FA Cup Final 1923

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Crowds define the edges of the pitch and watch from the roof.
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Crowds define the edges of the pitch and watch from the roof.

The FA Cup Final of 1923, known as The White Horse Final was the first football match (or sporting event of any kind) to be played at the new Wembley Stadium (or Empire Stadium as it was known then) in London. The White Horse Final is perhaps the most famous final of all time. The game featured West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers, and such was the eagerness to attend the final at the new national stadium that over 200,000 people crammed into the 127,000 capacity stadium. As such, the crowds overflowed onto the pitch as there was no room on the terraces. Some historians estimate that up to 250,000 were inside the stadium to watch the match with another 45,000 locked outside the gates. These estimates are very hard to verfiy though, due to the inaccurate records kept. The vast majority of the fans would have been from the East End to support West Ham. Many were also curious to see the new 'national' stadium as there had not been a proper one before (if you are to exclude The Oval and Crystal Palace).

It fell to mounted policemen, among them PC George Scorey on his giant horse 'Billie', to try and clear the crowds from the pitch. They were successful, and the game went ahead 45 minutes late. Bolton would eventually win the match and the Cup 2-0. Billie was actually grey, but as film at the time was black and white, he appeared white on camera. The white horse became legendary, as the pictures on newsreel films (and years later on television) and in the newspapers were black and white, making Billie the white horse stand out amongst a crowd of grey/black people. In 2005, a survey revealed that a new footbridge near the rebuilt Wembley Stadium will be named the White Horse Bridge in honour of Billie the White Horse.

Contents

[edit] Teams

BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (1)
Jack 2, Jack Smith 53
GK Dick Pym
Bob Haworth
Alex Finney
Harry Nuttall
Jimmy Seddon
Billy Jennings
Billy Butler
David Jack Goal 2'
Jack Smith Goal 53'
Joe Smith
Ted Vizard
Coach:
Charles Foweraker
WEST HAM UNITED 0 (0)
 
GK Ted Hufton
Billy Henderson
Jack Young
Syd Bishop
George Kay
John Tresadern
Dick Richards
Bill Brown
Vic Watson
Billy Moore
Jimmy Ruffell
Coach:
Syd King

[edit] Statistics

  • Attendance: 126,047 (unofficial 240,000)
  • Referee: D. H. Asson (West Bromwich)
  • Shirts were not numbered

[edit] Road to Wembley

[edit] Bolton Wanderers

Round 1 Norwich City 0 - 2 Bolton Wanderers (J Smith,JR Smith)

Round 2 Bolton Wanderers 3 - 1 Leeds United (Jack 2,J Smith)

 

Round 3 Hundersfield Town 1 - 1 Bolton Wanderers (Jack)

Replay Bolton Wanderers 1 - 0 Hundersfield Town (Jack)

Round 4 Charlton Athletics 0 - 1 Bolton Wanderers (Jack)

 
 

Semi-Final Bolton Wanderers 1 - 0 Sheffield United (Jack) (Played at Old Trafford)

[edit] West Ham United

Round 1 Hull City 2 - 3 West Ham United (Watson 2,Moore)

Round 2 Brighton 1 - 1 West Ham United (Watson)

Replay West Ham United 1 - 0 Brighton (Moore)

Round 3 West Ham United 2 - 0 Plymouth Argyle (Moore, Richards)

 

Round 4 Southampton 1 - 1 West Ham United (Watson)

Replay West Ham United 1 - 1 Southampton aet (Watson)

2nd Replay West Ham United 1 - 0 Southampton (Brown) Played at Villa Park

Semi-Final West Ham United 5 - 2 Derby County (Brown 2,Moore 2,Ruffell) Played at Stamford Bridge

[edit] External links

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