Underdogs and last-ditch goals at a sun-drenched Wembley

Sunderland players celebrate with the FA Cup after beating Leeds United 1-0 in the 1973 final. Picture: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

The glory years of the FA Cup final stir memories of a sun-drenched Wembley packed to the rafters and a full day in front of the television.

Giants toppled

Ian Porterfield’s 32nd-minute volley was enough for second-­division Sunderland to topple Don Revie’s mighty Leeds United in 1973.

Leeds, fielding a side packed with internationals, were the ­defending champions and hot favourites to retain the Cup, but Sunderland, thanks to Porterfield and some goalkeeping heroics in the second half from Jim Montgomery, defied the odds to become the first second-tier club to lift the Cup in 42 years.

This was the first Cup final I can really remember watching, and the image of the jubilant Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe, prancing across the pitch in trilby hat and mackintosh at fulltime to celebrate with Montgomery, remains with me to this day.

Five-minute final

Arsenal looked comfortable with a 2-0 lead at halftime against Manchester United in the 1979 final, and the Gunners were still two up with five minutes of regular time left when all hell let loose.

United centre half Gordon McQueen pulled one back from a set-piece in the 86th minute, and two minutes later Sammy McIlroy equalised to put the Red Devils in the box seat for the seemingly inevitable extra time.

But from the restart Graham Rix floated a ball across the United box from the left-hand side. Goalkeeper Gary Bailey came out, flapped and missed, and Alan Sunderland slid in at the back post to steer the ball home for a last-minute winner for the Gunners.

Ossie’s dream

“They can’t stop ’em, the boys from Tottenham, the boys from White Hart Lane…”

Tottenham’s Cup final record for 1981 (it was a thing back then) was Ossie’s Dream by cockney duo Chas and Dave, honouring Spurs’ Argentine star Osvaldo Ardiles. But it was Tottenham’s other Argentine import Ricky Villa who stole the show against Manchester City in the 1981 replay, after the two sides had finished 1-1 five days earlier.

Villa had opened the scoring early in the game only for Spurs to be quickly pegged back before City took the lead with a penalty soon after halftime.

Spurs drew level on 70 minutes through Garth Crooks and then six minutes later, Villa picked the ball up outside the penalty area, danced his way into the box through a handful of defenders, beat a couple more when he cut back inside on his right foot and fired the winner past City keeper Joe Corrigan. In 2001 it was voted Wembley goal of the century.

There were 100,000 fans at Wembley for the 1-1 draw on the Saturday afternoon, and 92,000 turned up on a Thursday night to watch the replay. Heady days…

Almost all Wright

The 1990 final was a ding-dong thriller between Manchester United and Crystal Palace, who had only been promoted to the top flight 12 months previously.

United led 2-1 by the time Palace brought on substitute striker Ian Wright in the 73rd minute. Wright had missed the semi-final because he was still recovering from a broken leg but Palace decided to gamble for the final and had included him on their bench.

Not a bad roll of the dice, because just three minutes after coming on, Wright cut in from the left edge of the box and steered the ball across United keeper Jim Leighton to equalise and ultimately send the match into extra time.

Two minutes into the first period Wright popped up on the far post and volleyed home a cross to put the underdogs ahead.

There was no supersub fairytale though, Mark Hughes equalised for United to send the match to a replay, which United won 1-0 to earn their seventh FA Cup win.

Crazy Gang rules

Twelve months after Coventry City, appearing in their first-ever domestic cup final, had beaten Tottenham 3-2, the magic of the Cup threw up another David and Goliath contest for the 1988 final.

Wimbledon, who had only been in the top flight for two seasons, faced newly crowned division-one champions Liverpool, the dominant side of the decade.

Wimbledon had only climbed out of non-league football 11 years previously, but the so-called Crazy Gang were by no means overawed by their illustrious ­opponents.

I remember watching the game on a fuzzy TV set in a French bar inhabited by Dutch people and, bizarrely, one Wimbledon fan.

A Lawrie Sanchez header in the 37th minute put the Dons ahead and then they withstood a barrage from Liverpool, who had a goal disallowed and a second-half penalty saved by Wimbledon goalkeeper Dave Beasant.

The 1-0 win inspired one of TV commentator John Motson’s finest lines: “The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club.”