Burnley’s Cup run in 1946/47 began
when Six times winners Aston Villa visited then Second Division Burnley in Round Three and
were totally outplayed by a Clarets team riding on the crest of a wave. One local paper
headlined its report, ‘Burnley’s Brilliance Dazzles the Villa’. A 39,000
crowd saw a convincing 5-1 victory as the Clarets marched into Round Four, where they beat
Coventry City 2-0 at Turf Moor.
Round Five involved a 0-0 draw at Kenilworth Road before a 3-0 victory was
secured over Luton Town in the replay. Middlesborough away provided stiff opposition in
the Sixth Round, and a 1-1 draw preceded a 1-0 extra time route into the Semi Finals for
the first time since 1935.
Burnley played Liverpool at Ewood Park, and a 0-0 draw resulted, and this
caused the biggest crowd to see Burnley that season (72,000) to pack Maine Road for the
replay. Clarets produced a superb display which involved the defence holding out against
Liverpool’s strong forwards, and at the other end Ray Harrison slammed a tremendous
shot into the net to put Burnley in the Cup Final for the first time since 1913/14.
The Cup Final saw Burnley matched against Charlton Athletic, who had
disposed of Newcastle United in the other Semi Final. 99,000 spectators witnessed ninety
minutes of action without goals, although Harry Potts did hit the crossbar. It seemed as
if Burnley might repeat their victories over Middlesborough and Liverpool and win in extra
time, for, finishing apart, they had proved to be the better side. However,
Charlton’s small left winger Chris Duffy unfortunately scored seven minutes before
the end of extra time. Despite a great header by Billy Morris scraping the bar, Burnley
were unable to equalise and consequently lose 1-0.
The teams that day were:
Burnley: Strong, Woodruff, Mather,
Attwell, Brown (captain), Bray, Chew, Morris, Harrison, Potts, Kippax.
Charlton: Bartram, Croker, Shreave,
Johnson, Phipps, Revell, Hurst, Dawson, Robinson, Welsh, Duffy.
During the game, the ball burst for the second consecutive Cup Final. The
match was televised full length for the first time and extra time was played for only the
fourth time.
On the Monday after the Final the Clarets were given a rapturous reception
by the Burnley townfolk when they returned north, and for the older supporters it brought
back memories of the occasion when Tommy Boyle had in fact brought the Cup to Burnley 33
years previously.
And so the elation of promotion to Division One in season 1946/47 was
tempered slightly by the Cup Final setback. However, most folk were happy to see Burnley
return to the premier league.
And Chris Duffy, responsible for the Cup Final defeat? He went on to
become a publican in Ireland. No offence meant Chris, but why couldn’t you have been
in Ireland rather than at Wembley all those years ago?
Neil Calvert
December 1977
Links - Peter Pike MP's recollections of the 1940s and Peter Kippax remembered
