The swans and robins have met numerous times in the FA Cup, Sundays fixture being the fourth time in the history of both clubs. The first meeting was on the 5th and 10th January 1946. Yes, a two legged FA Cup tie.
For the only time in the history of the competition, all matches from the First Round Proper up to and including the Sixth Round Proper were played over two legs, the first leg being played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. In the first and second rounds proper, the second leg was played on the following Saturday; from the third round onwards, it was played during the week following the first leg. If aggregate scores were level after 90 minutes of the second leg had been played, a replay would take place at a neutral venue. These changes were made in order to give clubs additional revenue, as the Football League would not resume normal play until the autumn of 1946.
Even back then an eye on club revenue was considered, and of course after so many years of war the footballing public were desperate for leisure, good times and an end to the suffering the country had gone through. Anything that took the mind away from that for a few hours was most welcome. Thousands of Swansea homes had been destroyed in the blitz and hundreds of lives lost.
Trevor Ford had lost a number of years to the war, but when he returned he did so in the white shirt of Swansea Town. And the first FA Cup ties of that return were fascinating encounters. The return of football in 1946 was to be the restart of the FA Cup, and then regional games would take place. It wouldn’t be until the 1946/47 season that it all got going properly. Massive crowds witnessed these two FA Cup ties. The first saw the swans battered 5-1 and the next game at the vetch was drawn 2-2, and yes you’ve guessed it, Swansea born Trevor Ford scored all three for the swans. The side played their first season back in the football league at division two level later that year. It resulted in relegation to division three south as it was then known as.
It was an oddity of an FA Cup season, two legged games and massive turn outs, some not even registered as official crowds, and approximations are pointless. Sunday see’s the two clubs meet again in the FA third round. The swans away allocation of nearly 2,700 has long been sold out, many more again have found other ways of attending this fixture, and hospitality seems a popular choice.
Whatever the result Trevor Ford will be looking down I’m sure with a wry smile on his face, the battering ram of a centre forward wouldn’t last a second in todays game. And by that we mean for dedication, devotion and desire to put that heavy football in to the back of the net.
Maybe a little bit of that on Sunday wouldn’t go amiss ?