The 1896 FA Cup semi-final games between Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday

 

The 1896 FA Cup semi-final games between Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday

 

Sheffield Wednesday beat Bolton Wanderers 3-1 in the replay 

Having beaten Everton in the last eight then Wednesday’s opponents in the 1896 FA Cup semi final were their conquerors of two years earlier, Bolton Wanderers. In the other semi-final the bookies’ favourites and Will Chatterton’s last surviving tip, Derby County, were up against Wolves.

Bolton had progressed against Wednesday in 1894 thanks to foul play and poor refereeing and there was therefore disappointment when it was announced that the referee from that day, Mr Armitt from Leek, would take charge of the 1896 semi-final involving the same sides.

Wanderers were going well in the League and were unbeaten in 1896 having played nine competitive matches.

They had beaten Crewe, Blackpool and Bury to reach the semi-final.

The teams were equally matched and a tight game was predicted at Goodison Park, scene of Bolton’s defeat by Notts County in the 1894 FA Cup final. On the morning of Saturday 21 March the Sheffield Midland Station was awash with Wednesday fans wearing their blue and white favours.

Finally, the promised ‘football specials’ arrived and fans crammed on to them to make the journey to Liverpool Lime Street Station. The Wednesday players and staff arrived at Lime Street at 1pm and were greeted with three cheers by 300 Wednesday fans.

After a light lunch at the Alexandra Hotel the Wednesday party were taken by horse-drawn carriages to Goodison.

They departed ten minutes after Bolton, who were staying in the same hotel. When the teams reached the ground they saw fans queuing up and down the streets of terraced housing waiting to get into the ground. It was immediately obvious that Sheffield fans outnumbered those from Bolton.

This was confirmed when the teams came out with the Bolton cheers totally overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the Wednesday followers.

Having won the toss the Bolton captain Jimmy ‘Surefoot’ Somerville chose to defend the Park End goal with the sun behind them, possibly recalling that Wednesday ’keeper Bill Allan had fumbled the ball over his goal-line with the sun in his eyes in 1894. With Langley suffering a twisted knee, Harry Brandon was again asked to play out of position at left back. Bolton also had an experienced fullback missing in Dai Jones with E Hamilton replacing the Welsh international.

The game’s first goal arrived on five minutes when Cassidy hit a shot over the Wednesday full backs and, blinded by the sun, a nervous Massey missed the flight of the ball and parried it to Tannahill who scored from close range. Somerville’s decision had paid immediate dividends.

Their confidence high, Wanderers sought to double their advantage. Paton, who at the 1894 FA Cup final had, like many other Bolton players, taken to the field swathed in bandages – a gamble that backfired badly – fired home from a free kick. However, the Bolton fans’ joy was stilled because no-one had touched the indirect effort. Jack Wright then went close as his shot smacked the crossbar.

Having hardly left their own half Wednesday almost equalised when Brash sent over a cross that Spiksley reached just before Somerville. The Wednesday winger improvised by knocking the ball off the Bolton man’s shin pads which sent it beyond a surprised Sutcliffe. He reacted by diving backwards to push the ball behind for a corner.

It was a magnificent save.

Much less pleasant was a deliberate hack on the Wednesday outside left by Jim McGeachan, the Bolton centre half. Wednesday appeals for a penalty were overlooked as Mr Armitt inexplicably decided to award an indirect free kick on the twelve-yard line and failed to speak to the offender.

The game was now, however, all Wednesday and Sutcliffe, who had played brilliantly in the 1894 FACup final, showed his international class to ensure Bolton stayed ahead. He was eventually beaten twice, Hamilton first clearing a Spiksley shot from the line and then also blocking a Crawshaw header with a remarkable overhead scissors kick.

When the sides returned from their half-time break the sun had dipped and so did the quality of the football. The equaliser all Wednesday fans craved should have been scored by Davis but, clean through, he curled his effort wide.

There was then a terrible challenge from behind by McGeachan on Petrie that went unpunished. But with 70 minutes on the clock the deserved equaliser finally arrived after Spiksley’s swerving cross had Bolton ’keeper Sutcliffe coming out to collect before he realised the ball was moving away from him. It was too late and an unmarked

Brash rushed in and volleyed home as everything handy – hats, caps, flowers, favours – was flung upwards by the delighted Wednesday fans.

With Bolton dead on their feet and Wednesday down to nine fit men because Petrie was limping and Jamieson was suffering from an injury sustained in an earlier League game the tie failed to sparkle after that and was set for a replay. Then, in the last minute, Archie Fairbairn tricked his way past Brandon and raced in on goal. The Bolton man’s nerves failed him at the last minute and his shot hitMassey’s shins. When the ball spun free the ’keeper was forced to make a good save from the follow-up shot from ‘Sparrow’ Brown. So the tie ended 1-1 before a thoroughly entertained crowd of 37,000.

The replay was at the Town Ground, Nottingham Forest’s home on Arkwright Street. In the 1890s working class men seldom travelled to away matches because of work commitments and the expense involved.

Cup semifinals were the exception and 12,000 Wednesday fans made the short trip and only worried about how to pay the rent and feed the family on the way home. On their arrival in Nottingham, fans set out to enjoy Nottingham Castle, the Caves, England’s oldest inn, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Trent Bridge and the embankment.

Bolton fans were outnumbered 3 to 1 in the 16,000 crowd that also contained some locals who were rooting for the Sheffield side. Vail, who had replaced Cassidy, and Langley were to dust each other’s jackets pretty well over the following 90 minutes.

Despite a heavy breeze and a difficult pitch Wednesday took the lead after two minutes when Crawshaw hit a twelve-yard free kick beyond Sutcliffe. The goal was compensation for another poor decision by Mr Armitt as the free kick was awarded for a hand ball so close to the Bolton goal that it should have been a penalty.

Bolton equalised on twenty minutes when Brown headed past Massey before Vail was booked for a terrible tackle on Langley that left the Wednesday man crippled for the remainder of the game. At the interval the Wednesday fans had the terrible feeling that with the wind behind them Bolton would again eliminate their side from the FA Cup.

With Petrie performing well to cover for the injured Langley, Wednesday were still in the tie. When Bolton conceded another dangerous free kick, Petrie took it splendidly and found Davis whose diving header restored the Yorkshire side’s lead.

With Vail performing like a bull in a china shop, Bolton were beaten and in the final minute Wednesday confirmed their place in the 1896 FA Cup final when from a Brash cross, Fred Spiksley used his instep to fizz the ball over Sutcliffe and under the bar.

 “You would have to attend a great many games of football before you could see a betterand more well-fashioned goal,” wrote Langley in 1925.

When the referee sounded the final whistle the pain in Langley’s massively swollen knee was agonising and with his mind in torment he was carried from the field by Earp and Petrie in a state of delirium. That evening thousands of Sheffielders went into Nottingham and celebrated wildly. It had been a famous occasion.