Medhurst

Bicknell

RON CATER

Small

Walker R.

Fenton E.

Woodgate

ALMERIC HALL

Foreman

Wood

KEN BAINBRIDGE

When Arsenal visited the Boleyn Ground on 5 January 1946, it was the first FA Cup tie West Ham United had contested in nearly seven years. The Gunners would head back to north London silenced to the tune of a 6-0 thrashing.
The outbreak of the Second World War had caused the most famous knockout competition on the planet to be suspended. On the tournament's resumption, the draw for the third round threw together the Hammers and the Gunners, both then competing in War League South, for a mouth-watering London derby.
One of the features of the 1945/46 FA Cup was the introduction of two-legged ties. In the single-sheet programme for that afternoon's game, it was noted that Football Association's decision to do away with straight knockout football had been made in the essence of fairness. "There are some who consider this season's cup competition rather ambitious by the institution of a two-legged affair and the guest player bar. It, however, has its advantages. Clubs cannot now quibble at the 'luck of the draw', which definitely had meant so much in pre-war days. The guest player bar will hit some clubs pretty hard, but the position eases week by week by releases from the Services". The guest player scheme had been introduced during the war to enable clubs to use players who were not officially on their books.