So, what’s your special FA Cup final moment?
Perhaps you don’t have one and have not been fortunate enough to see your team at Wembley on the finest occasion of them all.
However, for me, virtually every football fan will have at least one special moment from the greatest cup competition in the world.
Even if their own side is not involved, there will likely be a set of FA Cup highlights which spring to mind and make them smile.
I can still remember my very first Panini sticker book, reading about all the FA Cup finals to the point where I’d wager I could still name the winner and runner-up in every final since 1970.
What makes the heart beat that bit quicker though?
Well, for a start, whenever I see Norman Whiteside’s quite brilliant winner for 10-man Manchester United against Everton in 1985.
I hadn’t quite started following football by then, less still when Ricky Villa produced his own magic moment for Spurs to see off Manchester City in the 1981 replay. Yet it is still lodged firmly in the memory bank.
The first final I ever watched was the all-Merseyside affair in 1986 and I remember being thrilled when Coventry City, Keith Houchen, John Sillett et al inspired the Sky Blues to the most famous day in their history a year later.
I was on an aeroplane coming back from a school trip when the pilot announced, to my absolute joy, that Wimbledon had shocked Liverpool and the world in 1988.
It was the day commentator John Motson famously declared that the ‘Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club’.
1991 was all about Gazza and Brian Clough – although the day didn’t really end as either wanted.
I was personally overjoyed in 1994 when my beloved Manchester United completed the illustrious league and cup double for the first time and then, was very subdued a year later when the blue half of Merseyside ended our hopes of retaining the trophy.
Other games which form part of football folklore and that I can recall – even ones long before I was born – include a last-minute penalty winning the cup for Preston in 1938, Cardiff becoming the only team outside of England to win the competition in 1927, Everton fighting back from 2-0 down to see off Sheffield Wednesday in 1966, THAT Jim Montgomery save for Sunderland against the then mighty Leeds in 1973, Charlie George winning the double for Arsenal two years earlier, Nat Lofthouse bringing joy to Bolton against a Manchester United side reeling from the Munich tragedy and, of course, in 1953, what became known as the Stan Matthews final as English football’s first gentleman won the trophy at the ripe old age of 38.
I wonder how many people looking back reading this know that it was actually another Stanley, Mortensen, who was the hero of that game with a hat-trick for Blackpool in a 4-3 success.
Or even realise that Bolton were 3-1 up before effectively having to play the final 20 minutes with nine men due to injury and the fact there were no substitutes in those days.
The FA Cup has changed in so many ways, but as a fan, my cup still overflows and the magic still exists.
If there is anything finer than seeing your team win the showpiece of the football season on a sunny afternoon at Wembley, I can’t think of it off the top of my head.
To more modern times and I can’t let this opportunity pass without mentioning Wigan, just three days before they were relegated, claiming the scalp of mega-rich Manchester City on another occasion for the ages.
And then there’s Leicester City’s wonderful triumph three years ago as crowds, albeit on a limited basis, were allowed to return to football after the Covid pandemic – and my word did they make some noise!
There have been classic moments in every decade going back for more than a century, but I leave you with two.
It was 100 years last year since the very first FA Cup final at Wembley when Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham 2-0 in what has universally become known as the ‘White Horse Final’.
The official attendance that day was reported to be in the region of 126,000 but, the story goes, it was well over that – in fact, considerably well over that in the region of 200,000.
I bet very few people alive today can recite Bolton’s victorious team from that final, but I can.
That is because my grandad, an avid Bolton fan and 10 years-old at the time, always recited it to me at bedtime when I stayed over!
My other special memory, and this was a game I did see, was in 1996.
I had the pleasure of watching on television with my grandad and the sheer elation I felt when Eric Cantona scored the winning goal four minutes from time, and then when I looked over at him as I celebrated, will live with me forever.
Memories are made of this.
Ps – Don’t forget to check out the SBOTOP FA Cup betting odds ahead of this month’s all-Manchester final.
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