Referee R. A. Mortimer Venue Wembley Stadium Event 1948–49 FA Cup | Date 30 April 1949 Attendance 98,920 | |
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Champion Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Similar 1947 FA Cup Final, 1939 FA Cup Final, 1946 FA Cup Final, 1948 FA Cup Final, 1960 FA Cup Final | ||
The 1949 FA Cup Final was contested by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium. Wolves finished 6th in the First Division during that season, and boasted several England internationals among their ranks, while Leicester City had struggled to avoid relegation in the Second Division and were making their first Wembley appearance.
Wolverhampton won the match 3–1, with goals by Jesse Pye (2) and Sammy Smyth. Mal Griffiths scored the Foxes' reply. Captain Billy Wright was presented with the cup by HRH The Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II).
Match summary
Wolves started determinedly and took a 13th-minute lead when Jesse Pye, who had been preferred to Dennis Wilshaw, stooped to head in an inch-perfect Hancocks cross. Leicester kept Wolves at bay until almost half-time, when Pye collected the ball in the penalty area with his back to goal, after the Foxes had struggled to clear a corner, and turned to slam it home for his second.
Leicester brought the game to life immediately after the interval courtesy of Mal Griffiths, who flicked the ball home after Williams parried Chisholm's initial effort. Within minutes, they believed they were level only for a narrow offside decision to rule out Chisholm's finish. Sammy Smyth quickly calmed Wolves' nerves when picked up the ball in the centre circle and drove through the Leicester defence before hitting the ball low into the far corner to make it 3–1 and clinch the cup for Molineux men for a third time.
Leicester were without two of their key players for the game, both of them ruled out by injury. Goalkeeper Ian McGraw was unable to play due to a broken finger, while Don Revie had suffered a nose injury.