LOVELLS' PICK AND MIX

The 1945-6 FA Cup competition was in its 65th season following the war. The previous final had been on April 29th 1939 at Wembley with a crowd of 99,370. The last final for 7 years. Portsmouth beat Wolves 4-1.

The country was weary of its sacrifice during the war and football did much to raise spirits. Absenteeism on match days was common place and employers plumped for staggered work hours. 

League football began for the 1946-7 season, but prior to that, in 1945-6 and for the first time, the Cup was played over two legs for each tie between the First Round and the Sixth, home and away of course. This led to an increase in crowds and therefore, money for the football club coffers and I suppose for the FA as well.

There had been 4 Qualifying Rounds previously including ties between: Pressed Steels and Morris Motors, Banstead Mental Hospital v Metropolitan Police and Aylesbury Utd v Osberton Radiators.  Locals in Yorskhire might be interested in a tie between Yorkshire Amateur and Lincoln City which 1-0 and then 1-5, City winning on agg.

One club to follow would be Lovells Athletic FC, from a factory making sweets in Newport, Monmouthshire. They played Bournemouth in the 1st Rd Proper winning 8-7 on aggregate.

On October 6th 1945, the Second Round Proper took place: 43 clubs from the Third Divisions North and South along with 25 Non-League clubs. In the end 25 winners went on to the First Round Proper.

In this round, Lovells beat Bath City 7-3 over two ties (2nd Rd Proper) and in January 1946 Lovells played Wolves in the 3rd Rd and their bubble burst with a 3-12 defeat. This is NOT the team bus.

                                                                  

Big scores (rather like our present state in football) were evident in this round on aggregate scores: Leeds 6 Middlesbrough 11, Man City 8 Barrow 4, Accrington Stanley 3 Man Utd 7 and Birmingham 0-1 Portsmouth!

Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City, a sixth round second leg tie, on March 9th 1946 at Burden Park (BWFC) saw at least 65,000 fans cram into the ground to see Stanley Matthews on Stoke's right wing and the rest of the famous post war footballers. Bolton had won the first leg away 0-2 but the huge crowd caused chaos, with collapsed fences, a brick wall collapsed inside the ground, 33 fans were crushed and over 500 injured. One way and another the ties were completed with Stoke at home losing 0-2 and the game at Bolton drawn 0-0. Amazing that the thing was completed! Bolton lost in the semi.

In the final, Derby County beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 at Wembley on April 27th.