For younger readers, we must explain that there was once a time when there were no such things as penalty shootouts and that FA Cup matches went to replays in order to decide who went through – as many replays as were needed. 

This included the FA Cup final itself, but to further strain your sense of disbelief, if the final went to a replay, it was rarely scheduled for Wembley Stadium. Instead, the games were played out in the country, at the better appointed football stadia in the land. 

The Hawthorns was one of them.  

The Hawthorns’ credentials for staging a match of such national importance were underlined when we had staged a Victory International in October 1945, England losing to Wales, some 54,611 spectators jamming the place – and sitting on the roof – to catch sight of the game.  

So when Wolves met Leicester City in the 1949 final, a suitable venue was sought for a midweek replay, with an evening kick-off. The Hawthorns was selected and so, had the teams finished up all-square after extra-time in London, The Hawthorns would have joined such locations as The Oval, Crystal Palace, Bramall Lane and Old Trafford as an FA Cup final venue. 

Typically, the Wolves ruined that by winning the cup at the first time of asking, and the chance was gone. Slim chance it was too, for no Wembley final had ever gone to a replay at that point. Indeed, the last FA Cup final to require a second game was in 1912 and trust me, you don’t want to know what happened in that one. 

The first Wembley final that went to a replay was in 1970, when Chelsea met Leeds United in a second epic at Old Trafford.