1937 FA Cup final

Sunderland As First Division clubs, Sunderland and Preston both entered the competition at the third round stage. Sunderland began with an away tie against Second Division Southampton, who they met in the third round for the third time in seven seasons. Sunderland won 3–2, with goals from Bobby Gurney, Cecil Hornby and Patsy Gallacher. before goals from Len Duns, Jimmy Connor and Raich Carter gave them a 3–1 win in the replay. After beating another Second Division team, Swansea Town, 3–0 in the fifth round, Sunderland required three matches to eliminate Wolverhampton Wanderers in the quarter-finals. They eventually defeated Wanderers 4–0 in the second replay at a neutral venue, Hillsborough in Sheffield, after the first two matches had ended in draws. Sunderland's scorers in this second replay were Gurney, Carter, Gallacher and Charlie Thomson. In the semi-finals at Leeds Road, Huddersfield, they faced the Third Division South giant killers Millwall, who were the first team from that level to reach the last four since the Third Division formation in 1920. Millwall had scored 22 goals in six consecutive wins in their Cup run, including home wins against First Division teams Chelsea, Derby County and Manchester City, with their captain and inside-forward Dave Mangnall scoring nine of the goals. Preston North End Preston's FA Cup run began with a 2–0 home win in a third round match against Newcastle United, who had won the Cup as recently as 1932 but who had been relegated to the Second Division two years later. They then scored five in consecutive home wins against First Division Stoke City and Exeter City of the Third Division South, with their Scottish forward Frank O'Donnell scoring hat-tricks in both matches. Frank O'Donnell and Dougal each scored twice more when Preston returned to London to beat the 1935 runners-up, West Bromwich Albion, 4–1 in the semi-finals at Highbury. Preston scored three times in the first twenty minutes to blitz their Midlands opponents, who were playing just two days after the death of their chairman and legendary former player, Billy Bassett. In all, Preston scored 19 goals in their five matches to reach the final, with Frank O'Donnell contributing ten of them and scoring in every match. ==Pre-match==

Sunderland were the League champions from the previous season, when they had won their sixth championship by a large margin of eight points, but had slipped to eighth position in 1936–37. They had never previously won the FA Cup, and had only once before reached the final, when they lost 1–0 to Aston Villa in 1913. Preston finished 14th in the First Division after the final league matches of the season were completed on the same day as the final, their lowest position since returning to the top flight in 1934. They were the third-highest scorers in the First Division that season but had the third-worst defensive record, and had failed to keep a single clean sheet away from home in the League. Carter had won his first England cap three years before and led a Sunderland attack that had scored over a hundred goals in the 1936–37 season. The week before, he and Preston's centre-forward O'Donnell had faced each other in the Home Championship, when O'Donnell scored on his debut as Scotland overturned a half-time deficit to beat England 3–1 in front of an international record crowd of more than 149,000. Preston's left-back Andy Beattie also played for Scotland in the match. Even though they had finished below Sunderland in the League, Preston were considered by some reporters to be the better balanced and organised team, especially away from home, although their goalkeeper George Holdcroft was absent from the Wembley side because of a hand injury. Thousands of Sunderland fans travelled from the north-east to London on special trains before the match, and the team occupied a special carriage pulled by a LNER "Footballer" Class B17 locomotive which was named after the club and decorated with red and white ribbons. Attendance at May Day political meetings in the north-east was said to be reduced because of the number of people who were following the broadcast of the match. ==Match==

The match was the first FA Cup final held in May (all previous finals had been played in March or April). King Farouk of Egypt was also in attendance. The match was broadcast live on BBC radio's National Programme with commentary from George Allison and Ivan Sharpe. Part of the match was also shown on BBC television, before the final was televised in its entirety for the first time the following year. Because of a contract dispute with Wembley Stadium, the match was not covered by Pathé News but instead a short film was produced by the Featurettes Company. Preston's captain Tremelling won the toss and chose to play towards the sun in the first half. Preston had marginally the better of the opening stages and caused Sunderland some trouble with long throws. Carter missed a clear chance but, with 18 minutes remaining, he took Gurney's pass to shoot past Preston's diving goalkeeper Burns to put Sunderland ahead. Again, there was some suspicion of offside in the build-up to the goal. It was only the third time in Wembley history that a team had come from a goal down to win the Cup. With this success, Sunderland's manager Johnny Cochrane became the first to manage Cup-winning teams in both England and Scotland, having led St Mirren to the Scottish Cup in 1926. Queen Elizabeth presented the trophy to Sunderland's captain, Carter, reportedly telling him that it was "a nice wedding present". because of the number of free-kicks, balls put out of play and erratic passes, particularly by the full-backs. In contrast, The New York Times described it as a "thrilling tussle" and The Times of India as "a memorable final". The Observer claimed that "not more than two finals since the war have produced better football". Burbanks was reported to be the game's most effective attacker, having contributed to all three of Sunderland's goals, while Duns was described as having played with "an exhilarating ardour". With the exception of Frank O'Donnell and Fagan, Preston's attacking line was judged disappointing. Match details {{footballbox Match rules • 90 minutes. • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. • Replay if scores still level. ==Post-match==

Sunderland celebrated their first FA Cup victory with a huge crowd that had gathered at Monkwearmouth station for their return, before an open-top bus tour of the town and a reception at Roker Park. Despite losing, Preston's team was also received enthusiastically by their supporters outside Preston Town Hall. Their captain Billy Tremelling said "We have lost with a good heart. We do not mind losing to a good team." The two clubs came close to meeting again in the final of the FA Cup the following season. Sunderland reached the semi-finals after four successive 1–0 victories in the early rounds, but were defeated 3–1 by Huddersfield Town, who were in turn beaten 1–0 after extra-time by Preston in the final. Fagan also played in a post-war final, but was on the losing side for the second time when Liverpool were beaten by Arsenal in 1950. Shankly managed Liverpool for 15 years, winning three League titles and two further FA Cups. Mapson's record as the youngest goalkeeper to play in a Wembley FA Cup final lasted until 1969, when it was beaten by Peter Shilton. The last surviving player from the game, Preston's Jimmy Dougal, died two months later at the age of 86. ==Notes==