This season marks the 50th anniversary of Sunderland's famous FA Cup triumph of 1973, when Bob Stokoe's side wrote their names into footballing folklore. Sunderland won English football's most prestigious cup competition when they beat Don Revie's then-mighty Leeds United at Wembley to get their hands on the trophy - the last team from the North East to do so.
Stokoe's stars that brought the cup back to Wearside is revered to this day, with players such as Jimmy Montgomery, Ian Porterfield, Dave Watson, Dennis Tueart, and Bobby Kerr, regarded as club legends. That glorious moment beneath the Twin Towers came on May 5, but Sunderland's route to the final began way back in January at the County Ground against 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.
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.
Next up was a quarter-final clash with Luton Town at Roker Park, and we pick up the story 50 years to the day since that game.
READ MORE: Dan Ballard on Sunderland's response after 'hard to take' moment against Sheffield United
Sunderland 2-0 Luton Town
FA Cup sixth round
Saturday, March 17, 1973
If Sunderland's takedown of favourites Manchester City in the fifth round was all about the glamour of the FA Cup, it was back to the grind when Second Division Luton Town arrived on Wearside. But what the draw lacked in glitz, it more than made up for in terms of opportunity with the last two remaining sides from outside the top flight paired together in the quarter-final.
It guaranteed that the semi-finals would not be an all-First Division affair, and it meant that both Sunderland and Luton fancied their chances of making it through to the last four. In Sunderland's case, they were bidding to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1956, while the Hatters had not been there since 1959 when they eventually ended up as losing finalists.
The previous week, the sides had met in the league at Kenilworth Road and promotion-chasing Luton won 1-0 against Sunderland, who were still just above the relegation zone, to complete a league double against the Wearsiders. For the league game at Luton, Bob Stokoe had made six changes to the side that had beaten Man City with Dennis Tueart, Billy Hughes, Bobby Kerr, Dick Malone, Micky Horswill, and Ritchie Pitt all rested, but all returned for the cup match.
The excitement around Sunderland's cup run had snowballed and more than 53,000 turned out at Roker Park to watch the quarter-final - 2,000 more, officially at least, than for the fifth round replay against Man City. Harry Haslam's Luton arrived having yet to concede a goal in the cup, and having seen off Crewe, Newcastle United, and Bolton Wanderers, to reach the last eight.
Their celebrity fan Eric Morecambe, one half of the great Morecambe & Wise, opted not to travel to the North East, with the team having lost every time he had watched them away from home that season. The BBC Match of the Day cameras were at Roker Park, and before kick-off Jimmy Montgomery was presented with a gold watch by chairman Keith Collings as the goalkeeper made his 453rd start for the club, surpassing the record previously held by Len Ashurst.
Monty celebrated the occasion with a clean sheet, while Sunderland's goals came from two second-half set-pieces. Dave Watson headed them in front from a Kerr corner on 52 minutes, and the second arrived eight minutes from time when a corner from Hughes was headed down by Pitt and Ron Guthrie turned and fired home from six yards.
For the first time in their cup run, Sunderland had booked their place in the next round at the first time of asking. But while the draw took place two days later, they had to wait an extra 24 hours to discover who they would face in the semi-final.
They were paired with either Arsenal or Chelsea, who had drawn 2-2 in their initial meeting at Stamford Bridge, before the Gunners went on to win the replay 2-1 at Highbury. The date was set: Sunderland would face Arsenal - who were second in the First Division and fighting for the title - at Hillsborough in the semi-final, and they were potentially only 90 minutes from their first Wembley final since 1937.
Sunderland: Montgomery, Malone, Guthrie, Horswill, Watson, Pitt, Kerr, Hughes, Halom, Porterfield, Tueart. Sub not used: Young
Luton Town: Barber, John Ryan, Thomson, Shanks, Garner, Moore, Jim Ryan, Anderson, Busby, Hindson, Aston (Hales 70)
Referee: Jack Taylor (Wolverhampton)
Attendance: 53,151
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- Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom has his say on 'harsh' offside call which downed Sunderland
- Sunderland need 'a few transfer windows' to close the gap on Sheffield United, says Tony Mowbray
- Tony Mowbray says referee's apology means little as Sunderland suffer consequences of bad decision
