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1890 F A CUP FINAL
BLACKBURN ROVERS 6
VS
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1
SCORERS- {BR} TOWNLEY {6}, {35}, {75}, WALTON {20}, JACK SOUTHWORTH {50}, LOFTHOUSE {80}
{SW} MUMFORD {60}
29th MARCH-KENNINGTON OVAL-LONDON
ATTENDANCE-20,000
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The third decade kicked off with the make up of the cup looking very different to ten years previously. The fancied teams now hailed from the North and the Midlands as opposed to the Southern sides of 1880. These teams were also paid professionals playing in sides formed by work's social clubs and church groups and carried the hopes of entire towns with them. Ten years before, the teams had been stoutly amateur and for the most part hailed from the officer’s mess or the old boy network and held no geographical fan base. Finally the biggest difference in ten years was that the cup was no longer the only show in town and ties had to be fitted in to suit the league programme.
The importance of league status was recognised for the first time by the F A who exempted its members from the qualifying competition. The rival football alliance that was set up for teams bypassed by the league looked on enviously as its member clubs were not afforded the same pleasure. They could hardly be surprised though as no alliance club got further than the quarter finals last year while the last four were all football league teams.
Cup holders Preston were red hot favourites to retain their trophy as they were already well on their way to retaining the league title. Newton Heath, later to become Manchester United could do little to halt the holders in round one. Geordie Drummond’s four goals helping Preston to an easy 6-1 win. The day of the giant killer had dawned though as Burnley fell at Sheffield United but they were the only league side to be humbled in such fashion.
Sheffield United’s joy was short lived as they slumped to a 13-0 defeat to Bolton in round two. Bolton had already notched up a 10-1 win over Belfast, now Lisburn, Distillery in the previous round. The cup holders faced Bolton at this stage after another comfortable 4-0 second round win over Lincoln but the unthinkable happened when the invincibles were humbled 3-2. With Preston’s defeat the cup was wide open and included two non-league sides in the other three quarter finals. Sheffield Wednesday had won the inaugural football alliance in 1889 and were considered the best non-league side in the Country. After beating Southern amateurs Swifts 4-1 in the first round, they then showed they were a match for the league teams by beating Accrington 2-1. Tom Cawley had scored in both games but few expected his team to beat a Notts County side with May and John Oswald up front. County had beaten Birmingham St George's 6-2 in a first round replay but were stunned to lose to Wednesday 5-0. County protested however and the F A ordered a replay that County won 3-2 only for Wednesday to lodge a protest of their own. At the third attempt Wednesday came through 2-1 with Cawley scoring both goals. Bootle were not so lucky in their quarter final with Blackburn Rovers. The Merseysiders from the football alliance had lost in the first round to Sunderland Albion but had been reinstated after the victors were disqualified. Nat Walton bagged a hat-trick for Rovers in an easy 7-0 win however. The last quarter final also had controversy when league sides Wolves and Stoke met with the former winning 4-0. Stoke protested about the pitch and were given a replay only for Wolves to double the previous score with Jack Brodie scoring five.
Wolves were last year’s beaten finalists but their dreams of a return to the Oval were shattered by a Jack Southworth goal for Blackburn in the semi final at the Racecourse in Derby.
Bolton were favourites to win the cup when they were paired with Sheffield Wednesday and were clearly on a high after knocking our Preston. The big danger in their team was Weir but Wednesday policed him well and pulled off a shock 2-1 win at Perry Barr in Birmingham with two goals from Albert Mumford.
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THE FINAL
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Blackburn were strong favourites to win the cup for the fourth time in their history and were captained by the only player in the side to have played in all their three previous victories, James Forrest, a scorer in their 1884 & 85 triumphs. Joe Lofthouse had also played in those two victories though he had missed out in 1886 while Nat Walton completed the trio with previous experience after playing in the ’86 side.
Wednesday had no such experience but in getting to the final they had struck a major blow for the football alliance, of which they were champions. Goal scoring hero Tom Cawley led out the side in front of 20,000 expectant fans.
The day could not have been worse for Wednesday though, as their opponents from the league put them to the sword from the kick off. Blackburn simply ran riot and few were surprised when William Townley put them in front after just six minutes. Semi final hero Nat Walton doubled Rovers advantage after twenty minutes and the game plan Wednesday had used to such great effect against Bolton in the semi final had been decimated. Rovers were breaking down Wednesday’s defence at will and it was only down to the superb full back Haydn Morley that Rovers failed to add to their score until the thirty-fifth minute when Townley fired past Jim Smith to finish the game as a contest. No club had ever gone in at half time with a three goal advantage and the difference between the two dressing rooms could not have been greater. The Rovers players tried to keep their feet on the ground and persuade each other that there was a job still to do, even though they knew the cup was theirs. By contrast the recriminations were already starting in the Wednesday dressing room.
Wednesday started the second half playing much tighter as a team but yet again they were caught out early when Jack Southworth increased Rover’s lead in the fiftieth minute. The overworked Morley and his centre back partner Teddy Brayshaw continued to perform heroics to keep the score down and even sent a shock wave through the crowd when the pair combined to start a great break away move on the hour from which Albert Mumford scored a consolation goal. Wednesday enjoyed their best spell of the game as Rovers regrouped but with a quarter of an hour left normal service was resumed and history made when Townley became the first man to score a cup final hat-trick. Joe Lofthouse headed the sixth with ten minutes left before referee Major Marindin, officiating his last final, put Wednesday out of their misery.
Despite losing 6-1 it was Wednesday’s Haydn Morley who came out of the game covered in glory for a brilliant defensive display in a team who had frozen on the big occasion but Morley’s heroics would be quickly forgotten in preference to William Townley’s hat-trick in what must still rank today as one of the great performances from any team in a cup final.
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THE TEAMS
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BLACKBURN ROVERS
JOHN HORNE
JAMES SOUTHWORTH
JOHN FORBES
JOHN BARTON
GEORGE DEWAR
JAMES FORREST {CAPTAIN}
JOE LOFTHOUSE
HARRY CAMPBELL
JACK SOUTHWORTH
NAT WALTON
WILLIAM TOWNLEY
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SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
JIM SMITH
HAYDN MORLEY
TEDDY BRAYSHAW
JACK DUNGWORTH
BILLY BETTS
GEORGE WALLER
BILLY INGRAM
TOODLES WOODHOUSE
MICKEY BENNETT
ALBERT MUMFORD
{CAPTAIN} TOM CAWLEY
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