The top 10 FA Cup replays of all time

The FA Cup’s great ever replays.

The FA Cup replays took centre stage this midweek and threw up two absolute belters at West Ham on Tuesday and Tottenham on Thursday.

The replay has often been decried in recent years as an inconvenience, but without replays, we would have missed out on ten classic matches like these.

HEREFORD 2 NEWCASTLE 1 (5 February 1972)

Arguably the most famous shock in the competition’s history was actually a third-round replay played on the Saturday of the fourth round.

The match at Edgar Street had been called off three times after the teams had drawn 2-2 at St James’ Park.

Malcolm Macdonald’s late goal looked to have won it for Newcastle only for Ronnie Radford to equalise with that amazing long range shot.

Ricky George won it in extra time to send the non-leaguers through and also catapult young commentator John Motson into the spotlight.

BLYTH SPARTANS 1 WREXHAM 2 (27 February 1978)

The Northumbrian club’s run to this year’s third round brought back memories of their most famous cup run 37 years ago.

The non-leaguers had already accounted for Chesterfield and Stoke to reach the last 16, where they came up against Third Division Wrexham.

Blyth earned a 1-1 draw in North Wales to take it to a replay, which was switched to St James’ Park. That night, 42,000 people crammed in to see if Spartans could reach the last eight.

Wrexham were two up inside 20 minutes and despite pulling one back, the minnows couldn’t find an equaliser. The dream was over, but their efforts went down in folklore.

ARSENAL 1 LIVERPOOL 0 (1 May 1980)

This wasn’t so much a replay, more like a mini-series. This semi-final consisted of four matches played over 20 days at three different grounds.

A goalless draw at Hillsborough was followed by a 1-1 draw at Villa Park in the first replay. The second replay produced the same result at the same venue before the teams met for a third replay at Highfield Road.

Brian Talbot’s goal took Arsenal to Wembley, not that it did them much good. They lost there in the final to Second Division West Ham the last time a team from outside the top flight lifted the trophy.

TOTTENHAM 3 MANCHESTER CITY 2 (14 May 1981)

With FA Cup finals no longer going to replays, we are denied matches like this, which featured two of the greatest goals ever seen at Wembley. The gloves were off here after a dull 1-1 stalemate in the first game.

Ricky Villa scored early on for Spurs, but that was cancelled out by Steve Mackenzie’s sensational volley into the top corner. Kevin Reeves put City ahead only for Garth Crooks to equalise.

That’s when Villa wrote his name into cup legend. Picking the ball up near the left touchline, the Argentine cut inside and weaved his way through City’s tired defenders before finding a finish at the end of it to win the cup in sensational style for Spurs.

EVERTON 4 LIVERPOOL 4 (20 FEBRUARY 1991)

Derbies are always special, but it goes off the scale in the cup, and this was the best of the lot. After a 0-0 at Anfield, the Merseyside clubs played out an incredible replay at Goodison Park.

The visitors went ahead four times, only for the hosts to peg them back every time. Liverpool scored goals of beauty through Peter Beardsley twice, Ian Rush and John Barnes, whereas Everton’s were scruffy.

It didn’t matter, they all counted the same. This turned out to the last match in charge for Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who resigned two days later.

And it got worse for the Reds as Dave Watson’s goal won the second replay, again at Goodison.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 SOUTHAMPTON 2 (4 February 1992)

Before their win at Old Trafford last Sunday, this was Southampton’s most famous visit there in the last 25 years.

Two early goals had put the Saints in front before Sir Alex Ferguson’s men launched a typical comeback with Brian McClair scoring a last-minute equaliser. There were no goals in extra time and so the game went to penalties.

Neil Webb blazed over before Ryan Giggs had his spot-kick saved by Tim Flowers, who embarked on a crazy celebratory run as Southampton went into round five.

United made unwanted history as the first top flight club to be knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties.

BARNSLEY 3 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (25 February 1998)

The South Yorkshire club were enjoying their one-year affair in the Premier League but their best day of that season came in this fifth round replay.

They had come away from Old Trafford with a 1-1 draw and had been denied a clear penalty, which was the subject of a question in the House of Commons.

But any sense of injustice was put to one side as Danny Wilson’s men performed heroically on a Wednesday night at Oakwell.

True, Sir Alex Ferguson picked a weaker United side with names like Nevland, Thornley and Clegg, but who can remember much of Barnsley’s two-goal hero Scott Jones?

The central defender was only playing because of injuries to four other defenders but he headed two goals past the great Peter Schmeichel. In true FA Cup fashion, this was his moment of glory.

ARSENAL 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (14 April 1999)

The definitive FA Cup replay. Two evenly matched teams, passion, a missed penalty, a red card and a never-to-be-forgotten winning goal. Arsenal were going for the double, United were on course for a treble, and something had to give. The first game at Villa Park had been a cagey 0-0, but they exploded into life for the replay three days later. United went in front, Arsenal came back.

The momentum was with them as Reds captain Roy Keane was sent off before Phil Neville conceded a last minute penalty.

Peter Schmeichel saved Dennis Bergkamp’s kick before Ryan Giggs scored a sensational goal in extra time as he zig-zagged his way through the Gunners’ defence and kept United on course for glory.

A good job it was the last ever semi-final replay as you could never top this.

TRANMERE 4 SOUTHAMPTON 3 (20 February 2001)

Tranmere were struggling in the First Division, while Glenn Hoddle’s Southampton were doing very nicely in the Premiership and logic was applied in the first half as the visitors went 3-0 up.

But John Aldridge’s men were cup specialists, having reached the League Cup final the season before.

There was something in the Wirral air and Paul Rideout was suitably inspired as the 36-year-old conjured up a hat-trick to bring Rovers level.

Then Stuart Barlow popped up with an unlikely winner to set up a Merseyside derby in the quarter-finals against Liverpool.

TOTTENHAM 3 MANCHESTER CITY 4 (4 February 2004)

This dramatic replay perfectly captured the ability of these two clubs to veer from the sublime to the ridiculous and vice versa.

Tottenham were seemingly cruising into the fifth round as they sailed into a 3-0 lead at half-time, while Manchester City’s plight got worse when Joey Barton was sent off on the way back to the dressing rooms.

But Spurs and City should never be trusted and it was roles reversed in the second half. Kevin Keegan’s men launched an astonishing comeback and pulled it back to 3-3, before substitute Jon Macken headed the winner in injury time.