Brighton tie stirs vivid cup memories

Fortunately, I missed the drama of the 1979 FA Cup final and I have no real recollection of the defeat to Tottenham in the third round of the following year's competition, even though I was a fully fledged Manchester United supporter by then. I say that but following the matches, in those days, was a very different experience to seeing the Reds in the flesh now.

I do vividly recall facing Brighton in 1981 and I was excited by a chance to go all the way in a tournament that everything in those days. Playing at home on the table-football I had been bought for Christmas, the half-time scores started to come in on Grandstand and United were 2-0 down at Old Trafford. Disaster!

I was crestfallen and genuinely upset about the fact this cup run was about to be over before it had even begun. My mood lifted when the vidiprinter emerged some time around 16:30 GMT, as I believe it always did, and we had a goal back through Mike Duxbury. Soon afterwards, Mickey Thomas equalised and I was overjoyed. Little did I know, many, many years later, I would have the pleasure to get to know Mickey as a regular attendee on our European trips.

I still wonder if my real affection for the FA Cup goes all the way back to a match I only followed on TV, and that was sketchy coverage at best. We had lived to fight another day! We won the replay at the Goldstone Ground but didn't make it past the fourth round, thanks to Nottingham Forest.

There was more anguish in 1982 when we lost 1-0 at Watford. Again, I was unaware of the score until half-time and I caught sight of the scoreboard as the cameras went to Vicarage Road to reveal the bad news before the reporter had even had chance to tell us about Jan Lohman's goal. Another bad memory, when I so craved a place in the FA Cup final and all that entailed. I'm still certain I feel a pain in a pit of my stomach akin to this every time we are knocked out of the competition.

So on to 1983 and it actually happened. We'd already reached the Milk Cup final and now had another date at Wembley. I was elated! Ron Atkinson's men made it all the way to Wembley and whom would we meet on the big stage? Brighton. The Seagulls may have finished bottom of Division One but they'd made it through to their first final.

This was our moment, except it so nearly wasn't. A 2-2 draw unfolded and even though one of my favourite players at the time, Ray Wilkins, had curled a beauty that looked like being the winner, instead we were hanging on for grim life when Gordon Smith famously missed a one-one-chance with Gary Bailey late on. My dad said reassuringly the striker was offside when he went through. He wasn't. Thankfully, Bailey saved the day.

The replay was a rare chance to enjoy a final knowing you are going to win at a canter, with the Reds 3-0 up by half-time. What a feeling this was for a 10-year-old Manchester United fan, lifting the most precious piece of silverware and in style. Could football get any better than this?

Brighton had played their part in this first trophy as a Reds supporter and showed that underdogs should never be underestimated on the big occasion, something we would see again over the years. Fast forward 35 years and the clubs meet again with a place in the 2018 semi-finals at stake. The FA Cup will always be magical for people of my generation, no matter how some others may regard it, and this tie will bring all the memories flooding back.

The opinions expressed in this article are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Manchester United.