Card of the Day: The King at the Cup Final, Wembley

I understand history. I understand Royalty. I even understand the words “cup” and “Wembley.” But, I don’t know a thing about sports, and, frankly, my mind wanders if I try to think about it. So, with that said, here’s King George V doing something with sports at Wembley. Now, I DO know that King George and Queen Mary wanted to give the people the impression that Britain would be able to return to normal after the Great War and that everything was all right in the Empire, so they went to all manner of events to make sure they were seen having a good time doing regular things. This, it seems, was one of them.


The reverse of the card reads (though it’s mostly gibberish to me):

THE KING AT THE CUP FINAL, WEMBLEY


On St. George’s Day, 1927, the King—keenly interested in football under either code—watched the F.A. Cup at Wembley between the Arsenal and Cardiff City. Among the welcoming crowd of 90,000 were 10,000 Welshmen, largely miners, some of whom had walked to London. The teams having been presented: The Arsenal—playing their first Cup Final, and favourites –did most of the attacking: but the one goal of the match was scored by Ferguson for Cardiff, and the youngest among leading clubs secured the trophy from the King’s hands. His Majesty, with Lord Derby on his left, and Mr. Churchill behind, is in the Royal Box, joining in the community singing.

Things I know here: St. George’s Day, King George V, Wembley, Cardiff, Welshmen, miners, London, trophy, Lord Derby, Churchill, Royal. I also know Queen Mary wasn’t there because I’m sure she wouldn’t have known what the hell was going on either. Lest you think me too thick, I am aware that this was some sort of championship match for what we yanks would call soccer, and I’m almost positive that the Arsenal is still doing whatever it does to this day. The rest is up to you.

Now, let’s look at some art and jewelry.

Wembley Stadium, Cup Finals, 1927
Whatever happened that day, happened here, and this is what it looked like from the sky.
The stadium still looks like this--only without all the little gray people.