British football supporters in the early 20th century were anything but passive. Long before televised matches or social media, fans traveled by horse-drawn buses, packed into train carriages, and climbed anything they could find just to catch a glimpse of the action. Their devotion was raw, loud, and completely unfiltered. These were people who planned their entire week around a single match — and sometimes their entire year around the FA Cup.
The FA Cup was the biggest event in English football, and supporters treated it like a national holiday. In 1906, Everton fans gathered outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London before making the trip to Crystal Palace for the final against Newcastle United. Everton won that day, 1-0, and the journey was as much a part of the occasion as the match itself.
Eight years later, in 1914, Liverpool supporters were making the same trek to Crystal Palace — this time for a final against Burnley. Some fans rode in the back of horse-drawn buses, a common sight on the roads leading to the ground. Others got more creative. With limited space inside the stadium, some spectators found entirely unconventional vantage points just to watch the game. Burnley won that final 1-0.
It wasn’t only English club fans who showed up in force. Scottish supporters crossed the border for international fixtures too. In March 1921, a crowd of Scottish fans gathered ahead of the English League versus Scottish League match at Highbury in London, bringing their own brand of fierce national pride with them.
The opening of Wembley Stadium in 1923 marked a turning point for FA Cup finals. On April 28th, fans piled onto private buses bound for the newly completed ground to watch West Ham United take on Bolton Wanderers. The crowd that day was enormous — far beyond what the stadium was built to hold. West Ham supporters arrived buzzing with excitement, but Bolton won the match 2-0.
Bolton Wanderers returned to Wembley in 1926 and won again, this time beating Manchester City. Supporters rushed the players after the final whistle, congratulating them right there on the pitch in jubilant scenes that captured just how personal a football victory felt to those in the stands.
Arsenal supporters were some of the most vocal and energetic fans of the era. At an FA Cup tie against Swindon Town in February 1929, the Gunners’ faithful packed the terraces and made their presence known. Their enthusiasm showed up everywhere — in train stations, on platforms, and even in the aisles between carriages.
At Euston Station in January 1930, one Arsenal fan took things a step further. While waiting to board a train to Birmingham for an FA Cup replay, he performed a one-handed handstand on the platform to entertain the crowd around him. It was the kind of spontaneous, high-spirited moment that defined matchday culture in this era.
The intensity of these matches took a real physical toll on some fans. At the FA Cup Semi-Final between Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford on March 22nd, 1930, at least one woman fainted at the sidelines and required medical attention on the spot. The passion in the crowd was genuine and overwhelming.
Arsenal supporters kept filling trains throughout the early 1930s. In November 1932, they leaned out of carriage windows at Euston as their train pulled out toward Birmingham for a league match against Aston Villa. That day didn’t go their way — Arsenal lost 3-5. Just weeks earlier, though, the football world had witnessed a dramatic upset at Wembley: Newcastle United beat Arsenal 2-1 in the FA Cup Final, with forward Jack Allen mobbed by fans after the trophy presentation.
West Ham supporters turned out in big numbers for a 1933 FA Cup semi-final against Everton, held at The Hawthorns in Wolverhampton. The following year, a Portsmouth fan made headlines of her own — gripping a rattle in each hand and cheering loudly before her team’s FA Cup final against Manchester City. Manchester City won that match 2-1 on April 28th, 1934, but the Portsmouth fans were unforgettable.
Rattles and rosettes were the fan accessories of the day. In January 1935, Manchester City supporters loaded onto a train at Euston, decorated in club colors and shaking their rattles ahead of a cup-tie against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. That same year, a West Bromwich Albion fan was photographed marching toward Wembley, rattle in hand, for the FA Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday — a match Wednesday won 4-2.
Arsenal’s supporters were back at King’s Cross Station in March 1936, boarding special trains to Huddersfield for an FA Cup semi-final against Grimsby. Arsenal won 1-0. A year later, in January 1937, the Gunners’ fans were at St Pancras Station, cheering as they set off for Chesterfield — another away day, another packed platform.
Crowd control was an ongoing challenge at grounds across England. At a sixth-round FA Cup tie between Brentford and Preston North End in March 1938, officials had to physically persuade fans to clear the touchlines before the game could begin. That same year, Wembley was packed to capacity for the final between Preston North End and Huddersfield Town. Preston won 1-0 after extra time on April 30th, 1938.
Fan superstitions were just as much a part of the culture as the rattles and rosettes. In January 1939, factory workers from Yeovil showed up carrying rabbits’ feet — genuine good-luck charms — ahead of their local club’s FA Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday. It was a small-town ritual that captured the broader truth about British football supporters in this era: the game meant everything to them, and they brought everything they had to show it.
