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Memory Lane — FA Cup Round 4

Games from the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, against Fulham, Gillingham and West Brom from 10, 30 and 40 years ago, remembered from Patrick's programme collection.

Forty Years Ago — 1973-74: FA Cup Round 4

Everton’s reward for beating Blackburn Rovers in the Third Round had been a Fourth Round tie with West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park in what was to be the first time that Goodison had held a competitive fixture on a Sunday. West Brom had a good FA Cup record against the Blues and on the previous occasion that the two sides had met in the competition, Jeff Astle had broken Evertonians hearts when he had scored the winning goal in the third minute of extra-time at Wembley in 1968, in what had been a largely disappointing game.

Although the two sides had only met on four occasions in the FA Cup prior to the FA Cup Final of 1968, each time they had met, one or the other had gone on to reach the Final. The first meeting had taken place on 21 January 1893 at Goodison Park – in what must have been the first FA Cup tie held at the Grand Old Lady. West Bromwich Albion were the cup-holders – they had beaten local rivals Aston Villa (3-0) in the 1892 Final – when they had arrived at Goodison Park, but two goals from Fred Geary and another two from Alex Latta and Alan Maxwell had given Everton the victory (4-1) and the Blues went on to reach their first ever Cup Final but lost out to Wolverhampton Wanderers (0-1) at Fallowfield.

The next meeting with West Brom in the FA Cup had come in 1906 and once again Everton had triumphed (3-1) with the goals having been scored by Harold Hardman, Harry Makepeace and Jack Sharp. This time Everton went on to win the trophy for the first time, by beating Liverpool (2-0) in the Semi-Final at Villa Park, with the goals having been scored by Walter Abbot and Harold Hardman. In the Final against Newcastle United played at Crystal Palace in front of 75,609 people, Alex ‘Sandy’ Young scored the winning goal (1-0) in the 75th minute.

Everton, as the 1906 cup-holders, had once again encountered West Bromwich Albion in the 1907 Semi-Final played at Burnden Park on the 25 March in front of 32,381 fans, WBA had been unhappy at the choice of neutral venue, and perhaps that had helped Everton as they had beaten WBA (2-1) thanks to goals from Jack Sharp and George Wilson. In the 1907 Cup Final, held at Crystal Palace, Everton had lost out to Liverpool’s fourth round conquerors Sheffield Wednesday (1-2), George Wilson, who had scored in the Semi-final, had been left out of the cup Final side and this had been described as folly in hindsight of the final result.

In 1931, Everton and West Bromwich Albion had been vying for promotion to the First Division when they had met on 14 March in the FA Cup Semi-Final at Old Trafford; this time the Blues had lost (1-2) in front of 69,241 fans, and Albion had gone on to beat neighbours Birmingham City (2-1) at Wembley in the Final.

The Match: A crowd of over 53,000 had witnessed a largely uneventful game and the fans had been left disappointed that Goodison’s first Sunday match had produced so little excitement and a goalless draw, the first at the ground in the FA Cup since Manchester City had visited in 1966 and one of the very few goalless FA Cup draws at Goodison. Mick Buckley had come close to scoring but although his shot had beaten Dave Latchford in the WBA goal the ball had hit the bar.

The two sides would have to do it all over again on the following Wednesday night at the Hawthorns. However, this was not to be Goodison’s last FA Cup tie of that season, due to the abandonment of the Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest Sixth Round tie, two replays would be held at the Grand Old Lady. The first replay at Goodison Park was a nervous 0–0 draw and stayed so after extra time. Newcastle finally won the tie through a single Malcolm Macdonald goal in the second replay at Goodison Park.

1973-74 — FA Cup Fourth Round; Sunday, 27 January 1974
West Brom @ Goodison Park, Score: 0-0 Attendance: 53,509
Everton: Lawson; Darracott, McLaughlin, Clements, Lyons; Hurst, Bernard; Buckley, Royle, Jones (Telfer), Harper.

The Replay: Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown (38’) scored the goal which had ended Everton’s dreams of appearing at Wembley in May as Archie Styles (75’) and Willie Johnson (75’) had been sent off in this cup-tie at the Hawthorns. However, West Brom did not reach the final as had been the tradition for the winners of this tie as they had succumbed to Newcastle United (0-3) at the Hawthorns in the following round. As Newcastle had gained a place in the 1974 final via a game at Goodison, perhaps the WBA v Everton cup-tie had upheld the tradition albeit in a very twisted way.

1973-74 — FA Cup Fourth Round Replay; Wednesday, 30 January 1974
West Brom @The Hawthorns, Score: 0-1, Attendance: 27,556
Everton: Lawson; Darracott, Styles, Kendall, Lyons; Hurst, Bernard; Buckley, Royle, Jones, Telfer.

Thirty Years Ago 1983-84 FA Cup Round 4

Having won through to the Semi-Finals of the Milk Cup, Everton had turned their attentions to the senior and undoubtedly the more prestigious domestic cup competition as they had prepared for the visit of Gillingham to Goodison Park for the FA Cup Fourth Round tie. This would be the first competitive encounter between the two sides and few Evertonians would have known much about their Third Division opponents save that TV commentator Brian Moore had often declared his lifelong love of the Gills.

The Match: Reporter Don Evans had pulled no punches in his assessment of the Blues’ poor performance in the goalless draw with Gillingham; he wrote “It was not so much the Third Division side holding their ‘elders’ to a draw, rather a woeful case of the First Division lucky to escape with one.”

There had been goal-line clearances for both sides, Gillingham’s Steve Bruce had been unfortunate as had Everton’s Andy Gray, but although the second-half showing had improved Everton continued to huff and puff but to little effect. Howard Kendall said “we were absolutely awful in the first half. We tried to force it too much playing at 100 mph. Neville Southall added “Oxford came here with a reputation we knew all about. We did not know what to expect today, but we do now. We were not as wound up as we were against Oxford, we now know the score.”

Gillingham’s delighted manager Keith Peacock felt that “Everton are a good side, must be favourites to win one of the Cups but not this one I hope.” Everton had to travel to Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium the following Tuesday to try and settle the tie.

1983-84 — FA Cup Third Round; Saturday, 28 January 1984
Gillingham @ Goodison Park, Score: 0-0, Attendance: 22,380
Everton: Southall, Stevens, Harper, Ratcliffe, Mountfield, Reid, Irvine, Heath, Gray, Sharp, Sheedy, Unused sub: Richardson

The Replay: A visit from Shrewsbury Town had awaited the winners of the Gillingham v Everton Fourth Round tie and Everton had hoped that Goodison Park would be the venue for that encounter rather than the Priestfield Stadium. But following another 120 minutes of goalless action, Shrewsbury would have to wait another six days before they would found out to which ground they would travel for the fifth Round tie.

Ian Ross of the Daily Post reported “In a determined bid to avoid extra-time, Everton pushed forward relentlessly leaving gaping holes on two occasions. Once again Southall was the hero, turning aside efforts from Leslie and Bruce. The pattern continued in extra-time, Everton in command but unable to penetrate a well-marshalled defence. Sheedy had thought he had won the game for Everton in the very last minute but his blistering shot from just outside the penalty area cannoned back off the post.”

Ian Hargreaves of the Liverpool Echo reported “Everton’s obsession with cup football may be magnificent in its way but it is also straining the nerves of their supporters.” In summation he wrote “Disappointing for Everton perhaps, particularly as they lost the choice of venue for the second replay, but on reflection it was fitting that there should be no losers of a match that demonstrated just why the FA Cup remains the most popular competition of them all."

1983-84 — FA Cup Third Round Replay; Tuesday, 31 January 1984
Gillingham @ Priestfield Stadium, Score: 0-0 AET, Attendance: 15,339
Everton: Southall; Stevens, Bailey, Ratcliffe, Mountfield; Reid, Irvine; Heath, Sharp (Gray), Sheedy.

The Second Replay: After almost four hours of this marathon cup-tie, Kevin Sheedy (27’) had eventually broken the deadlock and then Adrian Heath (32’) had quickly added another and seven minutes prior to half-time Kevin Sheedy (38’) had sealed Everton’s place in the Fifth Round and a home tie with Shrewsbury Town in nine days time – just four days after their scheduled meeting with Aston Villa in the Semi-Final of the League Cup.

1983-84 FA Cup Third Round 2nd Replay Monday 6th February 1984
Gillingham @ Priestfield Stadium, Score: 3-0 (Sheedy 2, Heath) Attendance: 15,943
Everton: Southall; Stevens, Bailey, Ratcliffe, Mountfield; Reid, Irvine; Heath, Gray, Richardson, Sheedy. Unused sub: Sharp.

Ten Years Ago 2003-04 FA Cup Round 4

Fulham were the visitors to Goodison Park for this FA Cup Fourth Round tie; Everton had beaten Norwich City (3-1) and Fulham had beaten Cheltenham Town to reach this stage, having met recently in the Premier League at Loftus Road it had been clear that the two sides had been evenly matched and although Fulham won that encounter (1-2), they subsequently lost Louis Saha to Manchester United and he would not be able to add to his goal tally against Everton in Fulham colours.

Fulham and Everton had crossed paths in the FA Cup on three previous occasions and Everton had yet to triumph over the London team. The first meeting in the FA Cup occurred in 1926, when Everton and Dixie Dean had faced Second Division Fulham at Goodison Park in a third round tie, that game had ended in a draw (1-1) as Dixie had equalised for Everton after Fulham’s Teddy Craig opened the scoring and the replay had seen Everton (0-1) exit the competition, as Fulham’s Bert White (62’) scored the winning goal mid-way through the second-half. It had not been Everton’s day as they hit the woodwork on four separate occasions and Fulham’s third choice keeper 18-year-old Ernie Beecham performed heroics to keep Dixie and company at bay as ten-man Fulham held on to their lead.

Another 22 years elapsed before Everton were drawn away to Fulham in a Fifth Round tie, and once again the game ended in a draw (1-1), Tommy Eglington gave the Toffees the lead, but Fulham’s Len Quested equalised. The replay at Goodison had been a huge let-down for the home fans (71,587) as once again Fulham progressed to the next round courtesy of a single goal scored by Bob Thomas (73’).

On 15 February 1975, Everton, the league leaders, were drawn at home to Second Division Fulham in the Fifth Round of the competition; with many of the big names having exited the competition, ‘cup fever’ had been rife at Goodison Park, but Fulham’s experienced players Alan Mullery and Bobby Moore held sway and the two goals scored by Viv Busby ended Everton’s dreams of playing at Wembley that season, Fulham reached the final that year, but lost to West Ham United (0-2).

Club Secretary Michael Dunford wished the supporters a Happy New Year and also asked why Joseph Yobo had joined up with the Nigerian team earlier than his compatriots for the upcoming African Cup Of Nations competition? Yakubu (Portsmouth), Kanu (Arsenal) and Okocha (Bolton) had all been allowed extra time at their clubs to play in important domestic fixtures while Joseph had been left kicking his heels while on ‘International duty’.

Mr Dunford informed the readers of a tradition that had taken place at Goodison Park on the day of the recent Norwich City FA Cup tie, which had involved Sir Philip Carter and his fellow Chairman Roger Munby (Norwich City) sipping from the Loving Cup, to celebrate the first home match of the calendar year. The Loving Cup had been presented to Everton FC and the other First Division clubs in 1937 to commemorate the Coronation of King George VI; according to Mr Dunford, Everton were one of only a few clubs to maintain this tradition and only around 13 of those Loving Cups remained in existence out of the original 30 that had been presented to various organisations.

A feature entitled Cup History related the story of Everton’s FA Cup fixture with Barnsley that had taken place on 9 January 1915. Everton had beaten Barnsley (3-0) but it had been less than straightforward as Everton had ended the game with only seven players and Barnsley with ten. In the 32nd minute of the game, the referee Mr T B Sephton had sent off Everton player George Harrison and Barnsley player Barson following an unseemly altercation; Everton led by a goal scored by Jimmy Galt and shortly before half-time Bobby Parker put the Blues two goals in front. But Bobby Parker joined George Harrison in the dressing room after he reacted badly and kicked out at Barnsley’s Cooper following a bad challenge by the defender.

Nine-man Everton then added a third goal courtesy of Jimmy Galt, before Everton players Clennell and Fleetwood had to withdraw from the pitch Clennell had fainted and Fleetwood had been injured and thus Everton were reduced to seven players. Everton went on to become League Champions and Bobby Parker ended up scoring 38 goals in 40 matches – 36 league goals from 35 league games - for the Blues, but their dreams of winning the FA Cup had been ended by Chelsea (0-2) at Villa Park in the Semi-Final.

The Match: A last minute equaliser scored by Francis Jeffers (89) earned Everton a replay against Fulham after Sean Davis (49’) opened the scoring for the visitors. Once again Everton failed to beat the London side on home soil and the history of the two sides in the FA Cup suggested that the tie had swung in favour of the Cottagers.

2003-04 — FA Cup Fourth Round Sunday 25 January, 2004
Fulham @ Goodison Park, Score: 1-1 (Jeffers), Attendance: 27,862
Everton: Martyn; Hibbert, Stubbs, Unsworth, Naysmith; Carsley, Gravesen (Yobo), Kilbane; Rooney, Ferguson (Campbell), McFadden (Jeffers). Unused Subs: Simonsen, Radzinski.

The Replay: Once again Francis Jeffers (90’) rescued Everton with a late goal at Loftus Road as he equalised for the Toffees after Inamoto (57’) had given Fulham the lead early in the second-half, but this time Everton succumbed to an extra-time winner scored by Fulham’s Malbranque (102’) following a surge into the penalty area by Boa-Morte and so Everton’s hopes of winning silverware would have to wait for another season as the curse of Fulham in the FA Cup continued...

2003-04 — FA Cup Fourth Round Replay; Wednesday, 4 February, 2004
Fulham @ Loftus Road, Score: 1-2 (Jeffers), Attendance: 11,551
Everton: Martyn, Hibbert, Pistone, Unsworth, Naysmith, Carsley, Nyarko (Watson), Gravesen, Kilbane, Rooney, Radzinski (Jeffers) Unused Subs: Simonsen, Linderoth, Clarke.

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