Their victory remains the only occasion the trophy, which was previously widely referred to as the "English Cup", has been won by a team based outside England.

The only goal of the game was credited to Cardiff's Hughie Ferguson after his shot slipped out of the hands of Arsenal goalkeeper Dan Lewis, who knocked the ball into the net with his elbow.

Cardiff City began its campaign for the 1926–27 FA Cup with a home game at Ninian Park in front of around 30,000 fans against fellow Football League First Division side Aston Villa in January 1927.

[9] In front of a crowd of 49,465 at Bolton's ground Burnden Park, Cardiff won by two goals to nil, the scorers being Ferguson and Davies.

[3] After an initial goalless draw in the following round against Second Division Chelsea on 5 March, the two sides met again at Ninian Park in a replay five days later.

Additional trains were put on to bring Cardiff fans to Wolverhampton for the match, and there was an expectation that the game would set a new attendance record for the ground.

Reading pressed on initially during the second half, but Cardiff gradually regained domination of play, and Ferguson scored his second of the game in the 70th minute.

Buchan equalised for Arsenal early in the second half, but Port Vale went ahead once more with a goal by Wilf Kirkham via a rebounded shot after Dan Lewis saved the initial penalty.

Both goals came as a result of indirect free kicks in rapid succession, the first a header by Brain, then another by Buchan which the goalkeeper could only clear after it had crossed the line.

The muddy state of the pitch hampered the pace of the play shown by Arsenal,[19] but both Buchan and Hulme scored for The Gunners to Southampton's single response by Bill Rawlings.

[17] Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman held a press conference on 21 April where he announced that Horace Cope was injured and would be unable to play at left back.

He doubted whether Syd Hoar or Alf Baker would be available as both were still recovering from injury, and so he was leaving the selections for both the right half and outside left positions open should they become fit before the game.

[24] The players met at Hendon Hall Hotel on the morning of the match but their travel plans were disrupted when they became stuck in heavy traffic.

[25][26] Cardiff City prepared for the final at Southport, Lancashire, at the Palace Hotel where the squad had stayed ahead of previous rounds.

[22] 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.

[30] The press billed the match as England versus Wales, and noted that among the Welsh fans were many women, including mothers with babies.

[23] The Metropolitan Railway put on additional trains to commute fans from Baker Street station to Wembley Park; one every two minutes.

[31] The Welsh fans made special excursions across London; some travelled to St. Paul's Cathedral, where they sang Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

[32] 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.

[30][33] Police reinforcements were required at Empire Stadium, as at 1 pm a crowd of people had gathered outside the ticket office in a threatening manner.

The hymn has a slightly older association with the FA Cup in that St Luke's Choir sang it as the crowds cleared the pitch ahead of the 1923 final.

Shortly afterwards Arsenal won a free kick and the ball went into Cardiff's penalty area for the first time but was cleared by Tom Watson.

Buchan attempted to return the advantage to Arsenal with a long pass to the left wing for Hoar, but Cardiff City's Jimmy Nelson covered the move.

[34] The Cardiff City victory in the 1927 FA Cup Final remains the only time that the trophy has been won by a team outside England.

[46][47] This was a highlight of the coverage in the press afterwards, the Daily Mirror using the headline "How England's Football Cup Went to Wales",[32] as was the volume of singing that took place during the proceedings.

[48] There was an open air radio broadcast of the match in Cathays Park attended by 15,000 fans, and after the victory the team's colours were strung throughout the city, and local shopkeepers made replicas of the trophy out of butter to display in shop windows.

The team were mobbed at the station with some of the crowd breaking through a police cordon at the entrance before crossing railway lines to greet the players on the platform.

[54] In 2012, a statue of Keenor lifting the FA Cup trophy was erected outside the club's Cardiff City Stadium in commemoration of his side's victory.

[56] The Arsenal goalkeeper Lewis blamed a new jersey for the mistake that resulted in the goal, saying that the wool was greasy and allowed the ball to slip from his grip.

[21] In 1934, Cardiff slipped further and were required to petition the Football Association to allow them to remain in the league after they finished last and were eligible to be removed from the competition.