FA Cup Final 1934

Route to the final

Both Manchester City and Portsmouth began their FA Cup campaigns in the third round, the stage where all First Division teams entered. That round's draw produced an unusually high number of all-top-flight matchups, with twelve First Division sides paired against each other. City were one of them, hosting six-time cup winners Blackburn Rovers. A crowd of the round's largest size saw City win 3–1.

The Manchester Guardian called the victory "notable... ...for the surprising ease with which it was gained," with wingers Eric Brook and Ernie Toseland key to the performance. Brook opened the scoring by tucking in a rebound after his free kick was blocked. Blackburn equalised, but Toseland struck just before and just after halftime to make it 3–1. Next came an away tie against Second Division Hull City.

Two quick goals just before the break put City 2–0 up, but Hull fought back in the second half. Jack Hill headed in from a corner, and then Bill Dale, under pressure from Bill McNaughton, turned a Hull cross into his own net for 2–2. City won the replay emphatically, 4–1. The fifth round brought Sheffield Wednesday, and again a draw forced a replay, which City won 2–0.

In the sixth round, a home match against Stoke City drew 84,569 fans, still the record attendance for an English club ground. City won 1–0, setting up a semi-final against Aston Villa, who had eliminated three-time champions Arsenal in the previous round. Played at Leeds Road in Huddersfield, the match produced a major surprise: City won 6–1.

Build-up

In the days leading up to the match, Manchester City stayed in a hotel in Southport. The team travelled south on the Friday, and stayed in Chingford the night before the game. Before travelling, Jackie Bray and Jimmy McLuckie had one-hour fitness tests, but both were passed fit. Portsmouth opted not to go to a training retreat, and remained in Portsmouth.

Of the 93,000 tickets available for the final, 53,000 were standing places, and 40,000 were seats. Prices ranged from 21 shillings to 2s 6d. However, in the week of the final tickets changed hands for well in excess of their face value. Standing tickets were priced at 16s, more than six times their original value.

Speculators priced 5 shilling tickets at 25s, 7s 6d tickets at 29s, 10s 6d at 34s, 15s at 39s, and 21s at 45s. The issue was raised in Parliament by Westhoughton MP Rhys Davies, who voiced his concern that such resale was an evasion of Entertainments Duty. Catering arrangements took into account the teams involved. In the words of a Wembley official: 'It is curious that when we get two Northern teams in the Final there is always an exceptional demand for meat pies.

They are a Northern delicacy, but as there is a Southern team this year there should be a 50-50 demand for meat pies for Northern visitors and sandwiches from the South.' 50,000 bottles of beer were also available. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway put on 65 special trains to London for the match, of which '14 or 15' were scheduled to run from Manchester.

Final

Eight players from Manchester City’s 1933 final lineup also started the 1934 match. Portsmouth manager Jack Tinn, known for his superstitions, wore white spats on his shoes, a habit he had kept throughout the entire cup run. The pitch was wet for the final. In the 26th minute, Jack Weddle sent a pass over the head of City’s Cowan, finding Septimus Rutherford.

Rutherford, Portsmouth’s outside-right, took a shot that goalkeeper Frank Swift got a hand to, but the ball slipped off his fingers and into the net. In his 1949 autobiography, Swift recalled his devastation, thinking “Just another Wembley goalkeeper” as he retrieved the ball. The teenage keeper blamed the goal on his choice to go without gloves in the rain, copying the bare-handed style of his more experienced counterpart, Jock Gilfillan. With 17 minutes left, Portsmouth’s tall defender Jimmy Allen left the field temporarily due to injury.

Taking advantage of the extra man, Matt Busby took a throw-in and passed to Eric Brook, who then fed the ball to Fred Tilson. Tilson drove it past Gilfillan and into the goal. Three minutes from full time, Tilson struck again, meeting a cross from Alec Herd and rifling it home. On the other end, Swift knew his team just needed to hold on for two more minutes.

A photographer behind his goal made him even more anxious by counting down the seconds on his watch. When the final whistle blew, Swift fainted from relief. The young goalkeeper later became England’s captain, and his costly error was largely forgotten. Gate receipts totaled £24,950, a slight rise from the previous year.

Matt Busby, who would go on to manage Manchester United with great success, was the last surviving player from the winning side when he died in January 1994 at age 84. Jimmy Allen, on the losing side, died a year later at 85 and was believed to be the last surviving player from the match. The fate of Portsmouth’s David Thackeray, who retired after 1936, remains unknown. Frank Swift became a football journalist after his playing days ended.

He died in the Munich air disaster in February 1958, along with 22 others, including eight Manchester United players. Matt Busby was seriously injured in that crash but survived.