The 1954 FA Cup final was a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
match between
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
and
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
, played on 1 May 1954 at the original
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in London. It was the final match of the
1953–54 staging of
English football
Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first football league, the oldest ...
's primary
cup competition
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
). The match was the 73rd
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
and the 26th to be played at Wembley.
West Bromwich Albion were appearing in their ninth final, having won the cup on three previous occasions, while Preston had won the competition twice and were playing in the final for the sixth time. The two clubs had met in one final before in 1888, with Albion winning 2–1 on that occasion; in this match, Albion won 3–2.
Ronnie Allen opened the scoring but Preston soon equalised through
Angus Morrison. Preston then took the lead through
Charlie Wayman
Charles Wayman (16 May 1921 – 26 February 2006) was an English footballer.
Wayman, who was born in Chilton, Bishop Auckland, was a prolific centre-forward in the first decade after the Second World War. Newcastle United signed him from Spe ...
. Allen equalised from the penalty spot before a late goal from
Frank Griffin secured the cup for Albion for the fourth time. Albion finished second in the league table, losing out on "the double" to Black Country rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The last surviving member of the winning team, Ray Barlow, died in March 2012 at the age of 85. Upon his death on 31 December 2020,
Tommy Docherty
Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...
was the last surviving player from the match.
Background
Both clubs were members of the
First Division,
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
having finished as runners-up during the
1953–54 league season and
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
11th. Albion were victorious in both league matches between the two sides, winning 2–0 at
Deepdale
Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...
and 3–2 at
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...
. The teams had met on six previous occasions in the FA Cup. Albion had won four of those ties, including the
1886–87 semi-final and
1888 final, while Preston were victorious in the semi-finals of
1888–89 and
1936–37.
Route to the final
West Bromwich Albion

As a First Division club, West Bromwich Albion entered the FA Cup at the third round stage. They began their 61st FA Cup campaign at home against
Chelsea, whom they beat 1–0 thanks to an own goal by
Ron Greenwood
Ronald Greenwood (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager. He is best known for being manager of the England national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for ...
. Their next cup match saw Albion defeat
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...
4–0, in what was the first ever meeting between the two sides in any competition.
Johnny Nicholls scored two of the goals and
Ronnie Allen and
Reg Ryan one each. A hat-trick from Ronnie Allen gave Albion a 3–2 win against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
in round five in a thrilling match. The game was played in front of 61,088 spectators, the highest attendance at
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...
for 16 years. An estimated 20,000 more were locked out. Albion were then drawn at home for the fourth round in succession; this time
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
were the visitors as the competition reached the quarter-final stage. A free-kick by
Ray Barlow and two goals from Johnny Nicholls resulted in a 3–0 West Bromwich Albion victory.
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
rivals and Third Division North leaders
Port Vale were the opposition in the semi-final, which was played at the
neutral venue
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...
of
Villa Park
Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...
in front of a near 70,000 crowd. Vale's Albert Leake opened the scoring before the break, but Albion equalised just after the hour when
Jimmy Dudley's cross evaded the Vale goalkeeper Ray King and ended up in the net. Ronnie Allen, playing against his former team, scored the winning goal for Albion from a
penalty kick
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
, following a foul on
George Lee.
[Matthews (2004) pp. 88–89.] leading to scenes of wild celebration from the Albion supporters.
Preston North End
Match details
References
;Specific
;General
West Bromwich Albion Football Club History*
{{DEFAULTSORT:1954 Fa Cup Final
FA Cup finals
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
FA Cup Final 1954
FA Cup Final 1954
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...