inaugural Football League War Cup. These matches were condensed into just 9 weeks. Despite the fears that London would be bombed by the Luftwaffe fans came in thousands to watch the game at Wembley, despite its obvious danger as a bombing target. 1940–41 In the nine months leading up to the final, 127 large-scale night-raids had taken place, with London, the home of the final, being a regular target. This threat did not stop 60,000 people turning up to watch the game. Preston North End beat Bury, Bolton, Tranmere Rovers (20-2 on aggregate), Manchester City and Newcastle (2–0 on aggregate) to reach the final. Andrew McLaren had scored nine goals during the tournament, including five goals in Preston's 12–1 home leg win over Tranmere. Thanks to a 40th minute equaliser from Arsenal's D. Compton in the game at Wembley, this was the first final of the tournament to go to a replay. L. Compton of Arsenal struck the Preston post with a missed penalty in the 3rd minute. The replay was moved away from London to Ewood Park. The win for Preston meant that they had completed the first wartime league and cup double, having also won the Northern Regional League. 1941–42 The third competition in 1942 saw the final switched to a two-legged format with each team playing one leg on their home ground. This was the only time in the tournament's history that the final was decided in such a way. Eric Robinson of Wolves was to die soon after his team won the tournament, during a military exercise. On 6 June 1942, Wolves faced Brentford, winners of the London War Cup (clubs from London did not participate in the FLWC that season), in a cup winners play-off held at Stamford Bridge. The match ended 1–1 and was not replayed, so the clubs shared the honour. 1942–43 In its final three years, the competition was split into north and south halves, with the winners of each section competing in a play-off, staged at Stamford Bridge, to decide the cup winner. The northern winners were decided over two legs, while the southern finalists met in a one-off Wembley final. The overall final marked the second time Arsenal had got to the final. They would end up being the club who had reached the most Football League War Cup finals, yet did not win once. The final was also notable