From Wembley to Honeycroft

Middlesex v Lancashire
The FA County Youth Cup
Third Round
2pm, Saturday 12 December 2009
Honeycroft, Uxbridge FC

The 66th FA County Youth Cup competition has reached its Third Round stage and Middlesex are one of the teams in action this weekend. The four-time Cup winners – in 1951, 1956, 1962 and 1972 – take on Lancashire at Uxbridge FC.

What has tended to be forgotten over the years is that an FA County Youth Cup Final match was once played at Wembley Stadium – and Middlesex were one of the teams involved.

From 1945 to 1969 inclusive The Final was played over two legs. In the 1949-50 season Middlesex had a bye in the First Round and then knocked out Surrey, Berks and Bucks, Bedfordshire and Durham (at Craven Cottage) to take them through to a Final against Essex.

The teams drew the first leg 2-2 at Highbury and Essex then triumphed 2-1 at Wembley to clinch a 4-3 aggregate win.

One of the Middlesex players who lined up beneath the famous Twin Towers was centre-forward Bobby Smith. He became a major star with Tottenham Hotspur and England, scoring in consecutive FA Cup Finals for Spurs (in 1961 and 1962) and appearing 15 times for his country.

The Official FA Year Book had this to say:-

“The effect of the F.A. Coaching Scheme can be seen in the tremendous improvement in ball control and tactical play shown by the County Youth teams in the F.A. County Championship games. This year the Final between Essex and Middlesex was again played in two legs, one at Highbury and one at Wembley. Both sides played bright and clever football, but it was the Essex superiority in combination that gave them the victory."