# 1924 FA Cup final

The 1924 FA Cup final was contested by Newcastle United and Aston Villa at Wembley. Newcastle won 2–0, with the goals scored by Neil Harris and Stan Seymour. The match has become commonly known as the "Rainy Day Final" due to the weather that day, a consequence of which has led to there being very few good condition programmes left for the game (many fans used their match programmes as makeshift umbrellas). The value of the programme is the highest for any Wembley final with recent sales attaining over £6,000 at auction.

## Route to the Final
### Newcastle United

| Round | Opposition | Score | Venue |
| 1st | Portsmouth | 4–2 | Fratton Park (a) |
| 2nd | Derby County | 2–2 | Baseball Ground (a) |
| 2nd (replay) | Derby County | 2–2 aet | St James' Park (h) |
| 2nd (2nd replay) | Derby County | 2–2 aet | Burnden Park (n) |
| 2nd (3rd replay) | Derby County | 5–3 | St James' Park (h) |
| 3rd | Watford | 1–0 | Vicarage Road (a) |
| Quarter-final | Liverpool | 1–0 | St James' Park (h) |
| Semi-final | Manchester City | 2–0 | St Andrew's (n) |
Newcastle's FA Cup run began with a 4–2 win away to Portsmouth of the Third Division South. They then required four matches to beat Second Division Derby County, with Neil Harris scoring a hat-trick in an eventual 5–3 win after the first three matches between the teams had all been drawn 2–2. After beating another Third Division South team, Watford, and the reigning First Division champions Liverpool, Newcastle faced Manchester City in the semi-finals at St Andrew's. City's team included the 49-year-old forward Billy Meredith. Newcastle won 2–0 with two further goals from Harris to reach the final.

### Aston Villa

| Round | Opposition | Score | Venue |
| 1st | Ashington | 5–1 | Portland Park (a) |
| 2nd | Swansea Town | 2–0 | Vetch Field (a) |
| 3rd | Leeds United | 3–0 | Villa Park (h) |
| Quarter-final | West Bromwich Albion | 2–0 | The Hawthorns (a) |
| Semi-final | Burnley | 3–0 | Bramall Lane (n) |
Aston Villa's route to the final was rather more straightforward than that of their Wembley opponents, as they scored 15 goals and conceded just one in five consecutive wins. After beating lower league teams Ashington, Swansea Town and Leeds United in the early rounds, they then defeated two previous Cup winners from the lower half of the First Division, West Bromwich Albion and Burnley. Len Capewell scored six goals in their cup run, including at least one in each of the first four rounds.

## Pre-match

At the time of the 1923–24 season, Aston Villa had already won the FA Cup six times, most recently in 1920. By contrast, Newcastle had only one previous success in the competition, in 1910, although they had been runners-up four times between 1905 and 1911. Their first Cup final, in 1905, had ended in a 2–0 defeat to Aston Villa, with Harry Hampton scoring both goals.
On 12 April, the Empire Stadium hosted its first international match, when England played Scotland in the last match of the Home Championship. The result, a 1–1 draw, left England in last place in the competition. Newcastle's Charlie Spencer made his England debut, and faced his club team-mates Billy Cowan and Neil Harris, who were both making their first appearances for Scotland. Aston Villa's Tommy Smart, Frank Moss and Billy Walker were also in England's team, and George Blackburn was an unused squad member. Moss captained England, although Walker was his captain at club level, and Walker had the honour of scoring England's first goal at the new stadium.
During the 1923–24 First Division season, both Newcastle and Aston Villa occupied a position in the top half of the table, as they had each season since the end of the First World War. Newcastle beat Aston Villa 4–1 at St James' Park on New Year's Day, but when the teams met again at Villa Park on Easter Monday, just five days before the Cup final, Aston Villa won convincingly, 6–1, in their biggest League win of the season.
On Saint George's Day, three days before the final, King George V opened the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley Park, the area adjoining the Empire Stadium.

## Match

The match was played on a pitch made heavy by rain. Newcastle's team included Billy Hampson, who at 41 years 257 days is the oldest known player to have appeared in the final.

### Match details

| GK | Bill Bradley |
| DF | Billy Hampson |
| DF | Frank Hudspeth (c) |
| MF | Peter Mooney |
| MF | Charlie Spencer |
| MF | Willie Gibson |
| FW | James Low |
| FW | Billy Cowan |
| FW | Neil Harris |
| FW | Tommy McDonald |
| FW | Stan Seymour |
| Manager: ||
| Selection Committee ||
| GK | Tommy Jackson |
| DF | Tommy Smart |
| DF | Tommy Mort |
| MF | Frank Moss |
| MF | Vic Milne |
| MF | George Blackburn |
| FW | Richard York |
| FW | Billy Kirton |
| FW | Len Capewell |
| FW | Billy Walker (c) |
| FW | Arthur Dorrell |
| Secretary-Manager: ||
| George Ramsay ||

## Post-match

On the Wednesday after the final, Aston Villa won their last League match of the season 3–1 at home to Huddersfield Town, three days before Huddersfield pipped Cardiff City to win the title on goal average. Villa finished sixth in the table, the same position as in the previous season, and Newcastle, who had already completed their League programme, finished ninth.
Both teams remained among the strongest in the country in the years after the final. Newcastle won the League championship in 1926–27 and next won the Cup in 1932, when they beat Arsenal in the final. While continuing to challenge into the 1930s, Aston Villa did not win another major honour until they won the FA Cup in 1957, which remains their last success in the competition. They continued to hold or share the record for most FA Cup wins until 1991, when their total of seven was overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur.
Stan Seymour went on to become Newcastle's manager and in 1951 became the first man to win the Cup as both a player and manager of the same club.