By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
The
FA Cup, the world’s greatest football competition has continued this weekend
with the second round and my FA Cup memories series continues with the second
memory chosen from a long list. This started in round one and will continue all
the way to the final next May at Wembley Stadium.
These
stories can be one of personal achievement, a huge surprise against the odds,
even something like a game played in freezing temperatures or a weekend where
the underdog ripped up the formbook.
The
second round weekend is not as anticipated as some rounds during the
competition but it is the final hurdle for the semi-professional opposition
before potentially facing a dream tie at grounds such as Old Trafford, Stamford
Bridge and St James’ Park.
In
1971, Colchester United (players pictured) produced a real shock and it was something that Leeds
United’s brilliant side of the early 1970s were not prepared for.
Colchester
were from the fourth tier of the football pyramid at the time in the old fourth
division but had managed to reach round five of the FA Cup in this particular
year. So when they were drawn to entertain Leeds, few gave them a hope. The
Leeds side which contained the likes of Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton and Peter
Lorimer were expected to just turn up and demolish their lower class
opposition. They didn’t count though on Ray Crawford rolling back the years.
Crawford
was a former England international but he had only won two caps a decade
earlier and that was well before the World Cup winning squad of 1966. He was
also a previous championship winner in 1962 with Ipswich Town but at 34, his
best days were considered to be well past him.
Well,
that’s what the general consensus was. Not so as Crawford rolled back his
golden days by scoring twice either side of half-time to help the underdog into
an incredible 3-0 lead just after the interval. Don Revie’s side didn’t know
what had hit them as Colchester’s tactics of long balls and set piece
efficiency totally bamboozled their much more fancied opposition.
With
an hour played, Leeds finally woke up and goals from Hunter and Johnny Giles
reduced the deficit to 3-2 and led to a frantic finish. However Colchester held
on to send the Layer Road crowd into sheer ecstasy and into the quarter-finals
of the competition. Six of the starting 11 were over the age of 30 so it showed
that youth doesn’t always give you the prizes you’d expect.
Colchester
did go on to lose in the sixth round 5-0 to Everton but manager Dick Graham
promised a free fortnight’s holiday for his winning players and their wives if
they conquered Revie’s Leeds. He stayed true to his word.
This
tie in 1971 has gone down as one of Colchester United’s greatest days. It was
among the darkest in the FA Cup for Leeds but it still might not be considered
as their biggest upset in the Yorkshire club’s history.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KEY
FIGURES ON THAT DAY
Ray
Crawford left English football at the end of the 1970-71 campaign and spent one
season playing in South Africa. He scored 289 goals in the Football League and
retired from the game in 1984 after spells working in coaching with Portsmouth
and non-league Fareham Town. He now works as a commentator on Pompey matches
for Express FM.
Dave
Simmons, who scored the other goal in the 3-2 victory spent three seasons with
the U’S and went on to play for Brentford and Cambridge United before calling
time on his professional career in 1976. Sadly he succumbed to cancer in July
2007 aged 58.
Don
Revie is considered as Leeds’ greatest manager, spending 13 years at the helm.
They made up for the shock loss on this day to win the FA Cup a year later and
reach the final again in 1973. They also won the league twice and he was
crowned Manager of the Year on three separate occasions. After an unsuccessful
spell in charge of the England national team, Revie moved to the Middle East in
1978. He died in 1989 aged 61 after a long battle with motor neurone disease.
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