The 1954 FA Cup Final was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match between

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, played on 1 May 1954 at the original

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 ...

in London. It was the final match of the 1953–54 staging of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

's primary

cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as 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 ...

). The match was the 73rd

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 ...

and the 26th to be played at Wembley. West Bromwich Albion were appearing in their ninth final, having won the cup on three previous occasions, while Preston had won the competition twice and were playing in the final for the sixth time. The two clubs had met in one final before in 1888, with Albion winning 2–1 on that occasion; in this match, Albion won 3–2.

Ronnie Allen Ronald Allen (15 January 1929 – 9 June 2001) was an English international football player and manager. He was a professional footballer for nineteen years, between 1946 and 1964, making 638 appearances in the Football League, and scoring 27 ...

opened the scoring but Preston soon equalised through Geordie Payne. Preston then took the lead through

Charlie Wayman Charles Wayman (16 May 1921 – 26 February 2006) was an English footballer. Wayman, who was born in Chilton, Bishop Auckland, was a prolific centre-forward in the first decade after the Second World War. Newcastle United signed him from Sp ...

. Allen equalised from the penalty spot before a late goal from Frank Griffin secured the cup for Albion for the fourth time. Albion finished second in the league table, losing out on 'the double' to Black Country rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers. The last surviving member of the winning team, Ray Barlow, died in March 2012 at the age of 85. Upon his death on 31 December 2020,

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...

was the last surviving player from the match.

Background

Both clubs were members of the First Division,

having finished as runners-up during the 1953–54 league season and

11th. Albion were victorious in both league matches between the two sides, winning 2–0 at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

and 3–2 at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

. The teams had met on six previous occasions in the FA Cup. Albion had won four of those ties, including the 1886–87 semi-final and 1888 final, while Preston were victorious in the semi-finals of 1888–89 and 1936–37.

Route to the final

West Bromwich Albion

As a First Division club, West Bromwich Albion entered the FA Cup at the third round stage. They began their 61st FA Cup campaign at home against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, whom they beat 1–0 thanks to an own goal by

Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood CBE (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager, best known for being manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for 13 ...

. Their next cup match saw Albion defeat

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

4–0, in what was the first ever meeting between the two sides in any competition. Johnny Nicholls scored two of the goals and

and

Reg Ryan Reginald Alphonso Ryan (30 October 1925 – 13 February 1997), also referred to as Paddy Ryan, was an Irish footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion, Derby County and Coventry City. Ryan was also a dual international, playing for both I ...

one each. A hat-trick from Ronnie Allen gave Albion a 3–2 win 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 round five in a thrilling match. The game was played in front of 61,088 spectators, the highest attendance at

for 16 years. An estimated 20,000 more were locked out. Albion were then drawn at home for the fourth round in succession; this time

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 ...

were the visitors as the competition reached the quarter-final stage. A free-kick by

Ray Barlow Raymond John Barlow (17 August 1926 – 14 March 2012) was an England international footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League, most of which were for West Bromwich Albion. Playing career West Bromwich Albion Barlow ...

and two goals from Johnny Nicholls resulted in a 3–0 West Bromwich Albion victory.

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

rivals and Third Division North leaders

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

were the opposition in the semi-final, which was played at the

neutral venue In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

in front of a near 70,000 crowd. Vale's Albert Leake opened the scoring before the break, but Albion equalised just after the hour when

Jimmy Dudley James Randolph Dudley (September 27, 1909 – February 12, 1999) was an American sportscaster, best known as the play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians for nearly two decades. Biography A native of Alexandria, Virginia, ...

's cross evaded the Vale goalkeeper Ray King and ended up in the net. Ronnie Allen, playing against his former team, scored the winning goal for Albion from a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

, following a foul on George Lee.Matthews (2004) pp. 88–89. leading to scenes of wild celebration from the Albion supporters.

Preston North End

Match details

References

;Specific ;General
West Bromwich Albion Football Club History

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1954 Fa Cup Final FA Cup Finals

FA Cup Final 1954 The 1954 FA Cup Final was a football match between West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, played on 1 May 1954 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final match of the 1953–54 staging of English football's primary cup co ...