My first word, so to speak, must be one of congratulation to Burnley and the players at the deservedly happy position in which they find themselves. They visited the Palace as finalists, and upset the one-time tradition that newcomers are not successful at the first time of asking; but then that was sure to happen, because Liverpool were there also for the first time. However, Boyle's men were the successful side, and, in my opinion, just deserved this victory. But it was a near thing except the all-important factor, the goal which was scored by Freeman fourteen minutes after the resumption. The game will be not only a memorable one from A Burnley football point of view, but also from a historical standpoint, for it was the first time that the reigning monarch has graced the proceedings and presented the Cup and medals. Under the circumstances, His Majesty's gracious act, seeing that he is the Duke of Lancaster, was peculiarly appropriate, for though the meeting of two Lancashire teams was not unique in the history of the competition, it is of rare occurrence. And it served to show the loyalty of the followers of football to the throne, and it is questionable whether any act of His Majesty has aroused such enthusiasm as prevailed. Though the game, on the whole, was not up to Burnley's best standard, for which a number of extenuating circumstances can be forwarded, and will be dealt with later, the sight at the Palace was worth all the cost and trouble of making the journey.

The outstanding features of the occasion, except Freeman's goal, of course, for I am writing of football, to my mind were the fine evolutions by the three bands - the Irish Guards, the Liverpool regiment and the Drum and Fife band of the same, and the singing of the National Anthem to the accompaniment of the combined bands, the strains of which were nearly drowned so loud was the volume of sound emitted from the throats of 80,000 loyal subjects, which could not fail to make an impression on the King, and compensate him for any trouble he had been put to in arriving on the scene to honour the occasion. It was a spontaneous outburst of loyalty, and the sight of the many thousands of uncovered heads was a most impressive one and will long be remembered, while the National Anthem was never more heartily and spontaneously sung by an assemblage of Britishers, for there were other people there besides Lancashire folk.

If the game was not the best on record - Londoners freely expressed the opinion it was quite as good as any Final for years - and did not produce the greatest sum of money on record, it was nevertheless a unique occasion, and will probably be known in history as the "Monarch's Match". Burnley have made history many times, but on Saturday they put the coping stone on the magnificent name they have built for themselves in the football world. It was indeed a great occasion and thrilled more thousands than were present, for the news of the result was awaited in all corners of the globe.

Teams for trying tussle

There were about 80,000 people on the ground, which presented a fine spectacle, but I don't think the ground is the best in the country on which to play a Final, except, perhaps, for its holding capacity. The going, at any rate at this time of year, was anything but conducive to the best football, especially under such meteorological conditions as prevailed on Saturday; for the weather was summer-like and the surroundings of the Palace were in their richest garb. I have been in the country around many scores of times, though never so early on in the year, except when Burnley played Crystal Palace and decoyed them to Turf Moor in order to annihilate them, but I never saw the foliage of the forest trees and the blossom of the fruit trees to such perfection as on Saturday. The weather was summer-like and quite unsuitable for such a struggle as that in which Burnley and Liverpool were engaged. And the ground was too hard, which combined with the wind and the lively ball to spoil the game from a football point of view.

The front cover of the 1914 F.A. Cup Final

There was an absentee on each side, Dawson from Burnley and Lowe from Liverpool, and on that score perhaps Liverpool were the harder hit. Dawson, to his credit be it said, did not think he would be able to do himself full justice, and thus Sewell got his opportunity to distinguish himself, and did much towards achieving the objective of the side, the crowning ambition to bring the Cup to Burnley and make themselves possessors of the Cup medal. The teams, who wore their regular colours, lined up as follows:

Burnley: Sewell; Bamford, Taylor; Halley, Boyle, Watson; Nesbitt, Lindley, Freeman, Hodgson and Mosscrop.

Liverpool: Campbell; Longworth, Purcell; Fairfoul, McKinley, Ferguson; Sheldon, Metcalf, Miller, Lacey and Nicholl.

Referee: Mr H.S. Bamlett (Gateshead); Linesmen: Messrs. Talks (Lincoln) and Rogers (London).

Play in Preliminary Phases

Boyle won the toss and availed himself of the wind, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Turf Moor men had the better of the opening phases, they showed the nearer approach to good football, for, generally speaking, the play lacked the fire one would expect to see in a game of such vital importance, and the prevailing feeling was that the players at the start were troubled with nerves, and one can quite forgive them under the circumstances. But though Burnley showed neater football, the Liverpool men were quite as dangerous. Inside ten minutes Taylor slipped on the treacherous, slippy turf and the Burnley goal was endangered as a consequence, and at the end of ten minutes he got in the way of a fast shot from Nicholl, which struck the Burnley back in the face. It appeared to stun Taylor, but the probability is it saved the Burnley goal, though of course Sewell may have saved the shot. The ex-Gainsborough man was eagerness itself, and once ran out as the Liverpool centre came with the ball. If he had stayed at home he might have been beaten, but in all probability he disconcerted the oncoming forward, who shot just outside the post.

While Sewell was tested a few times, Campbell had the greater share of the goalkeeping, and one of his best efforts was in saving from Lindley at the expense of a corner. Burnley did the greater part of the pressing, but the best chance fell to Metcalf, but the defence stood the strain of a serious assault at that period. Every now and again, the Burnley wing men got going, Mosscrop centring fairly well on occasions, but the ball was much too lively for the Burnley forwards to control with their usual degree of accuracy, with the result that on quite a number of times the ball went into touch. Offside also spoilt play at times. The result was that the exhibition was comparatively poor during the initial stage, but, even allowing for the heat, play did not descend to the level of the semi-final at Old Trafford. On the whole, the play of the first stage was even, and at the interval there was a blank sheet.

Freeman's Fine Finish - Turfites' Tonic

For the first ten minutes, the play was such as to cause the feeling that extra-time would be required, but after a few minutes the game underwent a great change and the struggle was waged at a quicker pace, with the result that there were far more incidents which bordered on the thrilling than had characterised the opening portion of the game. As regards custodianship, Sewell was the first to be troubled, though the first corner, wrested by Lindley, fell to Burnley. Sewell cleared on the "installment" system two or three times, and the Burnley backs were found employment. But at the end of just inside fourteen minutes there was no doubt in the minds of Burnleyites as to the outcome of the fray, though in fairness it should be said that Liverpool played up well after the fatal blow, as the sequel showed it to be, inflicted by Freeman.

From a throw-in on the right, Nesbitt sent across to Hodgson, who cleverly headed the ball to Freeman, who, in a twinkling first-time shot, without any pulse-beating preliminaries, shot the ball into the far corner of the net. Campbell had not the ghost of a chance. For a spell, nobody knew exactly what had happened, but there were a few Burnleyites behind the goal, and they first gave the welcome news to the onlookers at a distance, for they, like the Liverpool defenders, were completely bewildered by the rapidity with which the feat was performed. It was a fine goal and no doubt, and merited the enthusiastic shouts from the Turfites assembled and the admiration of others. For a time Burnley were, in familiar language, all over their opponents, and with a little steadiness would have scored at least on two occasions. At the same time, as the game progressed, Burnley did not get it all their own way. Two splendid chances of scoring were missed. From Mosscrop's fine centre from the line, Lindley was given the best chance of the match, but his final shot struck the corner of the poat and crossbar, while on the other occasion Mosscrop got down on his own and when at close range shot over.

Towards the end, Liverpool caused great anxiety, for three or four fine long shots were directed at the Burnley goal, which Sewell saved in fine style. One was a long, dropping shot from about halfway, which he secured after the fashion of an out-fielder at cricket after watching the flight of the ball and patiently waiting for it. Another he saved on his knees, and a third he saved just under the crossbar, effecting a clearance from the rebound. Burnley men had been in the wars. First Taylor was hurt, and then Boyle came out of a collision with Fairfoul badly damaged and fell, evidently suffering great agony, and was carried to the side of the field for attention. After a few minutes the skipper was able to resume. Then Hodgson received an accidental kick in the face, and received attention, resuming with a plaster on his face. These mishaps caused anxiety among the Burnley section, but happily the players were able to finish the game, and the defence being sound, Burnley won a memorable victory by 1-0.

Criticisms of Crucial Contest: Praise for Players

Though Burnley, at any rate, did not reproduce their Bolton-Sunderland form, they did not descend to the Old Trafford display, but there were signs of similarity, if not to the same extent, for offside and out into touch, which often spoiled play - too frequently so to make for the success of the game as an exhibition. While there was unmistakable evidence of spoiling play, it was never so marked as in the first encounter in the semi-final. For the going out on the touch-line, the hardness of the ground, the lively ball and the wind had a good deal to do, for many times when the players were indulging in play which nearly, if not quite, approached their regular standard of excellence, the pace of the ball beat the men to whom it was passed. Then the ground was slippery, and in consequence the players had not the same confidence on the sward that they would have had if the ground had been well-degged by Jupiter Pluvius. Two or three days' rain would, in my opinion, have made the game nearly, if not quite, equal to the highest ideals of a Final. Therefore, I hold the conditions to blame for the play not reaching the standard of excellence one would have desired to see, and if the display was not the best on record for a Palace event, it was certainly not the worst by far, for there was an absence of events which marked the Final which produced the record attendance, and there was not a single incident to mar the sportsmanlike character of the game; in short, though there were regrettable incidents in the shape of injuries, especially to Burnley players, who, I am happy to say, completely recovered, there were no incidents to mar the game which could by a wide stretch of imagination be described as tending to lower the tone of the game, which was fought out in purely clean and sportsmanlike fashion.

That Burnley deserved to win I have no doubt, and they would have been unlucky to have had to play extra-time. All the players were more or less affected by nerves, and under the tension and all the difficulties inseparable from a ground and the meteorological state of affairs, which did not conduce to the best of football, the game must be described as a good one, for, handicapped as the players were by the heat of the day and the ground and ball conditions, it was almost impossible for them to reproduce the standard of football of which they are capable. Still, accustomed as we are to see football of the highest class - the I am now only repeating the opinions expressed by leading expert critics of the game - the display was of a rather disappointing description to Burnley people, who had become so accustomed to Burnley's play that it rarely sent the Turfite followers into the same ecstasies of delight that was expressed when the critics have come to Turf Moor and marvelled at the excellence of the fare saved up.

Trinitarian Tradition True

Dawson acted the part of the sportsman when he told the officials he was not fit, and, if anything, he stands higher in the estimation of the Burnley followers than he ever did. Sewell did all that was expected of him, though he did nothing that approached the brilliance which marked his custodianship of the semi-final at Everton, and thoroughly deserved to share in the honours of the fray. While all the players did yeoman service, I hold Sewell and Freeman most in esteem for the satisfactory termination of the historic Final. The backs, while doing well, did not shine so resplendently as they have been known to do, but Taylor was handicapped by his early injury, and Bamford, in the second stage especially, played a capital game. The intermediate line, while not touching their best form, all did well, and none did better than Boyle, whose injury in the critical phases of the game caused a feeling akin to dismay. The forwards played an in-and-out sort of game; at times up to their best standard, and at others they were the reverse, for while in their happiest moments they worked splendidly to the vicinity of the goal, they finished badly, and at least two golden opportunities slipped by which in a League game would, in all probability, have been snapped up. But there is no limit to praise for the manner in which the all-important goal was got, and in this Freeman was the hero, and while he has scored many brilliant goals for the club, he has never got one either so priceless from a monetary and an honour point of view as that which brought the Cup to Burnley without, at any rate, a replay.

Liverpool also failed at two almost equally good openings, but the Merseyside men one and all are to be commended for their sportsmanlike and spirited bid to obtain the equaliser, and which but for the safety of Sewell they might have obtained. They played up well and deserved all the commendations which have been lavished upon them. Campbell had rather more work than Sewell, and the backs and half-backs did their duty well, and if the forwards did not approach the incisiveness of the Burnley quintet, who frequently worked to close quarters in their most approved fashion, to fail lamentably, they put in all they knew and shot whenever they got an opportunity, the majority of the attempts on goal being from long range. Some of these with a less capable custodian than Sewell, whom one of the London critics described as approaching International ability, while another declared he will go further, might easily have found the net, to the discomfiture of Burnley people, the vast majority of whom were confident of the ability of the team to pull through. It only remains to be said that the Trentside tradition respecting Trinitarian players is still true.

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