It's 50 years next month since Sunderland's famous FA Cup win in 1973, when Bob Stokoe's side lifted the trophy at Wembley. Second Division Sunderland stunned the footballing world when they beat Don Revie's then-mighty Leeds United side in the shadow of the Twin Towers to become the last team from the North East to win English football's premier cup competition.
That Sunderland team is still lionised on Wearside to this day, with players Bobby Kerr, Jimmy Montgomery, Dave Watson, Ian Porterfield, and Dennis Tueart writing themselves not only into the club's history books, but also into the folklore of the FA Cup. Sunderland got their hands on the tropy in May, but their route to the final began four months earlier in January with a low-key tie at Third Division Notts County when the fans could not have dreamed of the glory that lay ahead.
ChronicleLive has been retracing every step of Sunderland's journey to Wembley, 50 years on. They needed two attempts to see off the Magpies in the third round, remembered in part one and part two of our series.
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Their fourth round tie against Charlie Hurley's Fourth Division Reading also went to a replay, with the initial tie ending in a draw at Roker Park as recalled in part three before they got the job done at Elm Park as recalled here in part four. And they kept up their run of replays in the fifth round, as they drew against star-studded First Division side Manchester City at Maine Road, covered here in part five, to bring Malcolm Allison's side back to Wearside for one of the most memorable nights that Roker Park has ever seen, recalled in part six.
Sunderland's sixth round win against Luton Town at Roker Park is remembered in part seven. Next up was the semi-final against Arsenal at Hillsborough and we pick up the story 50 years to the day since that game.
Sunderland 2-1 Arsenal
Hillsborough
FA Cup semi-final
Saturday, April 7, 1973
Sunderland's semi-final clash against Arsenal was classic FA Cup David-against-Goliath stuff.
Bertie Mee's Gunners were second in the First Division, they were bidding to complete a second league and cup double in the space of three seasons, were aiming to become the first team to reach three successive FA Cup finals since West Bromwich Albion in the 1880s.
By contrast, when the draw was made Sunderland were 18th in the Second Division, just two points above the relegation zone - albeit with several games in hand of their rivals - and had not been to a Wembley final since 1937.
Between the draw and the semi-final itself, Sunderland had played four league games in 13 days and picked up seven points from a possible eight to move up to 13th in the table and put seven points between themselves and the relegation places, but they were still in the bottom half of the second tier and there was still a huge gulf between Bob Stokoe's side and title-chasing Arsenal.
As soon as the draw was made, the bookmakers had installed Arsenal as 11-8 favourites to lift the cup, with Leeds United second favourites at 6-4.
Back in the days before semi-finals were played at Wembley, the FA picked Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough home as the neutral venue for Sunderland's game against Arsenal, while the other semi would see Leeds face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Manchester City's Maine Road ground.
With both Sunderland and Arsenal usually playing in red and white, they each opted to change with Stokoe's side wearing all white and Mee's men wearing yellow.
Sunderland's FA Cup starting line-up was already settled, with the team that started the fifth round draw at Manchester City remaining constant for the replay at Roker Park, and then the sixth round win at home against Luton, and now for the semi-final.
Sunderland made an excellent start, and went in front after 19 minutes when Arsenal centre-back Jeff Blockley made a mess of an attempted backpass intended for Bob Wilson and Vic Halom chased after it, knocking it past the goalkeeper and then bundling into the empty net in front of the Kop end housing the Wearside contingent who could scarcely believe their eyes.
The Gunners hit the post through George Armstrong in the first half and Jimmy Montgomery also made a crucial save from a deflected Armstrong strike, but Sunderland were the better team and on another day Halom might have had a hat-trick before the break.
As it was, they doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Bobby Kerr's throw-in was flicked-on by Dennis Tueart and Billy Hughes' flick header looped over Wilson who could only help it into the net, and there was another explosion of noise from Sunderland fans at the opposite end of the ground.
Six minutes from the end, Charlie George pulled a goal back for Arsenal to give his side hope but Sunderland stood firm.
The final whistle went and Sunderland fans poured onto the pitch to celebrate with their team, with the players struggling to reach the sanctuary of the tunnel.
Those Sunderland supporters - thousands of them - were in no mood to move until Stokoe eventually re-emerged from the dressing room to acknowledge them, and the man dubbed the 'Messiah' stood there with tears in his eyes as he blew kisses to the fans.
Sunderland were heading back to the Twin Towers after a 36-year hiatus since they last lifted the cup.
Meanwhile, 35 miles away on the other side of the Pennines, Don Revie's Leeds had beaten Wolves 1-0 in the other sem-final, with captain Billy Bremner scoring the goal.
Wembley awaited. The stage was set.
Sunderland: Montgomery, Malone, Guthrie, Horswill, Watson, Pitt, Kerr, Hughes, Halom, Porterfield, Tueart. Sub not used: Chambers
Arsenal: Wilson, Rice, McNab, Storey, Blockley (Radford 55), Simpson, Armstrong, Ball, George, Kennedy, Kelly
Referee: David Smith (Gloucestershire)
Attendance: 55,000
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