May 25, 1963: Manchester United win their first trophy since the Munich Air Disaster 5 years earlier, beating Leicester City in the FA Cup Final. This was the beginning of a run that would culminate in the 1968 European Cup. This was also the first event at the old Wembley Stadium with the iconic roof completely surrounding.
Leicester finished 4th in the Football League Division One, 9 points behind the Champions, Liverpool-based Everton. (It would have been 14 points under the current format.) United finished 19th, only 3 points out of the relegation zone.
It might have made all that United manager Matt Busby had worked for during the last 5 years meaningless if the team had gotten relegated. Fortunately for him, 3 teams were worse, including crosstown Manchester City and East London team Leyton Orient, who were relegated; and Birmingham City, who also avoided it.
There was a heavy Scottish presence in this Final, including both managers, Busby and Leicester's Matt Gillies. United had 5 Englishmen: Goalkeeper David Gaskell, center half Bill Foulkes, left half Maurice Setters, inside right Albert Quixall, and outside left Bobby Charlton; 3 Scots: Right half Pat Crerand, center forward David Herd, and inside left Denis Law; and 3 Irishmen: Left back and Captain Noel Cantwell, right back Tony Dunne, and outside right Johnny Giles, who would later star for Leeds United.
Gillies called on 4 Scots: Right back John Sjoberg, center half Ian King, inside left Dave Gibson, and right half Frank McLintock, who would Captain the Arsenal team that won the Double in 1971. The rest of his team was English, foremost among them the man who was quickly being recognized as one of the best goalies in the world, Gordon Banks.
The referee was Ken Aston, famous (or infamous) for his officiating at the Chile vs. Italy match in the 1962 World Cup, known as the "Battle of Santiago." He also introduced the idea of a yellow card for a warning and a red card for a sending-off, based on traffic lights. His other innovation was referees wearing black: Previously, they wore tweed jackets over white shirts, but, because he liked the look and the many pockets of a black bomber jacket, he began wearing one during games, convincing the FA, and later FIFA, to adopt it in full.
Three times in the 1st 15 minutes, Gaskell made bad moves that gave Leicester an open net. All 3 times, the Foxes missed their shots. At the half-hour mark, a Charlton shot was saved comfortably by Banks, who then bowled the ball out to Gibson. Crerand read the throw, and raced in to intercept the ball 25 yards from the Leicester goal before passing to Law, who turned and fired past Banks and 2 defenders to open the scoring. It should have been 3-0 Leicester; instead, it was 1-0 Man United.
Gaskell gave Leicester another golden opportunity, early in the 2nd half, but they couldn't capitalize. Herd scored in the 57th minute. Center forward Ken Keyworth got Leicester to within 2-1 in the 80th, but Herd scored again in the 85th to end it. Captain Crerand received the Cup from Queen Elizabeth II.
BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme speculated that United's victory was as a result of the team's greater match sharpness, having had to play to avoid relegation right to the end of the season, while Leicester had lost their sharpness with nothing to play for in the closing weeks of the season.
This game launched a new era of glory for United. They won the League in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968. Their success, and their style, getting them on television and in football magazines, made them the most visible team in the country. Their Scottish and Irish presence, aided by the 1964 addition of Northern Ireland's George Best, made them the most popular team in the United Kingdom. However, the hooligan element among their fans frittered away much of the goodwill, including the leftover sympathy from 1958, that many had for them.
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May 25, 1963 was a Saturday. Actor-comedian Mike Myers was born. And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4. Joe Pepitone hit a home run. Yogi Berra, in his final season as a player, and Roger Maris did not play. Ralph Terry went the distance for the win.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. The Mets only got 3 hits, 2 of them by 18-year-old Ed Kranepool. Stan Musial, in his last season as a player, drew a walk as a pinch-hitter.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Daryl Spencer went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Frank Robinson went 0-for-2 with a walk. Rookie Pete Rose went 2-for-4.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 0-for-4 with a walk. Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-5.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Colt .45s, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks hit a home run. The Colt .45s became the Houston Astros in 1965.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bob Shaw pitched a 4-hit shutout. Hank Aaron went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Joe Torre hit a home run. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Cuba's Camilo Pascual allowed only 2 hits, to defeat Puerto Rico's Juan Pizarro. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 9-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were groundsharing with the Dodgers until their stadium in Anaheim could be built.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 1-for-4. Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey and Ed Bailey hit home runs. Tommy Davis went 3-for-4 with an RBI, but the rest of the Dodgers only got 4 hits.
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