1927 FA Cup Final

Event

1926–27 FA Cup

Cardiff City	Arsenal

1	0

Date

23 April 1927

Venue

Wembley Stadium, London

Referee

W. F. Bunnell (Lancashire)

Attendance

91,206

The 1927 FA Cup Final was won by Cardiff City, who beat Arsenal 1–0. It is most remembered for Arsenal goalkeeper Dan Lewis's mistake which led to the only goal of the game. It was also the first ever Cup Final to be broadcast by BBC Radio. Commentators were Derek McCulloch and George Allison, who would later manage Arsenal.

Tournament layout

There was a new layout for the 1926–27 FA Cup. 552 teams entered the Cup. 462 of these had to participate in the qualifying rounds, where 25 survived to reach the First Round Proper. These 25 teams were joined by 40 clubs from the Third Division, two Second Division sides, eight non-league sides and amateur team Northern Nomads to form 76 teams, or 38 ties, in the First Round. These teams were whittled down to 19 after the Second Round. Here, they were joined by 42 of the 44 First and Second Division clubs, plus two Third Division sides and amateur side Corinthian, who had been given byes. This made the 64 teams that were necessary in the Third Round of the Tournament. From there on, the total number of teams were 32 (Fourth Round), 16 (Fifth Round), 8 (Sixth Round), 4 (Semi-final), and then 2 (Final).

Route to the Final

Cardiff City, defeated finalists just two years earlier, started their campaign at home to Aston Villa. After a 2–1 win, they continued northwards to play Darlington. Following a 2–0 away win, they faced their sternest test yet, an away game to last year's champions Bolton. Following a shock 2–0 away win, Cardiff were pitted away again against Chelsea. After a drab 0–0 at Stamford Bridge, Cardiff won the replay 3–2 at home. In the semi-finals Cardiff were drawn against Reading at Molineux Stadium. However, Reading were superbly edged out 3–0.

Arsenal started their tournament away to the 1925 champions, Sheffield United. Following a 3–2 victory, Arsenal faced an away match against Port Vale, who had won 5–1 in the previous round. After a 2–2 draw, Arsenal managed to win the replay 1–0. From here on, Arsenal did not have to leave London at all in the competition. A home tie against Liverpool was resoundingly won 2–0, and in the Sixth Round the Gunners brushed Wolves aside 2–1. The Semi-final was against Southampton, who had also fallen at the Semi Finals in 1925. The game was played at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal won 2–1, with goals from Hulme and Buchan, with Southampton's reply coming from Rawlings. Southampton were also denied two penalty appeals^[1] for fouls by Horace Cope.

The Final and the "Howler"

The final is remembered as the time that "The Cup was let out of England". 1927 is the first and so far only time the FA Cup has not been won by an English club. Arsenal were by far and away the favourites for the tournament. Arsenal, who had just been taken over by the famous Herbert Chapman, were expected to keep the cup in England and win by some margin.

The Cardiff goal remains one of the most famous FA Cup Final goals ever. The move started with a throw-in. Cardiff's Hughie Ferguson received the ball and had little space to run or make a pass, thus instead he attempted a pot-shot at goal. The ball ran low across the ground, but Arsenal goalkeeper Dan Lewis had the shot well covered. He knelt down and attempted to gather the ball. However, as he did so, the ball squirmed out of Lewis' hands and slipped in between the crook of his left elbow and body. With a couple of Cardiff City forwards closing in, Lewis desperately tried to reclaim the ball but only succeeded in knocking it into the net with his elbow. Lewis later blamed the error on his jersey, which being brand new was greasy and made it difficult to grip the ball.

Cardiff's Ernie Curtis, who died in November 1992 at the age of 85, was the last surviving player from the final.

Match details

Cardiff City v Arsenal

23 April 1927
15:00 BST

Cardiff City	1–0	Arsenal
Ferguson 74'

Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 91,206
Referee: W. F. Bunnell (Lancashire)

Cardiff City

Arsenal



GK	Tom Farquharson
DF	James Nelson
DF	Tom Watson
DF	Fred Keenor (c)
MF	Tom Sloan
MF	Billy Hardy
MF	Ernie Curtis
FW	Sam Irving
FW	Hughie Ferguson
FR	Len Davies
FL	George McLachlan
Manager:
Fred Stewart



GK	Dan Lewis
DF	Tom Parker (c)
DF	Andy Kennedy
MF	Alf Baker
MF	Jack Butler
MF	Bob John
FW	Joe Hulme
FW	Charles Buchan
FW	Jimmy Brain
FR	Billy Blyth
FL	Sid Hoar
Manager:
Herbert Chapman

References

↑ David Bull & Bob Brunskell (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 48–49. ISBN 0-9534474-1-3.

External links

Match report at www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 March 2007)
FA Cup Final lineups
BBC Wales on Air – 1927 FA Cup Final links to video footage of the goal.

FA Cup

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Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

History Trophy List of finals Bronze finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Scottish clubs Non-league clubs in the 5th Round

Arsenal F.C. matches

FA Cup Finals	1927 1930 1932 1936 1950 1952 1971 1972 1978 1979 1980 1993 1998 2001 2002 2003 2005 2014 2015

Football League War Cup Finals	1941 1943

League Cup Finals	1968 1969 1987 1988 1993 2007 2011

FA Community Shields	1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1936 1938 1948 1953 1979 1989 1991 1993 1998 1999 2002 2003 2004 2005 2014

UEFA Champions League Final	2006

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UEFA Cup Final	2000 riots

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final	1970

European Super Cup	1994

Other matches	Leicester City 6–6 Arsenal (1930) Aston Villa 1–7 Arsenal (1935) Liverpool 0–2 Arsenal (1989) Manchester United–Arsenal brawl (1990) Wrexham 2–1 Arsenal (1992) Battle of Old Trafford (2003) Battle of the Buffet (2004)

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FA Cup Finals	1925 1927 2008

League Cup Final	2012

FA Charity Shield	1927

Football League play-off Finals	2003 Second Division 2010 Championship

Welsh Cup Finals	1912 1920 1922 1923 1927 1928 1930 1956 1959 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1976 1988 1992 1993

FAW Premier Cup Final	2002

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