1945 Football League War Cup South final

The 1945 Football League War Cup South Final was the last final of the regional Football League War Cup, an unofficial cup competition held in southern England during the Second World War as a replacement for the suspended FA Cup. The match took place at Wembley Stadium on 7 April 1945 and was won by Chelsea, who beat Millwall 2–0. A month later, Chelsea contested a play-off against the winners of the equivalent North final, Bolton Wanderers. The trophy is now on display in the Chelsea museum at Stamford Bridge.^[1]

1945 Football League
War Cup South Final

Official programme
Event	1945 Football League War Cup
Chelsea Millwall 2 0
Date	7 April 1945
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance	90,000

Match summary

This was Chelsea's second consecutive appearance in the competition's final; they had lost to Charlton Athletic in the 1944 final and fielded four survivors from that match (captain John Harris, Dickie Foss, George Hardwick and Joe Payne). Millwall fielded Sam Bartram and Sailor Brown, who had been a part of the victorious Charlton team in 1944.^[2] Both teams wore their away colours for the match, Chelsea red and Millwall white.^[3]

The Times' correspondent reported that the crowd "must have been sadly disappointed at the quality of play", but Chelsea "were the sounder in defence... and produced the majority of what good attacking movements there were."^[4] Millwall held their own in the first half, but a ten minute spell after half-time in which Chelsea scored twice was sufficient to win them the match.^[1] The crowd of 90,000 was the highest for a club match during the war.^[5] King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, their daughter the future Elizabeth II, King Haakon VII of Norway and Lord Wavell, Viceroy of India, were among those in attendance.^[6][3] After the match, the King presented Chelsea captain Harris with the cup.^[4]

Match details

Chelsea	2–0	Millwall
Wardle 47' McDonald 52'

7 April 1945

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 90,000

Chelsea

Millwall

1 Ian Black 2 Danny Winter 3 George Hardwick 4 Robert Russell 5 John Harris 6 Dickie Foss 7 George Wardle 8 Les Smith 9 Joe Payne 10 Len Goulden 11 John McDonald Manager: Billy Birrell

1 Sam Bartram 2 Reginald Dudley 3 George Fisher 4 George Ludford 5 Ted Smith 6 Leonard Tyler 7 Sid Rawlings 8 Sailor Brown 9 Jimmy Jinks 10 Tom Brown 11 Clifton Williams Manager: Jack Cock

Notes

1. "Millwall 0 Chelsea 2". chelseafc.com. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
2. "To-day's South Cup Final". The Times. 7 April 1945.
3. "1944 and 1945 Football League South Cup finals". chelseafc.com. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
4. "Chelsea Victory in South Cup". The Times. 9 April 1945.
5. Foster, Richard (24 April 2020). "How English football responded to the second world war". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
6. "The King and Queen at Cup Final". The Times. 9 April 1945.

References

• Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography – The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7553-1466-2.
• Hockings, Ron. 100 Years of The Blues – A Statistical History of Chelsea FC 1905–2006.