Sunderland 1973: the Cup that went to a Second Division side

In the 1972-73 season, Sunderland were not among the elite of English football. They were playing in the Second Division and things were not going well. On November 29, 1972, Bob Stokoe arrived as manager. He had been born in 1930 in Mickley, a village in the county of Northumberland. When he took over, the team had won only four of their first 18 games and were fourth from bottom, close to the relegation zone. Stokoe knew the FA Cup well. As a defender for Newcastle, where he played 261 games, he had won it in 1955 after a 3-1 victory over Manchester City in the final.

With Stokoe in the dugout, the team was transformed. In the FA Cup, they set off on a run nobody expected. Sunderland had not won the trophy since 1937. In the first two rounds they played, they needed replays to get past Notts County and Reading.

The big test came in the fifth round against First Division Manchester City. At Maine Road, Tony Towers put City ahead and Sunderland even went in front, but an own goal by their goalkeeper Jim Montgomery left the game at 2-2. Sunderland won the replay 3-1 at Roker Park, their ground at the time, with two goals from Billy Hughes and one from Vic Halom. In the quarter-finals they beat Luton Town 2-0. In the semi-final, played at Hillsborough, they overcame Arsenal 2-1. For the first time since 1937, Sunderland were back in a cup final.

Waiting for them in the final were Leeds United, the cup holders. Managed by Don Revie, Leeds were one of the strongest teams in England. Hardly anyone gave a Second Division club a chance.

The final was played on May 5, 1973 at Wembley Stadium in London, the English capital. In the first half, from a Billy Hughes corner, Vic Halom chested the ball down and it fell to Ian Porterfield, who shot and made it 1-0. Centre-back Dave Watson, who had gone up for the corner, was also involved in the move. It was the only goal of the game.

The second half produced the most memorable moment of that afternoon. Its protagonist was Jim Montgomery, a goalkeeper born in Sunderland itself, who had joined the club in 1960 and would end his career there as the player with the most appearances in its history: 627. Montgomery parried a close-range header from Trevor Cherry. The rebound fell to Peter Lorimer, who shot from close in, but Montgomery reacted again and turned the ball onto the crossbar. That double save is still cited among the best in history. Decades later, in 2015, Montgomery received the British Empire Medal for services to football.

When the match ended, Bob Stokoe ran across the pitch, in his raincoat and hat, to embrace Montgomery. The image became the symbol of that victory.

Sunderland became the first Second Division side to win the FA Cup since West Bromwich Albion in 1931. They won the trophy again 36 years after their previous triumph, in 1937. The momentum also showed in the league: the team, which had been close to relegation, finished the season in 6th place.

Bob Stokoe died in 2004, aged 73. Today a statue of him, arms raised in mid-run, stands outside the Stadium of Light, the club's current home. For Sunderland fans, 1973 remains proof that in a cup final anything can happen.