Ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final between Arsenal and Hull City, Nick Miller charts 10 of the competition's most enthralling showpieces.
10. Wanderers 1-0 Royal Engineers, 1872
The first FA Cup final, played between two clubs that symbolise pre-1900 football, was a curious affair, not least because due to a quirk in the rules Wanderers reached the final having won just one game. Engineers were famous for what was known as "the combination game," which today we would simply refer to as "passing," but back then this was considered the highest of tactical sophistication when most other teams relied on dribbling and pushing their opponents over in the mud. Despite a total of 15 forwards being used in the match, the two teams could produce only one goal, scored after 15 minutes by Morton Betts, who was playing under the pseudonym "A.H. Chequer" for some reason, although fellow forward Thomas Hoosman later claimed he had in fact scored the goal. Wanderers were given a bye directly through to the following year's final, and would go on to win six of the first nine cups, before eventually ceasing to be in 1887.
9. Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool, 2001
Would it be too harsh to describe this as a mugging? "Deservedly a goal up through Fredrik Ljungberg with only 18 minutes remaining, Arsenal seemed to be coasting to victory," was how the Daily Telegraph described the 2001 final, the first to be held at the Millennium Stadium after the old Wembley had been demolished. Arsenal were the better team throughout, and took the lead in the 72nd minute through Ljungberg, only for Michael Owen, on his way to winning the Ballon d'Or, to snatch the trophy away from them with two late goals. "It was obvious that we should have won, and we had a clear penalty turned down, but this the story of our season," said manager Arsene Wenger, not entirely graciously, after the final whistle. Liverpool, who had already won the League Cup earlier that year, would go on to complete the "plastic treble" by lifting the UEFA Cup, as well.
8. Everton 3-2 Sheffield Wednesday, 1966
A couple of months before that other big game at Wembley, Everton and Sheffield Wednesday served up a corker beneath the twin towers. Wednesday had avoided relegation by only three points that year, and stormed ahead early on, Jim McCalliog scoring after just four minutes, a lead that was doubled just before the hour mark. However, the Everton comeback began a couple of minutes later as Mike Trebilcock, a youngster who was only playing because established forward Fred Pickering wasn't fit, first pulled one back then equalised five minutes later. This second goal inspired a one-man pitch invasion by Everton fan Eddie Kavanagh, with assorted policemen chasing him around the field in slapstick fashion, one of them losing their helmet which the Toffees' Brian Harris donned. What japes. When that excitement was over, winger Derek Temple was set through on goal and fired fiercely into the corner, giving Everton the win and their first FA Cup in 33 years.
7. Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool, 1977
The Manchester United vs. Liverpool rivalry wasn't quite as intense or poisonous as it has become in recent years, but even back in the 1970s, these two did not like each other. Liverpool were on for an extraordinary treble, having already secured the First Division title and were due to face Borussia Moenchengladbach in the European Cup final five days after playing United at Wembley. The first half was largely uneventful, but after the interval things got going with all three goals coming inside five minutes not long after the break. Stuart Pearson gave United the lead, but Jimmy Case levelled two minutes later, only for a Lou Macari shot to hit Jimmy Greenhoff on the chest and loop into the net, denying Liverpool the feat that United themselves would achieve some 22 years later.
6. Liverpool 3-3 West Ham, 2006
People often wonder why Rafa Benitez is revered so much at Liverpool, but one only has to think of the emotional impact that the two finals in a year he took them to and won, to gain some understanding of his stature. A year after they had won the Champions League in extraordinary circumstances, Liverpool once again had to come from behind in a final, after West Ham went 2-0 then 3-1 up, goals from Dean Ashton, a mis-hit Paul Konchesky cross and a Jamie Carragher own goal seemingly putting Benitez's side in another impossible position. Steven Gerrard pulled one back by volleying home from a Peter Crouch knock-down, then in the 91st minute the ball once again broke to the Liverpool captain, and he rifled the ball home from 30 yards, later admitting that he only took the shot because he was suffering from a cramp and couldn't really run. Extra time passed with no goals, so just like in Istanbul it went to penalties, Pepe Reina saving three of them to give his side the cup, and earn him his reputation as the go-to man for any shootout.
Everyone supports an underdog, and in the early 1970s basically everyone supported whichever team was playing "dirty" Leeds, holders and perhaps the most disliked team in the country because of their rather "rambunctious" style of play. Therefore, you would probably struggle to find anyone outside Leeds or Newcastle that didn't want Sunderland, at that point in the Second Division, to win the FA Cup final. There are a couple of iconic images from that day, one being Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe, clad in trilby and overcoat, dashing onto the pitch at the final whistle and holding his players aloft. The other is the astonishing performance of Jimmy Montgomery in the Mackems' goal, defying Leeds with a number of brilliant saves, most notably a near-miraculous double effort from first Trevor Cherry then Peter Lorimer. Ian Porterfield scored the only goal of the game, and in the words of the great Brian Moore, "the unbelievable" had happened at Wembley.
4. Tottenham 3-2 Manchester City, 1981
Ricky Villa was a pretty anonymous figure during the first attempt at the 1981 FA Cup final, so much so that Tottenham manager Keith Burkenshaw used his one precious substitution to replace the Argentine, who shuffled dejected down the Wembley tunnel upon his withdrawal. After that game ended in a 1-1 draw, Tommy Hutchinson famously scoring at both ends, Villa was seemingly determined to set things right, and boy did he, opening the scoring after just eight minutes of the replay. City equalised then took the lead through Steve MacKenzie and Kevin Reeves, before Garth Crooks levelled things for Spurs. "Sometimes it feels like I only played one match and only ever scored one goal," said Villa some years later, but what a goal it was, slaloming around four defenders before tucking the ball past Joe Corrigan in the City goal.
3. Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United, 1979
The nostalgic image many have of FA Cup finals now is of a sunny day, of players running themselves into the ground with socks around their ankles, that famous old Wembley pitch somehow sapping the energy more than others, and of goals flying in at either end. Nostalgic images are barely ever based in reality, apart from in this case, because all of that happened in the frantic cup final of 1979. Sometimes known as the "Five Minute Final," Arsenal went 2-0 up in the first half through Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton, and it stayed that way until the 86th minute, when United somehow equalised through Gordon McQueen and Sammy McIlroy. The joy didn't last especially long, for with seconds remaining Alan Sunderland, resplendent in bubble perm and moustache, stretched to turn a Graham Rix cross into the net at the far post, sealing a remarkable victory. "It was like winning the pools only to find you hadn't posted your coupon," said McIlroy of United's near but so far comeback.
2. Liverpool 3-2 Everton, 1989
In some respects it's astonishing that the FA Cup final even happened in 1989. After the Hillsborough disaster, Liverpool was a city in shock, but they somehow managed to play and win the rearranged semifinal against Nottingham Forest, setting up an extraordinary Merseyside final against Everton. In fact, despite the tragedy occurring at a football match, the game was probably the easiest way for most to escape, to quell the pain. "We listened closely to the players, who had been in close contact with the relatives of the deceased," Liverpool chairman John Smith said at the time. "They convinced us that an overwhelming majority of people in Liverpool wanted the match played." John Aldridge scored after just four minutes, and Liverpool held onto their lead until the final kick of normal time when Everton substitute Stuart McCall equalised, sending the game into extra time. Liverpool's own sub, Ian Rush, then gave them the lead, putting away a Steve Nicol pass, only for McCall to equalise again, but then Rush headed in a superb John Barnes cross, and Liverpool had won. "This game has meant more to me than any other game in which I've been involved," said Kenny Dalglish afterwards. "It was an emotional experience, one that gave me a deep sense of happiness."
This game was, of course, known as the Matthews Final, and everyone bemoans the lack of credit Stan Mortenson got for scoring a hat trick, but neither men contributed what turned out to be the vital moment in the game. Nat Lofthouse gave Bolton the lead after just two minutes, before Mortenson equalised, only for the Trotters to score two unanswered to reach the hour mark 3-1 ahead. Then Mortenson scored twice to level the game, and it looked to be heading for extra time. However, in the 92nd minute Stanley Matthews jinked into the box from the right and cut the ball back to Bill Perry, arriving late to sweep home, earning Blackpool the win and Matthews his FA Cup medal. "My mind was cleared of all thoughts of cup medals, scores or minutes," said Matthews after the game. "I just kept on playing -- on and on. It was only when it was all finished that I spoke aloud to myself: 'I've done it at last.'"