How Arsenal threw a last ditch effort at Manchester United to clinch the 1979 FA Cup
In 1979 after having lost the previous 1978 FA Cup Final 1-0 to Ipswich Town, Arsenal were finally ready to take the Cup back to North London after heroically beating Manchester United 3-2 in the final.
The Gunners commenced their FA Cup run at home to what would turn out to be a relentless Third Division Sheffield Wednesday, to start off with they drew 1-1 with Alan Sunderland scoring to ensure the tie went back to Highbury. Three days later The Gunners struggled to overturn Wednesday again with the match finishing 1-1 with Liam Brady netting for Arsenal. Within five days the two were at it again at Filbert Street where a 2-2 draw was achieved in extra time. Brady and Sunderland scored both times to ensure a third replay was held.
The tie would go to extra-time again at Filbert Street where with two crucial strikes from Stapleton kept Arsenal in the cup for a record fourth replay following a 3-3 draw. Whilst at the same venue for the third time in less than two weeks The Gunners finally made the most of their ammunition with youngster Steve Gatting who would later feature in the 1983 FA Cup final for Brighton scoring alongside in-form Stapleton.
A week later towards the end of a jammed pack January The Gunners hosted a more docile Second Division opposition in Notts County for the fourth round. With Willie Young who had previously played for arch rivals Tottenham scored and Brian Ernest Talbot put The Gunners in the FA Cup fifth round ballot, where they would face Brian Cloughs Nottingham Forest.
Forest was a tough opposition who were looking to retain their league title and would later beat Malmo in 1979 in the European Cup Final. At the City Ground 120 miles away The Gunners fought hard for a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest all due to Stapleton strike who was so far Arsenals FA Cup savour.
In the quarter-finals Arsenal took a trip to the Dell at Southampton to face a stubborn side who put up an even greater fight than forest. After 90 minutes Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw with the Saints where their fifth replay already during the competition was contested at Highbury, Sunderland grabbed goals on either side of the half-time whistle as Arsenal triumphed 2-0 three days fast forward.
The Gunners were now only one win off of Wembley where in the semi-final they came eye to eye with Wolverhampton Wanderers at neutral ground Villa Park. The First Division strugglers who later avoided the drop that season by less than ten points were beaten fair and square in the second half witnessing fine finishes from Stapleton and Sunderland.
The Gunners were at Wembley for a second year in a row where they had the chance to put to bed the previous year’s final defeat to Ipswich Town. Arsenal raced into the lead against Manchester United with Talbot scoring after only 12 minutes, with only two minutes till the interval Stapleton fired in what would be his sixth goal of the competition doubling Arsenals advantage. The Gunners looked certain of victory with four minutes left of the final but in the space of three minutes Gordon McQueen and Samuel Baxter Mcllroy scored to equalise and take the game to nearly extra-time. But in the final moments of the game Sunderland popped up and sealed Arsenals 3-2 victory under manager Terry Neil.
Arsenal would appear at Wembley again the following year but would suffer from the jaws of defeat in the Cup Final losing narrowly 1-0 to West Ham.
Liam Harding
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Good article…I hate it when people call the 1979 Cup final the ’10 minute ‘ final. We completely outplayed MU for 80 minutes but that all seems to be forgotten because of the final few minutes when MU somehow scored those 2 goals. We then had the courage to get that last minute winner thanks to Brady, Rix and Sunderland but despite our play for most of the game our performance gets overlooked because of those last few minutes.