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The 1904 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 23 April 1904 at Crystal Palace in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the 32nd Cup final, and the tenth at Crystal Palace. Each team progressed through four rounds to reach the final. Manchester City were a First Division team chasing a league and cup double; Bolton Wanderers were a mid-table Second Division team. Consequently, most observers anticipated a Manchester City win. In a close match featuring strong defensive play, Manchester City won 1–0. The goal, scored by Billy Meredith, was disputed by those with Bolton sympathies, who believed Meredith to be offside. The victory gave Manchester City their first major honour. ==Build-up== The final was held at Crystal Palace, the tenth final played at the venue.〔James, Manchester – The Greatest City, p54〕 Neither club had previously won the competition. Bolton reached the final in 1894, but were beaten comfortably by Notts County, losing 4–1 at Goodison Park despite a strong performance by goalkeeper John Sutcliffe.〔Pawson, ''100 Years of the FA Cup'', p56〕 In their passage to the final Manchester City faced opposition from the top division in all but one round. Second Division Woolwich Arsenal, City's opponents in the second round, were the exception. Sunderland were defeated 3–2 at Hyde Road in the first round, and the visit to Arsenal yielded a 2–0 win. A club record crowd of 30,022 watched the quarter-final against Middlesbrough,〔James, Manchester – The Greatest City, p51〕 but a 0–0 draw meant a replay at Ayresome Park was required, which City won 3–1 to set up a semi-final against The Wednesday.〔 Two goals from Turnbull and one from Meredith gave City a 3–0 win at Goodison Park.〔Ward, ''The Manchester City Story'', p12〕 Bolton's cup run started slowly, with a replay required to overcome non-league Reading. A 4–1 victory over Southampton secured a quarter-final berth at Sheffield United. As a Second Division team with a poor away record, Wanderers were clear underdogs in the quarter-final, particularly in view of Sheffield United's strong home form.〔Marland, ''Bolton Wanderers – A Complete Record 1877–1989'', p16〕 Nevertheless, Bolton prevailed 2–0 courtesy of goals by Sam Marsh and Billy Yenson.〔Marland, ''Bolton Wanderers – A Complete Record 1877–1989'', p218〕 At this point Marsh had scored in every round of the competition. A 1–0 defeat of Derby County in the semi-final took Bolton to the final. Though Lancashire was a football stronghold in the early years of the professional game, providing a large proportion of Football League teams, the cup final had never been contested between two Lancashire clubs until the 1904 final.〔 30,000 supporters from the region travelled to London,〔James, Manchester – A Football History, p103〕 sparking press reports of records for North-South rail travel. Lacking alternative accommodation, several thousand slept on the platforms at Euston and St Pancras.〔James, Manchester – A Football History, p105〕 A jovial atmosphere built up, with the Manchester Industrial Boys Band playing ''Hiawatha''.〔 However, in London itself, the match received less attention than a final featuring a southern team would have done.〔 Tickets in an uncovered stand cost 5s.〔Creighton, ''Manchester City: Moments To Remember'', p11〕 Prior to the match the teams both stayed in the suburb of West Norwood, within walking distance of Crystal Palace. Manchester City arrived on 21 April, and were joined the following day by the Bolton Wanderers, who had spent the earlier part of the week at a training camp in Norbreck, near Blackpool. London's ''Morning Leader'' described the relaxed nature of the Manchester City players, commenting that "they might have been a tug of war eleven out for a holiday". The majority of observers, including the ''Times'' correspondent, expected a win for Manchester City, as they had performed strongly over the League season, lying second in the First Division on the day of the final, whereas Bolton were a mid-table Second Division side whose most talented forward, Boyd, was sidelined through injury.〔Harding, Football Wizard – The Billy Meredith Story, p86〕 Manchester City had one injury worry, Billy Holmes, who had missed the previous league match after sustaining an injury against Nottingham Forest. George Livingstone, initially a doubt, was passed fit well in advance.〔 When the final line-ups were announced, both teams had one change from the semi-finals. For Bolton, Boyd was replaced by Clifford, who had not played in any of the previous rounds,〔 and Archie Freebairn switched to Boyd's usual flank "with a view to coping with Meredith".〔 For Manchester City, Sam Ashworth replaced Holmes. Both teams played 2–3–5, the standard formation of the period. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「1904 FA Cup Final」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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