Why is Abide With you sung at the FA Cup Final?

Answer 1

The singing of Henry Lyte's famous hymn "Abide With Me" has been part of FA Cup Final tradition since 1927.

That year's Final between Arsenal and Cardiff City was only the fifth at what was then the "new" Wembley Stadium. King George V and Queen Mary attended in those days and "Abide With Me" was known to be one of their favourite hymns. FA secretary Sir Frederick Wall arranged for it to be included on the songsheet.

It was the year in which community singing was introduced into the pre-match programme. The first conductor was TP Ratcliffe, who became famous as "The Man in White". He was followed after World War Two by Arthur Caiger, a London headmaster, and then by Frank Rea, who continued until the 1970s.

The melancholy words to "Abide With Me" were written by Henry Francis Lyte, a Devon vicar, in 1847. He completed them on the same day as he delivered his last sermon at the "All Saints" parish church in Brixham. Three weeks later, then in his mid-50s, he died of tuberculosis.

The hymn has become part of the ritual of Cup Final Day. Its deep, stirring sound seems to knit together different loyalties and backgrounds, providing a moment of unity before the battle to come.

"Hold now your cross before my closing eyes,

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies,

Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee,

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me."