FINCHLEY TOWN F.C.

[Baltimore]

Hello All,

I have had the following trio in my collection for a few years, but have never really had the time to investigate them fully.

Is it Finchley Town Football Club taking on the Police & Military at Cricket.

Are there any Finchley Town fans out there?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Baltimore]

Maybe the same team that beat Palace in the FA Cup!

Sorry Pete!


Ian

[bee007]

I don't think Finchley FC were ever called Town. On the Tickets, it gives the Team Finchley Town but doesn't mention FC. I was wondering if these were just matches against Finchley Town Cricket Club, who were founded in 1832. Just a thought.

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Yes, Baltimore, not the same club, Palace were humbled by Finchley FC in the FA Cup, 2nd round, on 10th Dec 1952.

In fact they were also humbled by Finchley FC in the 2nd round just 4 days earlier, as with the game at 3-1 to Finchley it was abandoned due to fog after 63 minutes. Palace arrived with only 10 players due to the pea-souper in London, so a "travelling reserve"/loyal supporter called Bob Bishop played his only game for the club and then found it wiped from the records.

So the replayed game took place and Finchley won that 3-1 too, with George Robb scoring at least one of the goals as pictured here with the ball perfectly penetrating Harry McDonald's bandy legs. There are 9 Palace defenders just about visible between Robb and the goal-line for this indirect free-kick. He aimed for the biggest gap.



A well-known fact is that some 11 months later, Robb would be playing in the England team humiliated by Hungary at Wembley. By then a Tottenham player, how he came to be playing for Finchley less than a year previously I don't know.

For Palace the defeat was the first of three consecutive FAC knock-outs by non-league opposition: Finchley; then Great Yarmouth Town in Round 1; and last but not least Bishop Auckland in R2 in 1954/5.

So humiliation goes cap-in-hand with Palace, and thank Goodness nothing like that could possibly happen today.