On this day in 1992, Sunderland booked our place at Wembley by defeating Norwich 1-0 at Hillsborough in the FA Cup semi-final.
Nineteen years after our previous match in the last four of the famous old competition, and again as a second division outfit, we headed to Sheffield with our tickets clutched tightly to our chests. Obtaining them had been a real pain for many, with overnight queues around Roker descending into chaos prior to the turnstiles opening for sales, but we were at Hillsborough for the first of ten competitive matches in April. We’d started our cup run with a comfortable home win over Port Vale thanks to goals from Brian Atkinson and one each from our cup forward pairing of Davenport and Byrne. Away at Oxford in the fourth round, the home side featured Andy Melville, and Atky and Byrne were on target again, with our middle goal coming from Paul Hardyman before two late Oxford strikes made it a nervy 3-2 finish. There was a home draw with West Ham (Byrne again) before a Byrne brace and one from David Rush produced another 3-2 away win. That took us to the quarter finals, and a foul on Norman at Stamford Bridge snuck Chelsea a lucky draw (Byrne again), before Goalden Gordon’s finest hour with that header in the replay. Giant killers!
For some reason, there was a one and a half mile alcohol-free zone around Hillsborough the day of the match. There was hardly an undercurrent of vicious hatred between the two clubs – there had even been a Friendship Cup, the winners being the side with the aggregate league win, since our dead pally match in 1985 in the League Cup Final. We thought their fans were alright, they thought our fans were alright - so that’s all right then. No, it wasn’t, according to the powers that be, so no drinks, no socialising, no enjoyment if they could help it.
Of course, we found a pub only too happy to sell us beer, and let us stand outside in the sun and crack on with the Norwich lads who’d found it as well. It was a bit rough (the first question in the pub quiz was “Who’s tha looking at?”) but it was ready, they made us welcome, and we were ready for the game. While not as intense as the Chelsea replay, it was some game. We were perched right at the back of what had been the Kop, and, it being made ready for the installation of seats, the steps were high and the view spectacular.
Norman
Kay Ball Rogan Hardyman
Rush Atkinson Bracewell © Armstrong
Davenport Byrne
...with Benno and Keiron Brady on the bench.
We attacked the Leppings Lane end, and the game was a bit touch and go in terms of chances, but it produced another one of those moments that stays in your memory bank, filed under football, and ready to replay itself at the drop of a red and white hat. Just after the half hour, Rushy’s through ball found Atky, who produced a pass-on-a-plate type cross, and Johnny Byrne wrote himself into Sunderland folklore by stooping to nod it home and maintain his record of scoring in every round. It was down the far end, but we all saw it building up and we all saw it go in – including the usual smattering of Wearsiders in the Norwich end. We kept ourselves ahead until the break with some resolute defending, helped by le Brace organising the midfield to restrict opportunities for the Canaries. The second half was more of the same, with us naturally worrying that one goal wouldn’t be enough. After an hour Bally left the field with Benno replacing him at the heart of the defence. Things stayed tight, but Benno carried on where Bally left off, keeping Chris Sutton quiet (if only he could shut him up now) and Hardyman was generally on top of the pacey Ruel Fox – who got a bit irritated and was booked. Tony Norman wasn’t going to let anything past him, and the win was probably more comfortable than it felt. At the final whistle, our end erupted, the fans stayed behind to laud the team and caretaker manager Malcolm Crosby – 1973 all over again, but with a roof on.
