April 28 – White Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away

WHEN the new Wembley Stadium opened (eventually) last year it was a pretty civilised affair; England versus Brazil on a Friday night and a good time was had by all. This contrasts greatly to the scenes of today in 1923, when Wembley hosted it’s first ever match. In what would be known as the White Horse Final, chaos ensued, but one of English football’s most iconic figures would save the day.

What used to be known as the Empire Stadium was built with one eye on the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and the other on football’s recent surge in popularity. Thousands of fans had complained that they had been able to see much of the 1913 FA Cup final after they had packed into the Crystal Palace stadium, so the Twin Towers were constructed at a cost of £750,000 and finished four days before the 1923 final where Bolton took on West Ham.

Wembley had a capacity of 127,000 but two hours before the game the terraces were full, with thousands still flooding through barriers and into the stadium. When King George V rocked up at 2.45pm, it was estimated that around 300,000 of his loyal subjects were squeezed into the ground, covering every blade of grass on the pitch.

There’s not many other places in the world where an unruly mob would manage to compose themselves to stand and sing the national anthem, but 1920′s London managed exactly that. The next task was to clear the pitch and get on with the game, which is where our hero comes in.

Billie, contrary to the apocryphal tale that has ensued, was in fact a grey horse, ridden by PC George Scorey. Poor old George was actually supposed to be enjoying his day off, but like all good heroes he took the call when word got out about the events in north London.

On the grainy black and white footage from the day, Billie stands out like an almost mythical stallion, dispersing the crowd as the game got ready to kick off, only 45 minutes late.

Fans packed in pitchside as Wembley’s first cup final kicked off and it didn’t take long for the first goal to go in. After two minutes a West Ham player had to delve into the crowd to fetch a misplaced pass and ended up getting swallowed up by the mob. As he fought his way out, Bolton forward David Jack was scoring the first ever goal at the Twin Towers, putting Bolton 1-0 up, with a shot that actually knocked out a spectator that was leaning against the goal net.

Both sides had to stay on the pitch at half-time, as trying to reach the tunnel would have involved twenty minutes of ‘excuse me, kind sir’ while they battled through the crowds. Jack Smith put the game to bed for Bolton early in the second half, but this goal was also subject to intervention from the crowd, as many eye-witnesses saw a boot from the huddled masses keep the ball in play in the lead up to the goal.

Following the madness of that famous day, the FA decided that all future cup finals should be all-ticket affairs and in 2006 the footbridge that leads to the rebuilt Wembley Stadium was named the White Horse Bridge in honour of football’s most famous horse. Watch scenes from that fateful day below and come back here tomorrow for some more retro cup action.