 Official programme | |||||||
| Event | 1921–22 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 29 April 1922 | ||||||
| Venue | Stamford Bridge, London | ||||||
| Referee | John W. D. Fowler (Sunderland) | ||||||
| Attendance | 53,000 | ||||||
←1921 1923 → | |||||||
The1922 FA Cup final was the deciding match of the1921–22 FA Cup competition, contested byHuddersfield Town andPreston North End atStamford Bridge on 29 April 1922. It was the last final before the opening of theEmpire Stadium at Wembley the following year, and the guest of honour was theDuke of York.
The five teams that Huddersfield had eliminated to reach the final includedBurnley, who were the League champions from theprevious season, while Preston's opponents had included bothWolverhampton Wanderers andTottenham Hotspur, who had contested theprevious season's Cup final. Huddersfield were playing in their second FA Cup final in three seasons, having lost toAston Villa in1920, and Preston were playing in their first final for 33 years.
Huddersfield won by a single goal, a contentious penalty scored byBilly Smith in the second half, after Smith was brought down by the Preston defenderTom Hamilton. The match was strongly criticised by contemporary journalists and theFootball Association because of the poor standard of play and the excessive number of deliberate fouls. It was Huddersfield's first major trophy under the management ofHerbert Chapman. This remains the only time they have won the Cup, although they have appeared in three subsequent finals, including the1938 final when they lost to Preston by the same score.
| Round | Opposition | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Burnley | 2–2 | Turf Moor (a) |
| 1st (replay) | Burnley | 3–2 | Leeds Road (h) |
| 2nd | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0–0 | Goldstone Ground (a) |
| 2nd (replay) | Brighton & Hove Albion | 2–0 | Leeds Road (h) |
| 3rd | Blackburn Rovers | 1–1 | Ewood Park (a) |
| 3rd (replay) | Blackburn Rovers | 5–0 | Leeds Road (h) |
| Quarter-final | Millwall | 3–0 | Leeds Road (h) |
| Semi-final | Notts County | 3–1 | Turf Moor (n) |
In the first round, Huddersfield were drawn away to the reigning League championsBurnley, who were unbeaten at home in League and Cup since August 1920.[1] After falling two goals down, Huddersfield rallied to draw 2–2 after a late equaliser fromBilly Watson, and then won the replay 3–2 in heavy rain, withClem Stephenson scoring the winning goal.[2] In the second round, they drew an uneventful match away toBrighton & Hove Albion of the newly-formed Third Division South, and won the replay 2–0 at home with second-half goals from Stephenson andGeorge Richardson.[3]
In the third round they were drawn away for the third time in a row, and again required a replay after a 1–1 with First DivisionBlackburn Rovers, although Huddersfield had two goals disallowed in the second half.[4] Huddersfield won the replay convincingly, 5–0, withFrank Mann,Ernie Islip andBilly Smith scoring in the first half, and Smith and Islip adding further goals in the second.[4]
Huddersfield received a favourable home draw against another Third Division South team,Millwall, in the quarter-finals, which they won 3–0 with two first-half goals by Stephenson and one in the second half by Islip,[5] before returning toTurf Moor to play the only Cup semi-final ever to be held at Burnley's home stadium.[6] Their opponents, in front of a crowd of 46,000, were Second DivisionNotts County, who were playing the tenth match of their Cup run, having needed replays in each previous round.[6][7] A mistake by County's goalkeeperAlbert Iremonger allowed Mann to open the scoring with a header after two minutes, butHarold Hill equalised before a quarter of an hour had been played. In the second half, goals in quick succession by Smith and Stephenson gave Huddersfield a 3–1 win and a place in the final for the second time in three seasons.[7]
| Round | Opposition | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3–0 | Deepdale (h) |
| 2nd | Newcastle United | 3–1 | Deepdale (h) |
| 3rd | Barnsley | 1–1 | Oakwell (a) |
| 3rd (replay) | Barnsley | 3–0 | Deepdale (h) |
| Quarter-final | Arsenal | 1–1 | Highbury (a) |
| Quarter-final (replay) | Arsenal | 2–1 | Deepdale (h) |
| Semi-final | Tottenham Hotspur | 2–1 | Hillsborough (n) |
Preston North End began by beating the finalists from theprevious season, Second DivisionWolverhampton Wanderers, 3–0 at home with two goals fromTommy Roberts and one fromFrank Jefferis.[6] In the second round they conceded an early goal toNewcastle United'sStan Seymour, but recovered strongly to win 3–1.[6][8] In the third round against the1912 Cup winners,Barnsley, they required a replay, which they won 3–0 after Barnsley'sJack Tindall was sent off in the first half.[9]
The quarter-finals saw Preston draw 1–1 withArsenal atHighbury, despite the absence of their captainJoe McCall, in a match played in heavy rain. Jefferis scored after five minutes, butBert White equalised with a long shot before half-time and Arsenal could not score again despite dominating the second half.[5] On another heavy pitch in the replay, Arsenal went ahead early in the second half whenBilly Blyth scored after a corner, but Roberts soon equalised and then he scored the winning goal in extra-time.[10]
In the semi-finals, Preston beat the Cup holdersTottenham Hotspur 2–1 atHillsborough, reversing the scoreline by which they had lost to the same opponents at the same stage and at the same venue in 1921.[11] Tottenham had a goal byBert Bliss disallowed but took the lead in the first half whenJimmy Seed scored with an overhead kick. Preston improved in the second half and equalised with a swerving shot byArchibald Rawlings, before Roberts took advantage of a mistake byBob McDonald to score the winning goal and send Preston to their first final for 33 years.[7]
In 1922,Huddersfield Town was still a relatively young club. It had been founded in 1908 and had only been playing in the Football League since 1910.[12] In 1919, the club had become involved in the fallout of the scandal that led toLeeds City being expelled from the League for making illegal payments to players during wartime.[13] Amid their own financial troubles, Huddersfield's chairman proposed a merger with the newly-formedLeeds United, although ultimately the plan did not materialise.[12] Huddersfield survived to win promotion to the First Division in1920, and they also reached theFA Cup final that year, where they lost toAston Villa after extra time.[12]Herbert Chapman, whose lifetime ban in connection with the Leeds City scandal had been overturned, was appointed as Huddersfield's manager in 1921.[14] Huddersfield finished 17th in the First Division in the1920–21 season and were again beaten in the FA Cup by Aston Villa.[1][14]
Eight of Huddersfield's 1922 team had played for them in the final two years earlier, whileClem Stephenson had played for Aston Villa in that match, having previously also won the Cup with Villa in1913, before signing for Huddersfield during the 1920–21 season.[15][16][17] The other newcomers were bothEngland internationals who played in theHome Championship defeat againstScotland on 8 April:Sam Wadsworth, who had been released byBlackburn Rovers after serving with theRoyal Garrison Artillery in theFirst World War,[18] and the outside-leftBilly Smith, who had missed the 1920 final through suspension.[19][20] Wadsworth replacedFred Bullock, who had captained the 1920 side, at left-back in Huddersfield's team of 1922.[14]
Preston North End were competing in aPreston Guild year, and the final was played in the same month asTom Finney was born.[21] They had won the Cup once before, in1889, and had been promoted back to the First Division for the first post-war season having been relegated twice during the previous decade.[22] They finished 16th in the First Division in both 1919–20 and 1920–21, and were also struggling against relegation in 1921–22.[1] Between their semi-final againstTottenham Hotspur on 25 March and the Cup final on 29 April, Preston had endured a remarkable loss of form. They played nine League fixtures in this period and had failed to win any of them,[11] to sink into the lower half of the table with the same number of points as Huddersfield.[23] Huddersfield had also experienced very poor League form during 1922, having been as high as second in the table when they beatBurnley in December 1921.[24]
The teams faced each other atLeeds Road in the League on 22 April, a week before the Cup final. Huddersfield won 6–0, with Smith andErnie Islip both scoring hat-tricks,[14] although only five of Preston's team in this match went on to play in the Cup final.[11] The previous Saturday, the two teams had drawn 1–1 atDeepdale, so the Cup final was their third meeting in a fortnight.[1] Preston's record away from home in the League was extremely poor: they had failed to win any of their away League fixtures, and had only scored in four of them, while at home they had lost only two League matches.[1]
In contrast to their opponents, none of Preston's players had played in the FA Cup final before, although their Scottish right-backTom Hamilton had won the Scottish Cup in1920 withKilmarnock. Their 35-year-old captainJoe McCall had won his last international cap in October 1920 as the captain of England,[25] whileArchibald Rawlings had a single cap,[26] and the 37-year-oldFrank Jefferis, one of the oldest players in Cup final history at that time, was capped twice before the War.[6][27] Preston's goalkeeper,James Mitchell (also known as Fred), was an eccentric amateur who had played forGreat Britain at the1920 Olympic Games,[28] wore a 'bandeau', orbandana, round his head during matches[15][29] and was to become the first, and only, player ever to wearspectacles in an FA Cup Final.[29][30]
For the third year running, the final was to be played at Chelsea'sStamford Bridge stadium, although it had already been decided that in 1923 it would move to the newEmpire Stadium at Wembley.[31] The capacity of Stamford Bridge at that time was 85,000, of which 7,500 were seated, but in the two previous finals the stadium had not been full, and the pitch was heavily used and in poor condition.[32] It was the first final to be contested by two First Division teams since1915,[23] and the third Yorkshire-Lancashire 'Roses' Cup final, after the finals of1890 and1907.[33]
The match kicked off at 3pm in warm weather[31] to an attendance of 53,000.[15] Gate receipts were £10,551.[34] Owing to the recent death ofLord Leopold Mountbatten, theKing did not attend, so the guest of honour was theDuke of York, accompanied byPrince George.[31][35] The referee was John W. D. Fowler, who had recovered from serious injuries sustained in theFirst World War, and the linesmen, D. H. Asson and W. E. Russell, went on to referee the next two FA Cup finals respectively.[33][15] Both clubs named the same teams that had played in the semi-final.[23] Huddersfield deployed their captain and centre-half,Tom Wilson, in a deeper role than was customary for the2-3-5 formation conventionally used at the time, to counter the threat of Preston's centre-forwardTommy Roberts.[36]
The game quickly degenerated amid a series of fouls by both teams, including "two of the most villainous fouls imaginable" on Roberts andIslip, and there were few goalscoring chances.[31] The first half was goalless, although Preston were denied a goalscoring opportunity when the referee blew foroffside against them, only to reverse his decision and restart the game with adrop-ball.[34][37]
The decisive moment in the match came around halfway through the second half, when Huddersfield'sSmith dribbled past Preston's right-backHamilton, who tripped him from behind. Reporters considered the foul to have taken place outside the penalty area, although Smith fell inside, and despite protests from Preston's players, the referee awarded a penalty to Huddersfield.[31][35] As Smith prepared to take the kick, Preston's goalkeeper Mitchell tried to distract him by jumping around on the goal-line "like a circus clown"[15] and "with a manoeuvre of dervish leaps",[29] but Smith scored with a shot to the goalkeeper's right.[37]
Huddersfield created a further chance with a move involving several players that ended with a shot byStephenson, and Stephenson missed with another shot after he had been set up by Smith, but Preston's ineffective forward line were unable to create any chances and the match finished 1–0 to Huddersfield.[34][35][37] The Huddersfield team received the trophy from the Duke of York.[31]
         Huddersfield Town |  Preston North End
|
The 1922 final was widely castigated by contemporary journalists as one of the worst in the competition's history, both for the general quality of the play and for the excessive number of deliberate fouls.[31][37][38] The reporter fromThe Daily Telegraph described the final as "positively bad" and "in every particular the worst I have witnessed".[35] These views are endorsed by subsequent FA Cup historians and football writers.[6][13][15][39]The Sunday Times correspondent was less critical of the amount of foul play and consideredBilly Smith to be the match's best performer, but noted the overall paucity of good football and that the match was "so much of a mix-up and a muddle".[34] TheFootball Association also expressed concern about the conduct of the players during the match.[36] It was the first FA Cup final to be decided by a solitary penalty, and has been described as the last of the three "forgotten finals" that took place between the end of theFirst World War and the event's move to theEmpire Stadium at Wembley, all of which attracted below-capacity crowds and ended in a 1–0 scoreline.[6]
Huddersfield paraded the trophy at St George's Square on the Monday after the final,[14] and beatMiddlesbrough andChelsea in their last two League fixtures to finish 14th.[1] On 10 May, they beat the new League championsLiverpool 1–0 to win theCharity Shield, with a goal byTom Wilson.[40] Preston recorded their only win away from home all season in their last League match, againstBirmingham, and finished 16th.[1]
Huddersfield's defence of their FA Cup ended in the third roundthe following season with defeat to aBolton Wanderers team that went on to win thefirst final at the Empire Stadium in chaotic circumstances.[6] However, Huddersfield's victory in 1922 continued a run underHerbert Chapman that saw them become the most successful team in English football during the 1920s.[41] They became the first team to win the League title three years in succession, between1923–24 and1925–26, and were runners-up in the FA Cup in1928 and1930 under Wilson's captaincy, although Chapman left forArsenal in 1925 andClem Stephenson took over as manager in 1929.[6][1][14] Billy Smith played in both of those Cup finals and went on to set a Huddersfield club record of 574 appearances, scoring more than 100 goals.[42] In contrast, Preston continued to struggle in the years after the final, and they were relegated to the Second Division in 1925.[1]
James Mitchell's antics during the penalty incident led to a change in the law, whereby goalkeepers were not allowed to move to distract the kicker before the penalty had been taken.[15] Mitchell moved toManchester City shortly after the final and won an England cap in 1924.[28] Huddersfield's goalkeeper,Sandy Mutch, was also transferred after the final, and was in theNewcastle United team that reached the1924 FA Cup final, although he missed the match through injury.[43]
In later years the 1922 final retrospectively gained significance when Huddersfield and Preston met again in thefinal in 1938, when Preston reversed the scoreline to win 1–0 with another disputed penalty.[6] However, the 1938 FA Cup remains the last time either team has won the competition.[22]
| External media | |
|---|---|
 British Pathé film of the match | |
| Huddersfield Town's victory parade |
