The final was held at
Crystal Palace, the tenth final played at the venue. 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. 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, 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. 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. Nevertheless, Bolton prevailed 2–0 courtesy of goals by
Sam Marsh and
Billy Yenson. 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. sparking press reports of records for north–south rail travel. Lacking alternative accommodation, several thousand slept on the platforms at
Euston and
St Pancras. A jovial atmosphere built up, with the Manchester Industrial Boys Band playing
Hiawatha. 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. 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. ==Match==