Links With The Past: FA Cup Final Headscarf

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Links With The Past: FA Cup Final Headscarf

Club Historian John Hutchinson reveals another unseen treasure from the Club’s historic collections and archives.

2025-01-07T14:00+00:00

by John Hutchinson

Published

07 Jan, 2025

Links With The Past: FA Cup Final Headscarf

Club Historian John Hutchinson reveals another unseen treasure from the Club’s historic collections and archives.

John Hutchinson

2025-01-07T14:00+00:00

Links With The Past: FA Cup Final Headscarf

Club Historian John Hutchinson reveals another unseen treasure from the Club’s historic collections and archives.

John Hutchinson

2025-01-07T14:00+00:00

Links With The Past: FA Cup Final Headscarf

Club Historian John Hutchinson reveals another unseen treasure from the Club’s historic collections and archives.

John Hutchinson

2025-01-07T14:00+00:00

Links With The Past: FA Cup Final Headscarf

Club Historian John Hutchinson reveals another unseen treasure from the Club’s historic collections and archives.

John Hutchinson

2025-01-07T14:00+00:00

When Leicester City, fighting against relegation from the Second Division, faced Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were riding high in the First Division, in the 1949 FA Cup Final, the wives of the Leicester City Directors and players were each gifted a silk headscarf.

There are still several of these in existence and they are often mistaken for tablecloths. The one illustrated here is currently on display in the Reception area of King Power Stadium, alongside other items of memorabilia from the final, including the runners-up gold medal presented to the Club’s captain, Norman Plummer.

Encapsulated on the headscarf is the story of City’s epic journey to the Club’s first-ever FA Cup Final, referencing, as it does, each result on the journey to Wembley.

First Division side Birmingham City were defeated in the third round after two replays in front of a combined crowd total of over 107,000 fans. Another First Division side, Preston North End, with the legendary Tom Finney in their XI, were overcome 2-1 in the fourth round.

This led to the unforgettable fifth-round tie against Second Division outfit Luton Town, which produced 18 goals: a 5-5 draw at Kenilworth Road being followed by a 5-3 victory at Filbert Street. Second Division Brentford were beaten 2-0 at Griffin Park in the quarter-final and this led to a very challenging semi-final at Highbury, against that season’s (and the next season’s) league champions, Portsmouth.

Against all the odds, two goals from Leicester’s star inside-forward, Don Revie, and a strike from centre-forward, Ken Chisholm, secured a 3-1 victory and a place in the showpiece against the star-studded Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Their captain was Billy Wright, who had guested for Leicester City during the war and who became the first-ever England player to win 100 caps. Arranged in a circle around the scarf are caricatures and autographs of each player in the squad for Wembley, together with their Manager, Johnny Duncan.

The most visible players illustrated here are in the bottom left-hand corner. They are full-backs Ted Jelly and Jimmy Harrison (although Harrison played as a makeshift centre-forward in the final), together with Don Revie, who missed the match with a life-threatening nosebleed.

The captain, Norman Plummer, full-back Sandy Scott, Manager Duncan (in the suit) and right-half Walter Harrison (unrelated to Jimmy) appear in the bottom right-hand corner of this image. The other members of the squad complete the circle of caricatures on the scarf.

These caricatures, alongside those of the backroom staff and of the Directors, also appeared in the menu booklet at the post-final banquet at the May Fair Hotel in London, following City’s 3-1 defeat by Wolves at Wembley.

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