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LIVERPOOL FC: RELIVING THAT OLD FA CUP MAGIC

In his regular column on Liverpoolfc.tv, David Fairclough relives a night of pure FA Cup nostalgia in the presence of his fellow former Redmen.

/noticias.info/ I was delighted to be one of 30 former Liverpool players who got
together at a city hotel on Monday night to celebrate 'Six of the Best', the clubs six FA Cup Final successes along with 300 fans keen to relive the memories.

Among the lads there were some of the key men who featured in those
occasions, players like the first Reds captain to lift the famous trophy Ron Yeats. Ian St John, the first match winner, and the man who has scored more FA Cup Final goals than anybody else, Ian Rush.

The event was arranged by the Liverpool Former Players Association and the Liverpool Echo as part of our annual charity fundraising efforts. In recent years we have had themed dinner events on anniversaries of our European cup final wins and other major dates in the club's incredible history.

The first Wembley win is amongst my earliest of memories of supporting the Reds. As an eight year old seeing them win over Leeds United 2-1 on a black and white telly was brilliant. For a club like ours not to have won the cup before 1965 was a statistic hard to believe and one which my Evertonian mates made sure they reminded us of in the games we played in the streets perfecting our 'footie' skills.

I didn't know much about Leeds as a team at the time but they were a tough tackling side who made things tough for the lads in a game which was hardly memorable until extra time, and I remembered thinking we were never going to win the cup - until Roger Hunt broke the deadlock with a stooping header.

With that, Leeds were forced to fight back and through a Billy Bremner equaliser were back on level terms. But the character of that 60's team came through when Cally (Ian Callaghan) raced to the by-line and provided the cross for an acrobatic St John header. After watching some of the presentations at Wembley it wasout into the street to celebrate and then get the ball out to recreate what we had just seen.
The first Wembley win is amongst my earliest of memories of supporting the Reds. As an eight year old seeing them win over Leeds United 2-1 on a black and white telly was brilliant. For a club like ours not to have won the cup before 1965 was a statistic hard to believe and one which my Evertonian mates made sure they reminded us of in the games we played in the streets perfecting our 'footie' skills.
The final of 1974 was my favourite, beating Newcastle 3-0 and the first for me as a professional at the club. I was 17 and remember travelling down as part of the club group to London for a fantastic weekend. The result was never in doubt, though it took until the second half before Kevin Keegan put us ahead. Once we were a goal up it was one way traffic. We even had Tommy Smith coming forward like a Brazilian, dancing round challenges to lay on the third for KK. The win was also memorable for the fact it was Bill Shankly's
farewell success and pictures from the day showed just how much Shanks was revered by the fans.

There were few notable performers on the day for the Magpies but maybe Terry McDermott's performance brought him to Bob Paisley's attention and duly earned him a quick move to Anfield. As for Alan Kennedy, when asked for his recollections last night, he remarked Liverpool were that impressed with him on that day they waited FOUR years before thinking he was worthy of a move to Anfield!

It would be another twelve frustrating years before we would win the cup again and I was at Anfield for nine of those years. Throughout my boyhood playing at Wembley in the final and winning the cup was the ultimate dream.

It was a huge disappointment for me not to achieve that ambition, though we came close throughout that time, the nearest being the defeat in the 1977 final against Man Utd.

Short film footage of all the cup final wins certainly helped create a great atmosphere in the room, I know the fans love seeing the old re-runs and so do the players. Most of the boys rarely sit down to watch the highlight packages of great games so to be together and hear each other recall personal memories from those times can be a highly amusing.

Certainly Jim Beglin and Jan Molby recalling their memories of the 1986 final entertained the audience and gave a great insight in to the mood of the players on the day.

Like most Merseysiders I wanted to be there for the historic first ever all-Merseyside FA Cup final, travelling down to London with a group of mates on a coach was a new experience. Wembley had seen nothing like it and, at a time when it was still the friendly derby, the atmosphere was memorable and the banter top class. With the Reds aiming to complete the league and cup double, it didn't go to plan when Everton took an early lead. Gary Lineker took advantage of some sloppy marking from his mate Alan Hansen and our hopes
looked doomed until the dramatic second half turn around.

Every kid dreamt of scoring the winning goal at Wembley Ian Rush recalled, but Rushy must of done a lot of dreaming because he took it to extremes - scoring two that day. And he didn't stop there.

The final of 1989 was overshadowed by the events of the semi-final at
Hillsborough, but I agree it was fitting that again Liverpool faced our neighbours from over the park.

Though it actually took two late Michael Owen goals to beat Arsenal who dominated us throughout but only had that one goal to show for it, Phil Thompson joked it probably had more to do with great goalkeeping from Stephane Henchoz! Still it was fitting we gained revenge on the Gunners for the disappointments we felt at Wembley in 1950 and 1971.
I was playing in Belgium by this time and though I watched some of the game on Belgian TV while preparing to play later that day my memories of this success were sketchy but like everyone else I found it really exciting to see it again. Again Rushy took centre stage and seemed to enjoy remembering how he got the better of his mates Neville Southall and Kevin Ratcliffe, scoring another two after coming on as sub to be the match winner.

Big Jan was amused at how he managed to mention Kenny Dalglish's name eight times in rapid succession, doing nothing to dispel rumours of Ian being Kenny's 'blue eye boy!'

Next up was the 1992 final. If the final of '74 was one sided this one proved even more so but I have little memory of the game itself.

Despite the excellent turnout of ex-players from previous eras last night, by the time we reached the 1992 generation and victory over Sunderland only goal scorer Michael Thomas was able to recall the day. The Wearsiders were trying to punch above their weight and nobody gave them any hope of repeating their club's giant-killing
defeat of Leeds Utd in 1973.

Tommo said he should he have had a hat trick on the day but his strike that counted was a brilliant finish and worthy of winning the cup. Michael is probably more remembered by Reds fans for the
goal he scored for Arsenal that robbed us of the championship in 1989,
but these days he's a big Liverpool fan and at Anfield almost every match day.

Throughout the night we heard how on the way to cup finals the players get that feeling of inevitability and there is little doubt on roads to previous finals the Reds rode their luck, but as I watched the first FA Cup final to be played at the Millennium Stadium in searing heat I thought we got away with daylight robbery.

Though it actually took two late Michael Owen goals to beat Arsenal who dominated us throughout but only had that one goal to
show for it, Phil Thompson joked it probably had more to do with great goalkeeping from Stephane Henchoz! Still it was fitting we gained revenge on the Gunners for the disappointments we felt at Wembley in 1950 and 1971.

Nights like these only go to prove what great feeling of unity there exists between fans and players alike. We cherish the success we've achieved with a passion and desire, and as Michael Thomas put it we are all proud to be part of the family. notas_de_prensa_archivo