1958 FA Cup final

The 1958 FA Cup final was contested on 3 May 1958 by Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, London, in front of a crowd of almost 100,000. The referee was J. Sherlock. Bolton won 2–0, with a double by Nat Lofthouse, who scored the goals in the 3rd and 55th minutes. United, who had lost the previous final to Aston Villa, had been decimated three months earlier in the Munich air disaster, and fielded only four crash survivors, along with several newcomers. Just two players featured in the United side from the previous year's final; six of them were among the dead (along with two others who had not played), two were injured to such an extent that they never played again, while another had not yet fully recovered from his injuries.

1958 FA Cup final

Event	1957–58 FA Cup
Bolton Wanderers Manchester United 2 0
Date	3 May 1958
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Jack Sherlock
Attendance	99,756

The second Bolton goal was a source of considerable controversy as it resulted from the Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg being bundled over the goal line by Lofthouse. Goalkeepers were, at that time, much less protected from physical contact with opponents. The resulting debate was one of the high-profile incidents that led eventually to the situation that prevails nowadays where no contact with the opposing goalkeeper is permitted.

Not one of Bolton's 11 players in the cup-winning team cost the club a transfer fee. Five of them were full internationals. Only Nat Lofthouse and Doug Holden remained from the Bolton team that lost to Blackpool in the Matthews Final five years earlier.

Road to Wembley

As First Division clubs, both teams entered the competition at the third round stage.

Bolton Wanderers				Manchester United
Opposition	Goalscorer(s)	Round		Opposition	Goalscorer(s)
4 January 1958 Preston North End [D1] A 3–0	Stevens Parry (2)	Round Three		4 January 1958 Workington [D3N] A 3–1	Viollet (3)
25 January 1958 York City [D3N] A 0–0		Round Four		25 January 1958 Ipswich Town [D2] H 2–0	Charlton (2)
29 January 1958 York City [D3N] H 3–0	Birch Allcock (2)	Replay
15 February 1958 Stoke City [D2] H 3–1	Lofthouse Stevens Parry	Round Five		19 February 1958 Sheffield Wednesday [D1] H 3–0	Brennan (2) Dawson
1 March 1958 Wolverhampton Wanderers [D1] H 2–1	Stevens Parry	Quarter finals		22 March 1958 West Bromwich Albion [D1] A 2–2	Dawson Taylor
		Replay		5 March 1958 West Bromwich Albion [D1] H 1–0	Webster
22 March 1958 Blackburn Rovers [D2] Maine Road, Manchester 2–1	Gubbins (2)	Semi finals		22 March 1958 Fulham [D2] Villa Park, Birmingham 2–2	Charlton (2)
		Replay		26 March 1958 Fulham [D2] Highbury, North London 5–3	Dawson (3) Brennan Charlton

• Square brackets [ ] represent the opposition's division

Match details

3 May 1958

Bolton Wanderers	2–0	Manchester United
Lofthouse 3', 50'	(Report)

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 99,756

Referee: Jack Sherlock

Bolton Wanderers

Manchester United

GK 1 Eddie Hopkinson RB 2 Roy Hartle LB 3 Tommy Banks RH 4 Derek Hennin CH 5 John Higgins LH 6 Bryan Edwards OR 7 Brian Birch IR 8 Dennis Stevens CF 9 Nat Lofthouse (c) IL 10 Ray Parry OL 11 Doug Holden Manager: Bill Ridding

GK 1 Harry Gregg RB 2 Bill Foulkes (c) LB 3 Ian Greaves RH 4 Freddie Goodwin CH 5 Ronnie Cope LH 6 Stan Crowther OR 7 Alex Dawson IR 8 Ernie Taylor CF 9 Bobby Charlton IL 10 Dennis Viollet OL 11 Colin Webster Manager: Jimmy Murphy