May 5, 1956: Bert Trautmann Breaks His Neck to Win the FA Cup

May 5, 1956, 70 years ago: Many sports fans have said they would die for their team. Most don't mean it. And most don't expect their players to die for their teams. Well, one man broke his neck to win his team a trophy, and lived to tell about it.

Bernhard Carl Trautmann was born on October 22, 1923 in Bremen, Germany. This was the same month in which Charlton Heston, Glynis Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and New York baseball legend Bobby Thomson were born.

He excelled in multiple sports, including soccer, where he was an expert goalkeeper. Like nearly every German male of his generation, he joined the Army, fighting for the Nazis whether they liked it or not. He became a paratrooper, so he was certainly brave. He would eventually be captured by, and escape from, the Americans, the Soviet Red Army, and the French Resistance. The 4th time, he was captured by the British. This time, he accepted his fate, and was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp near Liverpool.

After The War, he was released, but declined an offer of repatriation, and stayed in England. He played for St. Helens Town, a club near Liverpool. He was allowed to marry Margaret Friar, the daughter of the club secretary. He got the club promoted, and in 1949, he was signed by Manchester City Football Club. This made him the 1st soccer player in England to wear Adidas shoes, since he was a friend of the company's founder, Adolf Dassler. (His nickname was Adi, hence, "Adi Das." His brother Rudolf Dassler founded Puma.)

Man City fans were not happy about the signing. A, Trautmann wasn't just German, he had actually fought for the enemy. B, He was replacing Frank Swift, the greatest goalie in Man City's history to that point. (Swift then became a journalist, and died in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, covering Manchester United's European Cup run.)

A January 1950 match away to West London club Fulham changed things. He made several great saves, and, although Fulham won 1-0, their fans stopped hurling insults at him, and gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

Man City were relegated to the Football League Division Two at the end of the season, but bounced back up to Division One at the end of the next season. Led by Trautmann and forward Don Revie (later the manager of the great Leeds United team of the late 1960s and early 1970s), they reached the 1955 FA Cup Final, losing to Newcastle United FC.

In 1956, they got back to the Final, and faced Birmingham City FC. The game was 1-1 at the hour, but Bobby Johnstone and Jack Dyson scored in quick succession to make it 3-1 to Man City. In the 73rd minute, Peter Murphy attempted a shot for the Brummies, but Trautmann dove at his feet to win the ball. In the process, Murphy's knee struck Trautmann in the neck.

Trautmann was knocked unconscious. Substitutes were not allowed in English football until the 1965-66 season, so if he could not continue, an outfield player would have to put on the green shirt, and City would be down to 10 men. Trautmann came to, and, with the situation explained to him, he insisted on staying in the game.

The Man City players did what they could to keep the ball away from him, but he had to make 2 more saves, the 2nd of which was another collision with Murphy, resulting in his needing treatment.

The game ended 3-1, and the Man City players climbed the famed Wembley Stadium steps to the royal box, where Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, handed out the Cup to winning Captain Roy Paul, and the winner's medals to all the players. On the film, Trautmann can be seen rubbing his neck. Prince Philip expressed concern for Trautmann's condition.

After 3 days, the pain didn't go away, so Trautmann went to the doctor. He was told he had dislocated 5 vertebrae, 1 of which was cracked. The 3rd vertebra had lodged against the cracked 2nd, possibly saving his life. He had, quite literally, broken his neck to win the FA Cup.

He missed much of the 1956-57 season, and in 1958, because he had not fully recovered, Man City became the only team in the history of England's Football League (including the post-1992 Premier League) to score 100 goals and allow 100 goals in a single League season. But he continued to play until 1964, and his final match was a testimonial at Maine Road, City's ground from 1923 to 2003. He captained a combined City and United team, with Bobby Charlton and Denis Law guesting from United, against an International XI that had England stars Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and Jimmy Armfield.

He was not allowed to play for the West Germany national team, under their rules of the time, because he was playing outside the country, and so he was not on the team that won the 1954 World Cup. He later coached in England, Germany and Spain, and managed the national teams of Burma, Tanzania, Liberia and Pakistan.

He settled in the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia, Spain. He married 3 times, and had 4 children, 1 of whom died in a car crash as a boy, which led to the breakup of his 1st marriage. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an OBE for his efforts at diplomacy through sport, and, on the occasion, asked him if his neck felt better.

He was honored with a statue outside the City of Manchester Stadium, to which Man City moved in 2003, and is now named the Etihad Stadium.

He died on July 19, 2013, in Valencia, from the effects of a pair of heart attacks earlier in the year, up to which point he was still thought to be in good health. He was 89 years old.

Bert Trautmann was a symbol of courage, perseverance, understanding and sportsmanship. He could have been embittered by either the war he was in or his new country's reaction to his service in it. Instead, he made both his old country and his new country better places to be. That's testimonial enough for anyone.

May 1, 1965: Montreal 13 Cups, Liverpool 1

Jean Béliveau with 2 of his closest friends

May 1, 1965, 60 years ago: In the 1st NHL game to be played after April, the Montreal Canadiens win their 13th Stanley Cup, taking the all-time lead from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had won their 12th the year before. They have never given that lead up. They beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-0, in Game 7 of the Finals at the Montreal Forum.

The first Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player of the Playoffs – the entire playoffs, unlike other sports where it’s given only to the MVP of the finals – is awarded in honor of the former head coach and general manager of the Maple Leafs, the very Canadian, and very English, World War I hero and World War II officer, Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, who, though no longer in charge of the team, was still alive. (He lived until 1980.)

And it went to a player on the Montreal Canadiens. Their Captain. A native of Quebec City, the capital of the French-speaking Province in Canada, a man who did not speak English until he became a major leaguer. Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau. Known as Jean Béliveau, he scored in this Game 7. So did former Maple Leaf Dick Duff; the very French "Roadrunner," Yvan Cournoyer; and Henri Richard, brother of the retired superstar Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, another proud Francophone, who would succeed Béliveau as Captain (and would, himself, be succeeded by Cournoyer).

This was not a good day to be a Maple Leafs fan -- especially Smythe. At least he did not have to hand over the Cup, or the new Trophy bearing his name. That was the duty of the President of the NHL, Clarence Campbell, a man often considered his subordinate.

Béliveau, Richard, Duff, Cournoyer, Jacques Laperrière, goaltender Lorne "Gump" Worsley, head coach Hector "Toe" Blake and general manager Frank Selke, are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Béliveau went on to play on 10 Cup-winning teams, and lived until 2015.

The Canadiens would win the Cup again in 1966. In 1967, the Leafs would beat them in the Finals, cutting the deficit to 14-13. But the Leafs have not been back to the Finals since. They are stuck on 13 Stanley Cups. The Canadiens now have 24.

*

On this same day, the FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium in London. Liverpool FC beat Leeds United AFC, 2-1. The Mersey Reds, under manager Bill Shankly, win the FA Cup for the 1st time. The game is scoreless after regulation, but Liverpool's Roger Hunt and Leeds' Billy Bremner trade goals in extra time, before Ian St. John wins it in the 113th minute. Liverpool Captain Ron Yeats accepts the Cup from Queen Elizabeth.

Leeds thus do a "Runner-Up Double," finishing 2nd in the League and losing the FA Cup Final in the same year. While they do win some trophies in the 1960s and '70s, their pattern of being the era's "nearly men" has been set.

Leeds do, however, produce a notable first: Albert Johanneson, a left winger (in position, possibly also in politics) from South Africa, was the 1st black man to play in an FA Cup Final. By 1974, Bremner, as captain of both Leeds and Scotland, would seem to forget this, race-baiting the Zaire players at the World Cup. 

May 17, 2014: Arsenal End the Trophy Drought

Aaron Ramsey, doing his best "Charlie George"

May 17, 2014, 10 years ago: The Football Association Cup Final is held at the new Wembley Stadium in London. For one team, Hull City Association Football Club of Hull, East Yorkshire, England, it starts out looking like "The Magic of the Cup." For the other team, Arsenal Football Club of North London, it starts out looking like the latest in a series of disasters in their attempt to win a trophy.

The Arsenal -- their fans like to call them that, Capital T, Capital A -- had won the FA Cup in 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2005. They had also lost in the Final in 1932, 1952, 1972, 1978, 1980 and 2001. They had won the old Football League Division One in 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1971, 1989 and 1991. They had won its replacement, the Premier League, in 1998, 2002 and, with an unbeaten season within the League, 2004. They had won both the League and the Cup, for "The Double," in 1971, 1998 and 2002.

They had not won the main European trophy, the UEFA Champions League, formerly the European Cup; but had won secondary European trophies in 1970 and 1994. And they had won English soccer's secondary cup tournament, the Football League Cup, in 1987 and 1993. By winning both domestic cups in 1993, they were the 1st team ever to win a "Cup Double."

The trophies won from 1998 to 2005 were under Arsène Wenger. In 1998, the Frenchman became the 1st manager from outside the British Isles to win the League, and the 1st such manager to win the Cup. He would be followed by others. And he brought in players from all over the world: Europe, Africa, even Asia. By the date of this game, he'd even played, however briefly, 3 players from the United States.

Arsenal, known as the Gunners because of the cannon on their badge, and whose fans are known as the Gooners, were the first team that many English fans "loved to hate." From their beginning in 1886, they had a "foreign" presence, as some of the players on their original team were not English, but Scottish. For most of their history, they had relied on Scottish players, and the occasional Welsh player. Their 1979 FA Cup winners were known as "The Irish Connection," as several players were either from the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, and even their manager, Terry Neill, was from Northern Ireland.

Their 1971 Double team was Captained by Frank McLintock, and also included among its key players George Graham. Both were Scots. Graham became the Arsenal manager in 1986, winning 6 trophies. That same year, another Scotsman, Alex Ferguson, became the manager of Manchester United. By this point, a Scottish manager was no big deal: United had previously had Matt Busby, while Liverpool had had Bill Shankly and now Kenny Dalglish. In 1999, West London team Chelsea fielded an entire starting XI with no players from the British Isles. Yet Arsenal were still "the foreign team" in the eyes of English fans and the English media.

But the 2005 FA Cup win was, coming into this game, their most recent trophy win. Since then, Arsenal reached the Champions League Final one, the Semifinals one other time, and the Quarterfinal one other time. They'd reached the FA Cup Semifinals once, and 2 League Cup Finals, but didn't win any of them. And, in that time, they did not finish higher than 3rd in the League.

The vast sums of money spent by Manchester United, Chelsea starting in 2003, and Manchester City starting in 2010 had not been matched by Wenger, and as the number of "years since Arsenal won a trophy" mounted, some fans demanded that Wenger "Spend some fucking money!" Or that the club fire him -- "Wenger Out" -- and hire a manager who would spend the money.

In January 2014, Arsenal were in 1st place. But, as seemed to happen every season since the 2006 CL run, an injury crisis struck, and knocked them out of the lead, and they ended up finishing 4th in the League again. Good enough to qualify for the next season's CL, but not good enough to satisfy the few thousand fans with the entitlement complex, the people who thought Wenger owed them a trophy.

Emblematic of this was the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, on January 4. Arsenal were paired with their nearby arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. "Spurs" had last won a trophy in 2008. The last time before that, 1999. Both times, it was the League Cup. This is the difference between the teams and their fans: If Arsenal were to win the League Cup, it would be nice, we'd celebrate that day, then, the next day, we'd move on to seeking the next trophy; but when Spurs won, their fans never let us hear the end of it, treating it as if they'd won the League. They hadn't won the League since 1961; the FA Cup, since 1991, not even making the Finals since, including losing 3 Semifinals to Arsenal.

But, at this point, they had still won a trophy 3 years more recently than Arsenal. Still, nobody joked about how long their trophy drought was -- because it wasn't funny. When Manchester United went 26 years without a League title, 1967 to 1993, it was funny. Same as Liverpool going 30 years, 1990 to 2020. Same as Manchester City going 35 years without winning any trophy, 1976 to 2011. Because those are big clubs. Tottenham fans only think their team is a "big club."

Arsenal won this Cup tie, 2-0, with Theo Walcott scoring the 2nd goal. But, with Arsenal having made all 3 substitutions then allowed, Walcott was hacked down by Danny Rose (still "nicking a living" based on a goal he'd scored against Arsenal nearly 4 years earlier), wrecking his knee. Did Rose get a straight red card? No, not even a booking. Although going down to 10 men didn't hurt Arsenal in this game, losing Walcott for the 2nd half of the season cost them some League games.

Meanwhile, he was getting stretchered off, right in front of the visiting Tottenham fans. They threw things at him, including coins. That was how Tottenham responded to a problem that season: They threw money at it, and got little in return. What they got in return was Walcott holding up 2 fingers in his right hand, and making an O with his left, to signal the 2-0 score. Spurs fans were furious, and wanted him suspended and fined. He wasn't.

The chant was, "Theo! What's the score? Theo, Theo, what's the score?"

In the 4th Round, on January 24, Arsenal hosted Midlands team Coventry City at the Emirates Stadium. Coventry had famously upset Tottenham in the 1987 Final, but were now in League One, the 3rd Division of English soccer. Lukas Podolski scored 2 goals in the 1st half-hour, and Arsenal coasted to a 4-0 win.

Arsenal then knocked off both of the Liverpool teams. A week before taking on Liverpool FC at the Emirates in the 5th round, Liverpool had embarrassed Arsenal at Anfield, 4-1. This time, on February 16, Arsenal controlled the game from first whistle to last, and won, 2-1. On March 8, Arsenal hosted Everton in the Quarterfinal, and won, 4-1, thanks to a pair of late goals by Olivier Giroud.

The Semifinal, at Wembley, on April 12, would be tougher. Arsenal were a perennial at the old Wembley, having played their 1st game there in 1927 and their last not long before it closed in 2000. But since the new one opened in 2007, they were 0-3 there, having lost a 2009 FA Cup Semifinal, and the League Cup Final in 2007 and, in embarrassing fashion in the closing minutes, in 2011.

The opponent was Wigan Athletic, from the Manchester area, who had pulled off a miracle in the previous year's Final, defeating Manchester City in stoppage time. They were on the verge of relegation, and were looking to salvage something. And, for a while, it looked like they might achieve another major upset.

Arsenal blew a lot of chances in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, in the 63rd minute, Per Mertesacker -- the 6-foot-6 centreback affectionately known to Arsenal fans as "the Big Fucking German" -- made a critical mistake, tripping Wigan's Callum McManaman in the penalty area, and Wigan were rightly granted a penalty shot, which Jordi Gomez converted.

Wigan led 1-0, and on Twitter, the invective against Wenger by those who wanted him out was matched by the sadness of those who wanted him to stay, but figured now, with another trophyless year, he'd want to leave, so as not to have to put up with that kind of crap anymore.

The Wenger Outers acted as though some other manager brought the 2 Doubles, the "Invincibles" League title, the other trophies, and the new Emirates Stadium whose 60,000 seats allowed Arsenal to compete much better than beloved old Highbury with its 38,000 seats.

And they acted though, after the '06 Final, that aforementioned wonderful manager left, and then this cheap, stubborn old Frenchman came in and brought Arsenal to "mediocrity." Finishing no worse than 4th for 8 straight seasons, reaching a Champions League Semifinal and 2 other Quarterfinals, and reaching 2 League Cup Finals is hardly "mediocrity," or even "decline."

They also failed to take into account all the injuries, bad officiating decisions, and disloyalty shown to him by certain players, some of whom went on to win trophies with other teams. And they thought that spending truckloads of money was the answer. For Chelsea, Liverpool and the Manchester teams, it was. For Tottenham and Newcastle United, it wasn't. For Leeds United and Portsmouth, it meant financial disaster, relegation, and nearly going out of business. Clearly, simply spending a lot of money on hyped players is not the answer.

But in the 82nd minute, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fired a shot, and Wigan goalkeeper Scott Carson, who'd been playing very well, could only deflect it, and Mertesacker redeemed himself by heading in a tying goal. Suddenly, all the despairing Arsenal fans seemed to believe again. The Wenger Outers, however, remained unconvinced. 

Despite 5 minutes of 2nd-half stoppage time, such a late winner did not come for either side. And, through the pair of 15-minute halves of extra time, neither side seriously threatened to score. Both teams played with a lot of guts -- and when a team with more talent than guts doesn't get the job done, a team with more guts than talent, like Wigan, can surprise. So 120 minutes gone -- 128 minutes, if you count stoppage time -- and no winner could be found.

Penalty kicks. Every fan's least favorite way of settling a soccer game -- unless you're playing the national team of either England or the Netherlands, both notorious for missing penalties in knockout games. Packed to the gills at the Blind Pig in New York's Greenwich Village, then the main bar of the New York Gooners, I yelled, "Gentlemen, start your coronaries!"

Lukasz Fabianski, a much-maglined backup the last few years, first to Manuel Almunia, and now to fellow Pole Wojciech Szczesny, had started every FA Cup game for Arsenal the season. Arsenal's chances rested not just on the feet of up to 5 attackers, but in the hands of a keeper most Arsenal fans (including yours truly, also of Polish descent) would, not that long ago, not have trusted at all.

Wigan won the toss, and elected to kick first. Gary Caldwell fired, and Fabianski stopped it. Arsenal fans were elated, thinking that, now, they had a chance... if no Arsenal players missed. Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta stepped up, and sent it home. It was "One-Nil to The Arsenal!" Jack Collison stepped up for Wigan... and Fabianski stopped him, too. Kim Kallstrom, the only signing Wenger made in the January transfer window (and that, a loan), who'd barely played since the transfer was made, partly due to injury, stepped up, and hit it.

Jean Beausejour was next for Wigan, and he converted. 2-1 Arsenal. Giroud made it 3-1 Arsenal. James McArthur scored to make it 3-2.  It was now all up to Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla, who'd been so good the season before, his 1st for Arsenal, but not so good this season. He made it. 4-2 Arsenal, and the game. Arsenal were through to the Final on May 17 at Wembley.

For millions of Arsenal fans all over the world, jubilation. For many, myself included, more like relief. All the trauma of the last few weeks faded away. All those calling for Wenger to be fired, for Giroud to be sold, shut up for the rest of the day.

*

The Final would also be at Wembley. In other words, Arsenal did not have to leave London for the entire Cup run. One more thing about which the Arsenal-haters could whine.

Hull City, known as the Tigers for their black and yellow stripes, were managed by Steve Bruce, who had been a centerback on Manchester United's 1990s title-winners. His son, Alex Bruce, was a centerback for this team. One of their midfielders was familiar to Arsenal fans: Former Tottenham player Tom Huddlestone.

They had reached the Final by beating Middlesbrough of Yorkshire in the 3rd Round, Southend United of Essex in the 4th Round, Brighton & Hove Albion of Sussex in the 5th Round, Sunderland of the North-East in the Quarterfinal, and Sheffield United of South Yorkshire in the Semifinal. They had reached the Quarterfinal 5 times before, and the Semifinal in 1930; but this was their 1st trip to the Final.

From their founding in 1904 until that 2014 FA Cup Final, Hull had won... not much. They had won trophies for winning the Football League Division Three North in 1933, 1949 and 1966. They had been promoted from the 4th division to the 3rd in 1983 and 2004. They had been promoted from the 3rd to the 2nd, without a trophy, in 1959, 1985 and 2005. They had been promoted from the 2nd to the 1st, without a trophy, in 2008 and 2013. And in 1984, they had won the League Cup. In 110 years, that was their only trophy.

In other words, beating Arsenal would have been nearly as big a Final upset, a bit of "The Magic of the Cup," as Wigan beating Man City the year before; or Portsmouth and Cardiff City both advancing to the 2008 Final, with Portsmouth winning; or Wimbledon beating Liverpool in 1988; or Coventry beating Spurs in 1987.

It almost happened. James Chester scored in the 4th minute, and Hull Captain Curtis Davies in the 8th. Arsenal were already down 2-0, and it looked like it was over early. But Cazorla pulled one back in the 17th, to make it 2-1 Hull. As the old saying goes, "It's the hope that kills ya." But there was more hope in the 71st, thanks to a goal off a corner from Laurent Koscielny. The game went to extra time.

In the 1971 Final against Liverpool, Charlie George hit a screamer in the 111th minute, and celebrated by lying on the ground at the old Wembley. It became one of the iconic images of English football. This time, in the 109th minute, Giroud made a cheeky backheel pass to Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal's oft-injured Welsh midfielder who had come through so many times that season, and he put it in the net.

The goal wasn't much on style, but it was huge on significance. Ramsey ran around the corner where the Arsenal fans had been placed, to celebrate, and then slid on the grass, flat on his back, like George before him, before his teammates pounced on him.

But it wasn't over. Counting stoppage time, there were 12 minutes to go. And Fabianski nearly blew it in the 115th minute, rushing forward for an unsuccessful steal, with only left back Kieran Gibbs clearing the ball just in front of the net saving him from the most ignominious goalkeeping "howler" in FA Cup Final history. (In some minds, that title is held by an Arsenal man: Dan Lewis, against Cardiff City in 1927.)

When referee Lee Probert blew the final whistle, tremendous cheers went up -- inside Wembley, in North London, and wherever Arsenal fans gathered. I can vouch for East 14th Street in Manhattan, where there were 3 bars within a one-block stretch showing the game, known as Gooner Alley. Champagne flowed inside the Blind Pig.

Arteta, serving as Captain for this Final, and the injured Belgian centerback Thomas Vermaelen, the usual Captain, received the Cup from Prince William, head of the FA, on behalf of the royal family. The "years since Arsenal won a trophy" counter reverted to 0.

Wenger at the 2014 FA Cup celebration

Wenger led Arsenal to win the Cup again in 2015, beating Aston Villa in the Final; and 2017, beating Chelsea. A funny thing happened, though. Two funny things, really. Actually, neither of them were funny in the least.

First of all, the Wenger Outers, who kept saying that trophies matter, and "4th place is not a trophy," suddenly decided that the FA Cup didn't matter any more: It was winning the Premier League and the Champions League that mattered. To borrow a phrase from American football, they moved the goalposts.

And along the same lines, the English media, and fans of every other team, took the same tack, saying, "The FA Cup has been devalued." Except they didn't say that when it was won by Man United in 2016, Chelsea in 2018, Man City in 2019, Leicester City in 2021, or Liverpool in 2022. Certainly, they didn't say it the year before, when Wigan pulled off the major upset. Those times, it was "The Magic of the Cup."

In 2018, the small but loud minority finally convinced Arsenal team owner Stan Kroenke to give Wenger his "retirement." Unai Emery was hired, and his 1st season was worse than the "mediocrity" of the preceding years. He was fired early the next season, and replaced by Arteta, a "Wenger man," and he led Arsenal to win the FA Cup in 2020, another Final win over Chelsea.

April 28, 1923: Wembley Stadium Opens

April 28, 1923, 100 years ago: The Empire Stadium opens, in Wembley, West London. It was renamed Wembley Stadium in 1927. The 1st event is the Football Association (FA) Cup Final. West Ham United, from the East End of London, crosses town to face Manchester-area team Bolton Wanderers.

The official capacity of the stadium was 125,000, making it the largest in the world at the time. But so many people came in that many were standing on the field -- or, as they say in Britain, the pitch -- thus threatening to make it impossible to play the game. Some sources have the total at 300,000 -- probably an exaggeration, but it may still have been the most people who ever attempted to attend a sporting event on planet Earth.

Finally, mounted policemen were brought in, to clear the crowd from the pitch. George Scorey, a London policeman, was not on duty that day, but answered a call for emergency assistance at the stadium. He mounted his horse, Billy, and drove the crowd back. Although Billy was gray, this event became known as "The White Horse Final," as most people in the British Empire saw the newsreel in black and white, and saw Scorey on Billy as a heroic "man on a white horse."

The game began 45 minutes late, with fans standing around the pitch, kept back by the mounted cops and a string fence. Bolton forward David Jack scored the stadium's 1st goal just 2 minutes into the game, and Jack Smith added another in the 53rd minute, giving the Wanderers a 2-0 win.

After the game, a tradition was born: The Bolton players climbed the 39 steps from the pitch to the royal box, and their Captain, forward Joe Smith, received the FA Cup from none other than King George V, father of the eventual King Edward VIII and King George VI, grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, and great-grandfather of King Charles III.

The original Wembley opened 10 days after the original Yankee Stadium opened in New York, and 3 days before the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened. The Twin Towers at its front gate became iconic long before anyone thought to design New York's World Trade Center that way, and its roof was extended around the ends in 1963.

It hosted the FA Cup Final every year until it closed in 2000. It was the main stadium for the 1948 Summer Olympic Games. It hosted the Finals of:

* The 1963 European Cup: AC Milan of Italy defeated Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal.

* The 1966 World Cup: England won on home soil over West Germany.

* The 1968 European Cup: Manchester United defeated Benfica.

* The 1971 European Cup: Ajax Amsterdam of the Netherlands beat Panathinaikos of Athens, Greece.

* The 1978 European Cup Final: Liverpool beat Brugge of Belgium.

* The 1992 European Cup Final: FC Barcelona beat Sampdoria of Genoa, Italy. And...

* The 1996 European Championship: Germany beat the Czech Republic.

It also hosted 9 NFL preseason exhibitions between 1983 and 1993, the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football in 1991 and '92, and home games in the UEFA Champions League of soccer team Arsenal in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, due to their North London home field, Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, seating only 38,000.

The last event was a match between the national soccer teams of England and Germany, a Group Stage match for qualification for the 2002 World Cup, and a restaging of the stadium's most famous event, the 1966 World Cup Final (when Germany was still West Germany). This time, the Germans emerged victorious, 1-0.

The stadium was soon demolished. A new, 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium suffered serious construction delays, finally opening on March 9, 2007.

FA Cup Winners, 1872-2021

Leicester City wearing maroon because their usual blue

would have clashed with that of opposing Chelsea.

Congratulations to Leicester City, who won the 2021 Football Association Cup by beating Chelsea 1-0 at the new Wembley Stadium in North London today.

This makes the "Foxes" the 1st side from England's Midlands to win the FA Cup since Coventry City in 1987 -- 34 years.

Ties broken by most recent win: 

14: Arsenal, of North London: 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020.

13: Manchester United, a.k.a. Man United, a.k.a. Man U: 1909, 1948, 1963, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2016.

8: Chelsea, of West London: 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2019.

8: Tottenham Hotspur, a.k.a. Spurs, of North London: 1901, 1921, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1982, 1991.

7: Liverpool: 1965, 1974, 1986, 1989, 1992, 2001, 2006.

7: Aston Villa, of Birmingham: 1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920, 1957.

6: Newcastle United, of Tyne and Wear: 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955.

6: Blackburn Rovers, of Lancashire: 1884, 1885, 1886, 1890, 1891, 1928.

5: Manchester City, a.k.a. Man City: 1934, 1956, 1969, 2011, 2019.

5: Everton, of Liverpool: 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995.

5: West Bromwich Albion, a.k.a. West Brom, of the Birmingham area: 1888, 1892, 1931, 1954, 1968.

5: Wanderers, of South London: 1872, 1873, 1876, 1877, 1878.

4: Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. Wolves, of the Birmingham area: 1893, 1908, 1949, 1960.

4: Bolton Wanderers, of Greater Manchester: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1958.

4: Sheffield United, of Yorkshire: 1899, 1902, 1915 1925.

3: West Ham United, of East London: 1964, 1975, 1980.

3: Sheffield Wednesday, of Yorkshire: 1896, 1907, 1935.

2: Portsmouth, of Hampshire: 1939, 2008.

2: Sunderland, of Tyne and Wear: 1937, 1973.

2: Nottingham Forest, of Nottingham: 1898, 1959.

2: Preston North End, of Lancashire: 1889, 1938.

2: Bury, of Greater Manchester: 1900, 1903.

2: Old Etonians, of Eton, Berkshire: 1879, 1882.

1: Leicester City, of the Midlands: 2021.

1: Wigan Athletic, of Greater Manchester: 2013.

1: Wimbledon, of South London: 1988.

1: Coventry City, of the Midlands: 1987.

1: Ipswich Town, of Suffolk: 1978.

1: Southampton, of Hampshire: 1976.

1: Leeds United, of Yorkshire: 1972.

1: Blackpool, of Lancashire: 1953.

1: Charlton Athletic, of South London: 1947.

1: Derby County, of the Midlands: 1946.

1: Cardiff City, of Wales: 1927.

1: Huddersfield Town, of Yorkshire: 1922.

1: Burnley, of Lancashire: 1914.

1: Barnsley, of Yorkshire: 1912.

1: Bradford City, of Yorkshire: 1911.

1: Notts County, of Nottingham: 1894.

1: Blackburn Olympic, of Lancashire: 1883.

1: Old Carthusians, of Godalming, Surrey: 1881.

1: Clapham Rovers, of South London: 1880.

1: Royal Engineers, of Chatham, Kent: 1875.

1: Oxford University, of the Midlands: 1874.

Reached 2 Finals without winning: Watford, of Hertfordshire, in 1984 and 2019; Crystal Palace, of South London, in 1990 and 2016; Birmingham City in 1931 and 1956; and Queen's Park of Glasgow, Scotland in 1884 and 1885. Although teams from Wales are permitted to enter England's FA Cup, the Scottish Football Association denied their teams the right to enter it in 1887.

Reached 1 Final without winning: Hull City, of Yorkshire, in 2014; Stoke City, of Staffordshire, in the Midlands, in 2011; Millwall, of South London, in 2004; Middlesbrough, of Yorkshire, in 1997; Brighton & Hove Albion, of Sussex, in 1983; Queens Park Rangers, a.k.a. QPR, of West London, in 1982; Fulham, of West London, in 1975; Luton Town, of Bedfordshire, in 1959; and Bristol City, of Gloucestershire, in 1909.

*

North London 22

West London 8

South London 8

East London 3

London Total 41

Hampshire 3

Berkshire 2

Surrey 1

Kent 1

East Anglia 1

Wales 1

South Outside London 9

South Total 50

Birmingham 16

Nottingham 2

Midlands Other 4

Midlands Total 22

Greater Manchester 25

Liverpool 12

Lancashire 11

Yorkshire 11

Tyne and Wear 8

North Total 67

North 67

South 50

Midlands 22

*

Venues:

Wembley Stadium (old version), West London, 72: 1923-39, 1946-2000, plus 1981, 1982, 1983, 1990 and 1993 Replays.

Kennington Oval, South London, 22: 1872, 1874-92.

Crystal Palace Stadium, South London, 21: 1895-1914, plus 1902 Replay.

Wembley Stadium (new version), West London, 17: 2007-21.

Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, 6: 2001-06.

Stamford Bridge, West London (home of Chelsea), 3: 1920-22.

Goodison Park, Liverpool (home of Everton), 2: 1894, plus 1910 Replay.

Old Trafford, Salford, Greater Manchester, 2: 1911 and 1970 Replays.

Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester, 1: 1893.

Lillie Bridge Grounds, West London, 1: 1873.

Bramall Lane, Sheffield, Yorkshire, 1: 1912 Replay.

Burnden Park, Bolton, Greater Manchester, 1: 1901 Replay.

Derby County Cricket Ground, Derby, Midlands, 1: 1886 Replay.

London: 136

Cardiff: 6

Manchester: 4

Liverpool: 2

Yorkshire: 1

Midlands: 1