taken", and that the directors were "to be congratulated in having provided their supporters with a ground second to none in the country". The Football Association chose St Andrew's to host the 1907 FA Cup semifinal between The Wednesday and Woolwich Arsenal; Wednesday won 3–1, and went on to win the tournament. This was the first FA Cup tie to be played at the ground, as Birmingham had lost their opening match away from home. Three more semifinals took place at St Andrew's before the Second World War, in 1911, 1924 and 1934. The club bought the freehold of the ground in 1921 for a price believed to be less than £7,000 (£ today). In the 1930s, roofs were erected over the Kop and Railway End terraces, and in February 1939, the ground attendance record of 66,844 or 67,341, was set at the fifth-round FA Cup tie against Everton. Wartime During the First World War, the club supported the war effort by allowing the ground to be used as a rifle range for military training. On the outbreak of the Second World War, all outdoor sport was banned by the Government until safety implications could be assessed. When football resumed a few weeks later, Birmingham's Chief Constable ordered the ground's closure because of its proximity to air-raid targets such as the BSA munitions factories. The matter was first raised in Parliament in November 1939, but the Home Secretary felt unable to intervene. By March 1940, when St Andrew's had for some time been the only football ground in England still closed, the Chief Constable bowed to public pressure, and a crowd of 13,241 witnessed Birmingham's first home game in more than six months. In 1941, St Andrew's suffered 20 direct hits from Luftwaffe bombing, which destroyed the roof of the Kop, badly damaged the Railway End, and forced the team to play elsewhere. It was therefore a surprising choice of venue for a wartime international match between England and Wales; on safety grounds, spectators were required to purchase tickets in advance, and numbers were limited to 25,000. Three months later, the Main Stand, which was being used as a temporary National Fire Service station, burned down, destroying the club's records and equipment"not so much as a lead pencil was saved from the wreckage"when a fireman mistook a bucket of petrol for water when intending to damp down a brazier. The