Links With The Past: 1969 FA Cup Mementos

The 100,000 fans who were at Wembley paid a record £128,000 in gate receipts. Frank O’Farrell’s Leicester lost 1-0, the goal being scored by Neil Young. The highlights of the match commentary were issued on a 33 ½ rpm mono vinyl long-playing record. It was released by BBC Radio Enterprises.

The sleeve notes say that the game was 'the best Cup Final in years' and 'a match to remember with a warm afterglow for its sparkle, its excitement and its sportsmanship'.

The 32-page Daily Mirror FA Cup Final souvenir booklet cost 3/6 (17 ½P). It contains many photographs, both in colour and in black and white, of the players and managers. It also details the road to Wembley taken by both sides.

Pre-match community singing was a big feature of cup finals half a decade ago. The words of songs like Abide With Me, The Last Waltz and Keep Right On To The End Of The Road were included in the Daily Express community singing song sheet.

The blue and white Daily Express Leicester City headband is made of thin card and was one of thousands distributed to the crowd. 

Thousands of Foxes fans also wore customised rosettes specially designed for the occasion.

The two telegrams from Zambia wishing Leicester luck for the final were amongst the many telegrams sent on cup final day to the Club. These are now in the Club’s archives. Leicester City had established close links with the Zambian FA when they went on a tour to that country in May and June 1968.

On 15 May, 2021, the Foxes will look to go one further and lift the Club's first-ever FA Cup when they face Chelsea in the showpiece at Wembley Stadium.