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1904 F A CUP FINAL
MANCHESTER CITY 1
VS
BOLTON WANDERERS 0
SCORERS-BILLY MEREDITH-23
23rd APRIL-CRYSTAL PALACE-LONDON
ATTENDANCE-61,374
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The Daily Mirror published for the first time in 1904 but the cup final would not be high on their reporting agenda as it was formed as a paper for women’s interests. Britain’s athletes were busy preparing for the third Olympic games in St Louis but it was not a games that we would recognise today. It lasted for Months and was part of the World’s fair. The medal winners have been long forgotten but ice cream, tea bags and hamburgers have all stood the test of time after making their debut at the fair. In the football front, the biggest reorganisation of the game since the forming of the league came about when FIFA, the World’s governing body was formed. England and the other home Nations had been luke warm to the idea and were still looking down their noses somewhat at their European rivals. It was an attitude that has cost English football dearly over the Century as they went on to miss the boat for the World cup and European cup. The World club Championship and European super league will be the most likely big new things this Century and there is little doubt that England will again miss the boat for both. Manchester United’s decision to play in the first World Championship was met with ridicule in the UK while everywhere else the participating clubs felt honoured to be the first to compete.
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Back in 1904 the cup kicked off with holders Bury coming through their first round tie against Newcastle 2-1 thanks to Sugar’s winner. Defending champions Sheffield Wednesday stuttered through after a replay with non-league Plymouth Argyle but Notts County and Everton were not so fortunate. County had fought a ding-dong battle with second division Manchester United, which finished 3-3 but the second division club made home advantage count in the replay 2-1. Vivian Woodward and Jones scored for non-league Tottenham to cause the upset of the round 2-1 at Everton.
Manchester United’s exploits were crushed in round two when Sheffield Wednesday racked up a 6-0 victory to book the first quarterfinal spot. Local rivals Sheffield United had also made it into the last eight at the expense of the holders Bury while title chasing Manchester City also eased through having followed up their 3-2 away win at Sunderland with a 2-0 win at Arsenal. Middlesbrough were in the last eight without conceding a goal but Derby County needed a two replays to see off Wolves. Blackburn Rovers completed a list of six top-flight clubs making this stage but Aston Villa failed to make this stage after an eventful tie at Tottenham. The Londoners were stunned not by their opponents but by the huge crowd trying to get into White Hart Lane. The first half was a farce and the second half was abandoned as the crowd spilled on to the pitch. Villa were the ones regretting the delay as they lost the replay 1-0. The final birth in the last eight was fought out between second division Bolton and non-league Southampton with the second division side easily winning 4-1.
Tottenham were rewarded with a home quarterfinal with Sheffield Wednesday in a White Hart Lane Stadium that had been forced to undergo a crowd control facelift. New barriers were erected to control the 22,000 spectators who saw Tottenham lead 1-0 at half time before Wednesday rallied to force a replay. With Spurs failing to book a semi final spot it went to Bolton to create the headlines as they pulled off a shock 2-0 victory at Sheffield United and in doing so end the steel City’s hopes of a local final. Despite being under the cosh for most of the first half, Bolton nicked an interval lead through Yenson before silencing the home fans when Marsh made it two in the second half as the underdogs took control of the game. At Derby a late Watson goal for Blackburn gave the home fans a tense last five minutes but earlier goals from Warrington and Steve Bloomer had proved enough to see County through 2-1. The big game of the day was at Hyde Road where 30,000 gathered to see Manchester City and Middlesbrough play in the quarter finals for the first time in both club’s histories.
The game was a tight affair and late on City thought they had won it when Billy Meredith scored only for the referee to chalk his effort out for a foul on the keeper. It was a harsh decision but City put the matter right at Ayresome Park a few days later when Middlesbrough were sent packing 3-1. City’s opponents in the semi final was decided at the same time when Tottenham’s cup run came to an end 2-0 at Hillsborough.
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Second division Bolton and their opponents Derby had appeared in eight semi finals between them in the past yet neither side had gone on to lift the cup. Now Derby fans at least felt they had a great chance, as they would surely put paid to their opponents and at the very least be guaranteed a final spot. Bolton, in red kicked off against a Derby side in black and white stripes as a steady drizzle made things unpleasant for the fans. The only goal of the game came with twelve minutes left when Hull hesitated and allowed Taylor to burst through from White’s clever through ball and fire in a shot which bounced wickedly over the diving keeper’s hands. It was a bit of justice for Taylor who had rattled the Derby bar in the first half and the post minutes before scoring. Yenson had also put the ball in the net in the first half only to see the goal ruled out. Derby offered little after dominating the opening minutes of the game and could have no complaints at their shock defeat.
At Everton’s Goodison Park Manchester City and Sheffield Wednesday clashed in the tie of the tournament as the cup had yet again dealt a bad semi final hand. The two clubs were neck and neck for the championship and most fans outside Bolton and Derby had hoped they would be kept apart to set up the first ever final between champions and runners up. At this stage Wednesday were champions by virtue of winning the trophy a year earlier but this years title was anybody’s guess and most favoured City to nick their first major honour. A tight exciting game was predicted but the 3-0 demolition that fired City into their first ever final was beyond their most optimistic fans dreams. The game had been tight for the first 22 minutes until Lyall was unable to hold Billy Meredith’s long-range shot and Billy Gillespie scored the easiest of opening goals. By the time Sandy Turnbull doubled the lead, Wednesday were being played off the park. Half time couldn’t come soon enough for Wednesday but they dominated the first twenty minutes of the second half as Harold Ruddleston and Tom Crawshaw wasted opportunities to get back in the game. Billy Meredith and Sandy Turnbull punished their wastefulness when the former crossed for the latter to head home a killer third goal. Any competitive edge to the game ended here and the last twenty minutes were a walk in the park, albeit a very wet walk in the pouring rain for the City. Wednesday meanwhile would have to plot their revenge by retaining their league title at City’s expense.
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THE FINAL
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Saturday April 23rd 1904 dawned with a downpour and the prospects for a traditional sunny day for the final looked bleak. By the time the fans of Wanderers and City arrived to do the early morning tours of London the sun had burst through for an excellent spring day. Yet again the crowd was to be disappointing as fans found the cost of travel to London from the North West too much. 61,000 did make the journey though to enjoy the sites of the City before making their way to the grounds to enjoy the funfair and see the palace light up by the bright day. It was a novelty for the two teams as well as Bolton’s only previous final was held in Liverpool while Manchester City had never been beyond round two prior to this famous run. The players were also virgin to the occasion as, for the first time since the first ever final, none of the twenty-two players had previously played in the showpiece event of the season. There was heartbreak for Bolton’s left half Boyd who failed a fitness test and was ruled out but things were a little more dramatic in the Manchester dressing room where Doc Holmes threw a tantrum on being told that his place in the team was going to the amateur Sam Ashworth. Holmes threw his boots through a window for good measure.
The teams emerged with City wearing royal blue as opposed to their more famous sky blue to avoid a clash with Bolton’s white shirts in the sunshine. Among the dignitaries joining Prime Minister Balfour in the stand were his colonial secretary Alf Lyttleton, himself a cup finalist in 1876 and the famous cricketer W G Grace.
As usual, the opening exchanges were cagey and nervous for both teams after Yenson had kicked off for Bolton but City gradually began to make their favourites tag count and midway through the first half the goal that would settle the tie came. Spookily the exact scenario had been suggested on a billboard advert outside the ground.
George Livingstone sprayed a pass across the width of the pitch for Billy Meredith who collected the ball on the run. The Bolton defence hesitated; looking for an offside flag that wasn’t forthcoming and that was all that Meredith needed to steal a march on them. Davies, the Wanderers keeper took a step out to the edge of his six-yard box to collect what he thought would be a cross from Meredith but to his horror the Welsh wizard lashed in a low angled shot that crept between the posts but only just. Davies was left head in hands while some of the Bolton backs made a forlorn and half hearted protest that Meredith had been offside. If Billy Meredith’s goal was a fluke and he had meant to cross the ball he certainly wasn’t going to say so although many fans who saw the goal described it as a cross come shot.
Davies didn’t have long to make up for his error though as City now began to dominate. Sandy Turnbull lashed in a shot on the half hour so good that he was wheeling away to celebrate when Davies made an outstanding save. Bolton enjoyed a brief spell of pressure at the start of the second half but in truth few keepers have enjoyed as quiet a cup final day as Happy Jack Hillman in the City goal. Both sides had their half chances as the second half progressed but Wanderers fans only had two real edge of the seat moments. The first saw Jenson break clear of the City defence only to be tripped up with the goal at his mercy. As one other player from the same era said years later “You could almost get away with murder in the final back then and God knows some tried it”. There was only a wasted free kick for Bolton on this occasion. With the ribbons on the cup and the referee ready to call time came one last heart stopping moment when White unleashed a shot that left Hillman stranded but the fates were with the favourites and the ball scraped the paint off the outside of the post as it whistled harmlessly past.
Moments later City had secured their first major honour and as Billy Meredith collected the cup it seemed certain that the Citizens would go on to complete the double with the championship at their mercy. It wasn’t to be though as City stuttered and Sheffield Wednesday retained their title. Bolton galvanised themselves to push for promotion back to the big time the following year but City again narrowly missed out on the title again on the final day. Before the decade was out the club had lost most of their best players to, of all teams, Manchester United after a payments scandal. The team of 1904 would remain City’s best ever side until a new generation brought home the championship in 1936. Billy Meredith, the Welsh wizard known for his quill toothpick he kept in his mouth while playing, was still playing in cup semi finals when he was 50 but his best footballing days lay across the City with United.
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THE TEAMS
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MANCHESTER CITY
JACK HILLMAN
JOHN MCMAHON
HERBERT BURGESS
SAMMY FROST
TOM HYNDS
SAM ASHWORTH
BILLY MEREDITH {CAPTAIN}
GEORGE LIVINGSTONE
BILLY GILLESPIE
SANDY TURNBULL
FRANK BOOTH
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BOLTON WANDERERS
D DAVIES
W BROWN
R STRUTHERS
ROBERT CLIFFORD
S GREENHALGH
A FREEBAIRN
D STOKES
SAM MARSH
W YENSON
W WHITE
R TAYLOR
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