It's 50 years since Sunderland's fabled 1973 FA Cup triumph at Wembley, when Bob Stokoe's feted side wrote their names into footballing history. The final in May of that year saw Sunderland become the last team to bring the famous old trophy to the North-East, when they pulled off an incredible shock to defeat Don Revie's Leeds United beneath the Twin Towers.
It was the year that stars such as Ian Porterfield, Dennis Tueart, Jimmy Montgomery, Dave Watson, and Bobby Kerr, became Wearside legends. But while the final was the culmination of their cup run, Sunderland's road to Wembley began back in January at Third Division Notts County, and ChronicleLive has been retracing their journey every step of the way 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. 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.
But it was the fifth round where their cup run really took off, as they faced Manchester City and we pick up their quest 50 years to the day since they visited Maine Road.
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Manchester City 2-2 Sunderland
FA Cup fifth round
Saturday, February 24, 1973
Things were starting to get exciting. After seeing off Third Division Notts County in the third round and Fourth Division Reading in the fourth - and needing a replay in both cases - Sunderland had earned a glamour tie in the last 16 at First Division Manchester City.
Malcolm Allison's City had finished joint-second in the top flight the season before, were sitting eighth in the table when Sunderland arrived in town, had beaten Liverpool after a replay in the previous round, and were the bookies' favourites to lift the cup. Big Mal had been talking all week to the Press about what his side would do to Second Division Sunderland, and it meant Bob Stokoe's team talk was already written for him as the Rokermen arrived at Maine Road.
There was only one change to the side that had beaten Reading in the fourth round replay, with new signing Vic Halom starting up front which allowed Dave Watson to return to his usual place in defence. Dave Young was the man who missed out having suffered a bad ankle injury in a league game against Sheffield Wednesday, but his bad luck handed Ritchie Pitt a second chance as he was recalled from his loan spell at Arsenal after only three days with the Gunners.
Pitt had thought his outing against Reading marked the end of his Sunderland career, but instead he was back at his hometown club and - after earning his first league start under Stokoe in defence alongside Watson ast they routed Middlesbrough 4-0 at Roker Park the previous week - now he was facing City. Sunderland took more than 10,000 fans to the blue half of Manchester, and their numbers in the away end were further swelled by a contingent of Manchester United fans who were looking for a game to watch as a frozen pitch had led to their match at Old Trafford being postponed.
City went in front on the quarter-hour when Mike Summerbee's cross was knocked by Mike Doyle to Tony Towers just outside the box, and his shot beat Jimmy Montgomery. A mistake from City keeper Joe Corrigan saw him play a short free-kick to Willie Donachie, and Micky Horswill intercepted before going on to level the scores with 36 minutes on the clock.
And the turnaround was complete midway through the second half when Dick Malone and Dennis Tueart combined with latter releasing Billy Hughes, who reached the edge of the City box before beating Corrigan with a powerful shot. There was another twist four minutes later, however, when Montgomery palmed a Summerbee corner into his own net and despite Sunderland's protests that Montgomery was being fouled by Rodney Marsh, the goal stood.
Either side could have won it after that, and Sunderland were helped when Towers was sent off for a second bookable offence eight minutes from the end, but ultimately it finished all-square meaning they would have to do it all over again at Roker Park three days later. The replay was designated an all-ticket match and the queues began forming on Saturday night.
By 9am on Sunday morning, an estimated 15,000 people were waiting in a line around the ground and that stretched into nearby streets, and by mid-afternoon the 49,000 home allocation had sold out. It would be worth the wait.
Manchester City: Corrigan, Book, Donachie, Doyle (Mellor 74), Booth, Jeffries, Summerbee, Bell, Marsh, Lee, Towers
Sunderland: Montgomery, Malone, Guthrie, Horswill, Watson, Pitt, Kerr, Hughes, Halom, Porterfield, Tueart. Sub not used: Chambers
Referee: Ray Tinkler (Lincolnshire)
Attendance: 54,478
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