Anthony Martial celebrates after scoring against West Ham in the FA Cup in March 2016

10 facts to get you up for the cup

Thursday 15 March 2018 12:24

As Manchester United's Emirates FA Cup run leads to Brighton & Hove Albion arriving at Old Trafford this weekend, ManUtd.com discovers 10 facts about the club's quarter-final encounters of the past...

CHARLTON COMEBACK
Emotions were still understandably raw in the wake of the Munich disaster when the Reds prepared to face West Brom at The Hawthorns on 1 March 1958. Bobby Charlton, who had contemplated quitting the game after being on the flight in Germany, made his comeback in a 2-2 draw and was fielded out wide by acting manager Jimmy Murphy. A huge crowd turned up for the midweek replay at Old Trafford, with thousands locked out, and the club made future games all-ticket affairs. The dynamic Charlton set up the 89th-minute winner for Colin Webster.  

ROAR OF APPROVAL
People often talk about the loadest roar heard at Old Trafford and there was one almighty din when Frank Stapleton's instinctive volley accounted for Everton in 1983. Ron Atkinson threw on Lou Macari seconds earlier and the substitute provided the header to a long ball by Ray Wilkins that set up Stapleton's dramatic injury-time strike. It was a vital intervention that kept United on course to win the FA Cup for the first time in six years.

CAPITAL CLASHES
It is unusual for the Reds not to be facing a London club at this stage of the tournament. Our last six quarter-final opponents have all been from the capital - Chelsea (2017), West Ham (2016), Arsenal (2015), Chelsea (2013), Arsenal (2011) and Fulham (2009). The last time we won the trophy, Anthony Martial earned a 1-1 draw against the Hammers at Old Trafford before a fine 2-1 triumph in the replay at Upton Park.

Norman Whiteside hit a hat-trick against West Ham in 1985.

SCHMEICHEL SENT OFF
Peter Schmeichel was sent off in the sixth round against Charlton in 1994, during first-half stoppage time at Old Trafford with the score still at 0-0. The Dane raced off his line and handled outside the box after Kim Grant got the better of Steve Bruce. Les Sealey came on to play for the first time since returning to the club, replacing Paul Parker, and Alex Ferguson's side still won 3-1 with 10 men en route to the Double.

HOLY TRINITY
They have a statue near the East Stand and Reds icons Denis Law (8), Sir Bobby Charlton (6) and George Best (4) are among the club's leading scorers in FA Cup sixth-round games. David Herd also has four goals to his name at this stage.

HAT-TRICK HEROES
Norman Whiteside hit his only treble for the club in a 4-2 victory over Sunday's opponents West Ham in 1985. "It was a perfect hat-trick," he told ManUtd.com. "Right foot, left foot and a header." Meanwhile, master marksman Denis Law bagged three in the 5-1 sixth-round second-replay win over Sunderland at Huddersfield Town's Leeds Road in 1964. 

MOLINEUX MAYHEM
United have had two cracking ties at Wolves' Molineux ground in the quarter-finals. In 1965, the highest aggregate score for the Reds at this stage was achieved with a 5-3 success. After Hugh McIlmoyle bagged a brace for the Midlands club, Denis Law pulled one back before the break. David Herd, George Best, Pat Crerand and Law earned the visitors a 5-2 lead before Peter Knowles struck a late consolation for the hosts. When the sides met again in a replay in 1976, Tommy Docherty's men shaded a five-goal thriller. As in the previous tie, Wolves raced into a two-goal lead courtesy of quickfire efforts by Steve Kingdon and John Richards. Stuart Pearson and Brian Greenhoff hauled United level and Sammy McIlroy grabbed the winner six minutes into extra time.

Victory in the mud at Hereford on the way to lifting the 1990 FA Cup.

OVER THE LINE?
Brian Clough's stylish Nottingham Forest knocked United out at Old Trafford in 1989 courtesy of Garry Parker's tap-in from a Franz Carr cross. However, the hosts were incensed when Steve Hodge appeared to clear from behind the line after Brian McClair got a touch to Paul McGrath's powerful header. Referee Brian Hill waved away the protests at a time when goalline technology would have proved useful and Forest held out to win 1-0. 

ON THE ROAD
Brian McClair's winner and a couple of top saves from Jim Leighton ensured there would be no need for a replay against Sheffield United in 1990, as the Reds ultimately lifted the trophy without playing a home match throughout the cup run - the first time this had happened in the history of the tournament. Alex Ferguson's men beat Nottingham Forest (1-0), Hereford United (1-0) and Newcastle United (3-2) to set up the Bramall Lane encounter.  

ALBERT SHOCK
There had been controversy when Albert Pape joined United in 1925 from Clapton Orient and made an instant, and surprise, debut against the Londoners with the paperwork coming through around an hour before kick-off. Despite his cloak-and-dagger arrival, he left the club later that same year for Fulham. Unusually, he continued to live and train in Manchester with the United players, but commuted to the capital to play matches for the Cottagers. After catching the train south with his former colleagues, he then scored against the Reds in a 2-1 defeat at Fulham, United's first sixth-round tie in the FA Cup. 

Albert Pape had a cloak-and-dagger arrival at United.