about their tactics, saying they hoped to subdue Arsenal's attack by having Billy Hardy keep Buchan at bay. Hardy and Cardiff's defence were seen as a key part of the team's chances; ahead of the match, Buchan described them as "an impassable barrier". Cardiff were almost free to choose their first choice team. The only omission was Harry Wake who had suffered damage to his kidneys in a league match against Sheffield Wednesday a week before the final. Other than Wake, their team was the same as that which played Reading in the semi-final. Ernie Curtis was selected as his replacement, becoming at the age of 19 the youngest player at the time to feature in an FA Cup final. Tom Farquharson, Jimmy Nelson, Fred Keenor and Billy Hardy had played in the 1925 final defeat. Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lloyd George, and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill were in attendance for the match. The press billed the match as England versus Wales, and noted that among the Welsh fans were many women, including mothers with babies. Special trains were laid on for the Cardiff fans, arriving at Paddington train station from 4am onwards. The Metropolitan Railway put on additional trains to commute fans from Baker Street station to Wembley Park; one every two minutes. Between 11am to kick off, 30,000 fans per hour travelled this route; some 100,000 fans were expected to arrive at the ground. The Welsh fans made special excursions across London; some travelled to St. Paul's Cathedral, where they sang Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. Other fans went to The Cenotaph, Whitehall, where they dressed it in Welsh colours to honour the veterans of the First World War. As the Cardiff team bus arrived at the stadium, the fans threw leeks at the vehicle. The team had adopted a black cat for the occasion, named Trixie, which had been found wandering astray by some of the players during a round of golf at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club before their earlier match with Bolton. They decided it was a good omen and Ferguson was sent to find the owners of the animal; they agreed to let the club keep the cat in return for two final tickets if they progressed that far. Police reinforcements were required at Empire Stadium, as at 1pm a crowd of people had gathered outside the ticket office in