with a silver wristwatch. Neither club reported any injuries sustained during the match. This was not the final match of the season for Arsenal, who followed the final with a further three league matches in a week, including a game against London rivalsChelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
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United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. Their final match of the season was against Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
in the London Challenge Cup
The London Challenge Cup was a football tournament formerly organised by the London FA. It was first contested in 1908, and other than during the World Wars, was contested every season until 1974, when the tournament was disbanded.
After a 16- ...
on 4 May, where they won 4–2. Arsenal finished the season in sixth position in the First Division, having drawn 2–2 with Leeds in their final match. Sheffield United finished the Second Division in third place, missing out on promotion to the higher tier by one place.
Sheffield United are yet to return to an FA Cup Final. The shirt worn by Alex James during the 1936 final is displayed in the Arsenal Museum. Jock Dodds, who died on 23 February 2007, was the last surviving player from the final.
References
External links
British Pathe Footage of the Final
{{DEFAULTSORT:1936 Fa Cup Final FA Cup Finals
FA Cup Final 1936
The 1936 FA Cup Final was a football match between Arsenal and Sheffield United on 25 April 1936 at Wembley. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), ...
FA Cup Final 1936
The 1936 FA Cup Final was a football match between Arsenal and Sheffield United on 25 April 1936 at Wembley. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), ...
1935–36 in English football
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...