1903 FA Cup semi-final
Saturday March 21st 1903
Bury 3
Montgomery, Lindsay, McEwen, Johnson, Thorpe, Ross, Richards, Wood, Sagar, Leeming, Plant
Scorers – Spencer – own goal – 37 minutes, Sagar – 47, Richards – 50
Aston Villa 0
Billy George, Howard Spencer, Jack Shutt, Joe Pearson, Alf Wood, Alex Leake, Billy Brawn,Billy Garraty, Jasper McLuckie, George Johnson, Joe Nibloe
Referee – Mr P R Harrower of London
Messrs A Davis [Marlow] and G W Simmons [St Albans] – linesmen
Played at Goodison Park
Attendance – 50,000
Football Field – March 21st 1903
The gathering of the crowd occupied one’s attention, and it a sight that will not be readily forgotten.
Throughout the morning and early afternoon special trains from all parts of the country bore their living freight to the city, no fewer than nine arriving from Bury Station alone, and these were absolutely packed. Three excursions were also run from Birmingham, each bringing a large contingent, and for more than two hours crowds of people, the majority of whom were doubtless unable to get on the cars and other vehicles plying to the ground, were wending their way Goodisonwards.
All ways seemed to lead to Goodison, and an hour and a half before the time for commencement there was a very good sized crowd on the field. It swelled most appreciably every minute, and so great was the pressure on the immense embankment on the City-Road end that the barrier was forced and the crowd literally swarmed into the stand behind the goal. The police were helpless, and as one constable hurried across the field to the assistance of his colleagues, he was made the butt of much good-humoured chaff. Within a few minutes a similar break-in occurred at the other end, the police again being powerless, and by half-an-hour before the time for the start there must have been quite 50,000 spectators present.
Wherever one looked it was one dense sea of faces, and the turnstiles were still clicking merrily. Club favours were very much in evidence, the rattle being very freely used, and another band of enthusiastic youths made themselves very conspicuous with bannerette bearing the legend: “Buck up, Bury, Lancashire’s only hope!”
Note – one reason for the larger than expected crowd was due to the Everton committee persuading the FA authorities to allow them to charge a 6d [2.5 pence] entry fee rather than 1s [5p] favoured by the latter.
The tie had thrown up a real clash of the giants. Bury, winners just three years earlier against Aston Villa, three-times winners and a distinct feeling that whoever won had a good hand on the cup already.
Having beaten Tottenham Hotspur in the previous round more easily than the 3-2 scoreline suggested then Aston Villa were slight favourites to reach the final. The sides were facing each other in the FA Cup for the first time. Having taken some heavy challenges at the hands of the Notts County defenders in the previous round there was some doubt as to whether Charlie Sagar would be fit to play in the semi-final, whilst James McEwen and George Ross were expected to recover from minor injuries in time to take their places in the Bury side.
Aston Villa also had their concerns, with Alf Wood, Joe Bache and Billy Garraty and ex-Bury man Jasper McLuckie all doubtful.
Although it had been a dull morning on the day of the game temperatures had risen in the afternoon, with occasional bursts of sunshine even making an appearance. That was more than could be said for either Bache for Villa, George Johnson taking his place or Hugh Monteith in the Bury goal, missing due to a knee injury. In his place came Archie Montgomery, making his first appearance of the season.
When Villa were the first out they received a rousing cheer, but it was nothing compared to the reception Bury received. Howard Spencer and George Ross tossed the coin and when the former chose correctly Bury were asked to kick against a stiff breeze in the first half.
From the kick off Villa were determined to use the wind to their advantage. Montgomery was forced to go down smartly to save and then Thorpe was forced to clear quickly after Johnson and Joe Niblo down the Villa left looked to have fashioned a scoring chance. A Villa corner was cleared, before Bury almost grabbed the lead but Billy George was in fine form, tipping over a well hit Frank Thorpe shot for a corner. When this was delivered into the box the Villa keeper showed just why he had played for England so regularly by fisting the ball out for a throw-in.
Villa were next on the attack, only strong determined tackling by the Bury defence kept the scores level and when the ball did beat Montgomery Jimmy Lindsay was back to head the ball over for another corner. Alf Wood hit a magnificent shot, but fortunately Montgomery was well-placed and held firm to the ball.
The excitement on the pitch was now being repeated off it with parts of the large crowd breaking through the barriers at the front and surging forward to within feet of the playing surface. There being no trouble the match simply continued, and Lindsay received an enormous cheer when he disposed Johnson and cleared.
The wind was proving a big disadvantage to Bury, but in Lindsay, Thorpe and McEwen Bury had a magnificent half-back line up and each time the Villa forwards shaped to shoot they were there to block. If they could help their side by ensuring it ran off at half-time without conceding a goal then the odds on a second Bury appearance at the FA Cup Final in four seasons would be very high.
What could not have been anticipated though was that Bury would also score a goal themselves. Yet, on 37 minutes, [*] this is exactly what happened. Charlie Sagar, making one of his trademark runs in which the ball seemed stuck to his feet was foiled by George and when the ball came back out Jack Plant hit a shot which the keeper had covered only to be beaten by the outstretched boot of Spencer, his own captain.
“The Bury section went frantic with delight.” Football Field
Stung by going undeservedly behind the Villa side pressed determinedly. They must have feared the worse, kicking with the wind and 1-0 down against a side yet to concede a goal in over five hours of play in the FA Cup. Niblo was therefore ecstatic when he hit the ball beyond Montgomery, but disappointment quickly followed when the effort was ruled out for offside and when the referee soon after blew the final whistle of the half the cheers and rattles of the Bury followers were such that any late arrivals would have thought the final whistle had been blown and the Lancashire side were already in the final.
Half-time 1-0
No doubt keen to see their side finish off Villa in the second period the Bury fans in the popular end behind the goal swarmed onto the pitch during the interval, calmly making their way round the playing area and cheering their side to the rafters when they emerged to play the second half. Following in the sides wake the referee first checked at the Park end to ensure the spectators were behind the goal line before restarting the match.
The game had hardly been back underway two minutes when Bury forged the decisive second goal after which Villa were with the wind against them never going to get back into the tie. It was Sagar who did the damage, hammering a shot that George had no chance of stopping. The Bury man then brought about the third shortly after, hitting a shot that George could only parry leaving Richards to dash in and push the ball into the empty net – Bury were 3-0 up.
When Jack Shutt and Johnson were then forced off for injuries things looked desperate for the losing side, although fortunately both players were able to take their place back on the field soon after. Villa however could have done with 13 players rather than just 11, George keeping the score down with a good save from a Billy Wood shot.
With a desperate Villa by now intent on keeping the score down there was criticism of their tactics from the crowd, who disapproved of the Birmingham teams heavy use of the offside trap. “Play the Game Villa” but little chance, Villa were not going to be heavily beaten just to put even bigger smiles on the smiles of Shaker fans.
It should have been 4-0, but Joe Leeming somehow conspired to hook the ball over the bar from just under it.
The only serious question though with 15 minutes remaining was ‘would Bury get to the final without conceding a goal?’ McEwen threatened to ruin their chances with a poor back pass, forcing Montgomery to rush from his goal to clear just as Garraty was set to shoot from just outside the penalty area. It was a sound alert piece of goal keeping and the reserve keeper was cheered wildly as he ran back towards his goal. The noise however was nothing compared to that which accompanied the end of the game, the cheers of the crowd announcing that Bury were back in the FA Cup final and those who’d been there to witness the proceedings were overjoyed.
The best team had won, and had deservedly given themselves a chance to, once again, capture the FA Cup.
Bury would play Derby County in the Final, the Rams having easily beaten Millwall Athletic 3-0 in the other semi-final played at Villa Park.
* There are conflicting reports on the time of the goal, some suggesting it was in fact on 28 minutes.