The 1949 FA Cup Final was the 68th final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. It took place on 30 April 1949 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

and was contested between

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Wolves had finished sixth in the First Division that season and had several England internationals among their ranks, while Leicester had narrowly avoided relegation from the

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 ...

and were making their first Wembley appearance. Wolves won the match 3–1, thus winning the FA Cup for the third time.

Jesse Pye Jesse Pye (22 December 191919 February 1984) was an English footballer. He played in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Luton Town and Derby County and scored twice in the 1949 FA Cup Final for the former. Pye's first professio ...

(2) and

Sammy Smyth Samuel Smyth (25 February 1925 – 19 October 2016) was a Northern Irish footballer who played in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City and Liverpool. Career Smyth was born in Belfast in 1925 and played for local clubs D ...

scored Wolves' goals, with

Mal Griffiths William Maldwyn "Mal" Griffiths (8 March 1919 – 5 April 1969) was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside right for Leicester City and Wales. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Griffiths started out in local football before signing for Arsenal. A ...

replying for Leicester. Captain Billy Wright was presented with the cup by Princess Elizabeth.

Road to Wembley

Leicester City

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Match summary

Wolves started determinedly and took a 13th-minute lead when

, who had been preferred to

Dennis Wilshaw Dennis James Wilshaw (11 March 1926 – 10 May 2004) was an English international footballer. A forward, he scored 173 goals in 380 appearances in the Football League, and also scored ten goals in twelve appearances for the England national te ...

, stooped to head in an inch-perfect Hancocks cross. Leicester kept Wolves at bay until almost half-time, when Pye collected the ball in the penalty area with his back to goal, after the Foxes had struggled to clear a corner, and turned to slam it home for his second. Leicester brought the game to life immediately after the interval courtesy of

, who flicked the ball home after Williams parried Chisholm's initial effort. Within minutes, they believed they were level only for a narrow offside decision to rule out Chisholm's finish.

quickly turned the game around when he picked up the ball in the centre circle and drove through the Leicester defence before hitting the ball low into the far corner to make it 3–1 and clinch the cup for Molineux men for the third time in their history. It was the first of five major trophies that they would win under the management of Stan Cullis. Leicester were without two of their key players for the game, both of them ruled out by injury. Goalkeeper

Ian McGraw Ian McGraw (30 August 1926 – October 2014) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Arbroath and Leicester City. He was part of the Leicester squad that reached the 1949 FA Cup Final The 1949 FA Cup Final was the 68th final ...

was unable to play due to a broken finger, while

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

had suffered a nose injury.

Match details

References

External links

Match report
{{Leicester City F.C. matches

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

FA Cup Finals FA Cup Final 1949 FA Cup Final 1949